The Spruce Goose Lives On

When I was 4 or 5, my dad designed and built a playset for us. The playset was named the Spruce Goose, after the wooden plane that was never supposed to fly. I remember giving input into what was important to me...hand over hand bars, a swing, a slide. I remember a bunch of neighborhood kids kneeling in a row to sand the metal fireman's pole simultaneously. When we moved to the new neighborhood when I was 7, our Spruce Goose, unlike the original, flew again.

With that sort of family history, it was not without thought and reflection and comparison shopping that we invested in a playset for the girls. Materials pricing being what they are, we opted for a ready-made "kit." That seemed to make sense in our dual-working household. Between my dad, a man with experience in these sorts of things, and my husband, an engineer, plus some added labor from Uncle Ben and Lara, mom and me, this thing should be a cinch. Right...

We started with piles and piles of lumber and a bazillion types of bolts and screws.

Grammy gathered all the nuts and bolts for each section  - full time job in deciphering the instructions.

Our two engineers took an awfully long time on this section. It's now so secure I'd trust my first born children on it. 

Lara and Popa show off the frame near the end of the first day.

Almost finished!

Fast forward 4 weeks(!) and the backyard monstrosity is nearly complete. We need to anchor with concrete, add a border and some mulch and then we're done. The girls gave it their seal of approval.

A glider built for two.

Sage shows no fear in climbing to the top.

Lucy scales the climbing wall.

Sage tries the slide over and over again.