We bought it several months ago and had it hidden in the basement. It was no small box to hide. I cannot count the number of times I tripped over the box.
Floors and plumbing took precedence over swing sets. It was still on the to-do list, just farther down on the list. Finally, this weekend we moved it to the top of the list.
We went back and forth deciding what type to purchase. Metal? Wooden? Plastic? There are lots of choices. Swings? Climbing wall? Slide? Tetter-totter? Ropes? Tunnel? Castle? Fireman pole? The options are overwhelming.
Every type of swing set had pros and cons. Every review I read had someone say something positive and negative about everything. Wood needs to be re-stained, gets splinters, and can attract bugs. Metal gets hot and rusts. Plastic fades and gets sticky. It was as bad as choosing which truck brand is better. Really, it's about preference.
We decided to go small and simple to start. Upgrading in a few years as the 4-year-old grows is always an option. Also, what happens if the 4-year-old decides she's not interested in it in a few months?
We choose a metal A-frame style. Two swings, a slide, a teeter-totter, a place to hang and swing, and a two person swing-along. The entire neighborhood can play!
Except for one piece, everything was labeled. A-1, A-2, B-1, B-2, UL-1 all the way through XN-1.
I read the directions to Walt Kowalski, he found the pieces and put them together per the directions.
On piece number 12, Walt Kowalski said, "That's not going to work. Something isn't right here."
Then we looked at the photo on the box.
Then we read the directions.
Then we looked at the photo on the box again.
Then we read the directions on again.
Head scratching. I was just reading the directions. That's fine, but the directions aren't going to work.
Then we figured it out. The directions were backwards from the photo. ARGH! Maybe it was because it was from China. Maybe it was a translation issue. Maybe the directions were just bad. Maybe the person that wrote the directions wasn't the person that had to construct the swing set.
We rallied and continued. It took a combination of reading directions and looking at the photo to figure it out that the first step was what steered us wrong. *sigh* Place part A-2 into part A-1 and secure with U-10 and U-5 while holding XL-1 concave side up. It was like speaking a different language.
We got it. It took three of us at times. Two holding and one inserting bolts. Of course, the 4-year-old was "helping," too. That would make it four.
We got to the very last step and found that one of the main pieces was reversed. We were tempted to quit and come back the next day, but we didn't. Let's just finish this now.
It's nice. the most important part, the 4-year-old likes it. We still need to anchor it to the ground. We ran out of time for that step.
When we got home, I opened the freezer to find something for dinner. Walt Kowalski pointed and said "Oh, Chinese." I said, "No, nothing related to China tonight."
Now that's pretty funny!!!!
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