To start off with, I took off on Wednesday and boy was that fun.  I have not had a day that I just did nothing but the basics at home in a very long time.

 

I mowed the yard in preparation for my son's 3rd birthday party on Saturday.

 

Then Thursday, my wife (Martha), my oldest son (age 7 - Nate), my only daughter (Age 4 - Abby) and my youngest son (just turned 3 - Cole) headed to St. Louis for a trip to a baseball game and a trip to the zoo.

 

WOW, what a fun trip.  Even though the Cards got smoked 18-1...it was still a great family time.  Here is a picture of them at the game.

game1

We had very good seats...Sitting just left of the foul pole...

Game2

 

Then the next day we went to the zoo...WOW.  That was so much fun! 

zoo1

 

I could upload a ton of more pictures of the  zoo and game...but I won't take up the resources on the site.

 

However...all these activities were building up for the big day...my SON'S third BIRTHDAY PARTY...which we celebrated on Saturday.


This year, we didn't do any little presents and asked all the grandparents and great grandparents to just help us out on the kid's new swing set.  We did get Cole some smaller presents but the main thing was the swing set.

So, Saturday...I got up and started building this swing set.  The instructions said it would take between 6-8 hours for two people to get this thing put together.  AND BOY DID IT.  I had to call my step mom to help me put this set together.  My dad was farming and couldn't take off because the weather was so awesome...and my wife had to take my kids away so it could be a surprise! 

 

So, we started...and yes, started reading the instructions (my step mom is a school teacher...so I was forced) and NO WHERE in the instructions did it say we had to purchase more lumber...NO WHERE.  However online...they state that you needed to add QTY 9 - 4x4x8ft.  Amazing how they don't mention this anywhere in the instructions.  Or on the box the "Ready to assemble and No Cut Kit"

 

So...after 7 hours of work...very hard work and very HOT weather...this is what we came up with:

 

The first picture is prior to completion...but the party must go on.

swing4

The following picture is my 3 kids...enjoying their new toy.

swing3

And finally here is the finished product...

Swing1

Swing2

(Pool is my neighbors, not mine...)

 

So this was my weekend projects...oh and I upgraded the web site blogs to Community Server 2007.1 and changed the theme on the blogs so take a look for yourself on www.myitforum.com/cs2

 

You can find this swing set at your local Home Depot.  On a scale from 1-5, with 5 being the easiest...I'd give this a 4 on level of difficulty to put together...it was actually very easy...just took a lot of hours.  Just need to remember to buy the "extra" lumber ahead of time.  You just need a drill, a 7/16 socket, 1/2" socket, Wrench, square, level, philips bit for drill,  and a hammer.  Everything else is included.  The bracketing system is pretty slick and makes things very easy to assemble.  Oh...you will need more than one person to complete this task.

2 Comment(s) 21:23 - Sep 23, 2007



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cmosby :

Looks like a great day!!

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cstauffer :

Ron,

Make sure you coat the swing set with a weather proof paint or lacquer that you would use on a deck. I built a custom swing set 3 years ago and had to replace the main swing beam last weekend because it rotted. I was informed that just because it is called pressure treated lumber doesn’t mean that it is weather and rot proof. It is done to keep the bugs from eating it. Well that isn’t a fact either because I had carpenter bees eating it too. Lesson learned. Now there is deck lacquer on the main beam and I will be adding it to the rest at next payday.

Chris Stauffer <><

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