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Thursday, April 15, 2010

The cost-per-use is going down by the minute

You know how we got a backyard playstructure over Easter? Well we'd been looking for awhile. But the brand-new Rainbow ones were outrageously priced (honestly, you could buy a used car for what they're charging!). So we looked and looked until we found a used one on Craigslist that met everyone's criteria (I wanted affordable, TubaDad wanted something BIG that the girls wouldn't grow out of, Ro and Ree wanted monkey bars and swings). And the girls have spent joyful hours on that thing every single day since we got it. I am not even exaggerating—HOURS. So the little cheapskate in me is publicly declaring that behemoth was worth every penny. "Mama, come on here with us! What do you mean your butt is too big?": DSC_4051LR2 "Oh yeah, I'm awesome, I can do the monkey bars now": DSC_4055LR2 Ro is always dangling from one thing or another. That girl has callouses on top of callouses: DSC_4064LR2 Ro hops on the swing and then yells for assistance every time "One! Great! Push!": DSC_4080LR2 The grab-and-go bar on the slide might be more aptly called the mid-air-launch bar: DSC_4093LR2 "I fink I can, I fink I can": DSC_4089LR2 Ro is a cheesy little monkey: DSC_4106LR2 When she isn't swinging (her favorite thing in the world), Ree loves to be upside down: DSC_4120LR2 "Hi mama!" (giggle giggle): DSC_4127LR2 "Here sister, I'll help ya": DSC_4144LR2 "You're almost there": DSC_4145LR2 "Hey we both made it": DSC_4149LR2 "Ok, now it's my turn, hold the rope, Ro": DSC_4150LR2 "I gotcha, Ree": DSC_4154LR2 "I did it!": DSC_4169LR2 "Look at me, mama, I'm at the top, whee!": DSC_4175LR2 This picture just kills me. Ree is smiling sweetly and Ro is smugly communicating that she is king of the world: DSC_4182LR2 Hanging from the trapeze bar: DSC_4161LR2 Hey, what's under here?: DSC_4166LR2 "Is that my bedroom window, mama?": DSC_4183LR2 "No, I fink it's that window": DSC_4189LR2 "Whatever, I'm going to show you how to use the old baby slide properly": DSC_4207LR2 Little cuties. I was playing with the manual settings on my camera while getting these pics, and half sun/half shade really made things challenging. Who cares, though, I learned a lot, and we all had fun. PS: I had a request to post a pic of the whole thing, so here's a quick snap of it. It has a big canopy that goes on top, and we usually use the rope swing in the third swing slot, but it's moved aside temporarily because we had a bunch of kids over. DSC_4216LR2

25 comments:

  1. Anonymous4/15/2010

    My friends tease me all the time, because whenever they ask me "Where did you get that?" I always say "Craiglslist". I love Craigslist! One of the best things in life. I have a girlfriend who bought a big wood ship with swings, planks etc. It is massive. They priced it around 3k from the company that made it, and guess what showed up on Craigslist for 1k. about 1 month after their research. They bought it right away. It is humongous, but so cool and her sons love it.

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  2. I've gotten a few great deals on Craigslist like our Learning Tower, that I coveted after seeing yours, and my Phil and Ted's Sport Double Stroller.

    ANd I don't understand why in the world those play structures have to be so darned expensive.

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  3. We bought the demo model from Rainbow - the same one you have. We installed it ourselves (cut sod, put down timber and play chips). We live in the NW and wanted it usable in the winter time too. Worth EVERY penny!

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  4. Anonymous4/15/2010

    Can you post a picture of the structure as a whole? I'm just curious. It's hard to piece it together in my mind from all the small shots.

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  5. Wow....fighting the green monster here. Your unit is so perfect to burn all that energy that normally is burnt on YOU.

    Great shots too. You are workin' that manual, girl.

    Have a great week-end.....watching the twinados havin' a ball.

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  6. Hey, I recognize that monkey necklace! :) Thank you for yesterday. It helped me more than you know.

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  7. Ok, I posted a quick pic of the whole thing (added it at the end). It's a big sucker...

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  8. Wow that thing is massive!

    Looking at these pictures it just made me think they have grown so much! When I see them I think back to when they were just tiny 1 year olds and now they are so big!!!!

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  9. Wow, that is big!! We just don't have the space in our yard with the pool and the deck. Luckily we have playground 3 houses down from us.

    Love the pictures of the girls, so bright and colorful!

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  10. Oh my gosh yes it is massive!!! The folks we bought it from must have had a huge yard, because we didn't even think it was that big until it was reassembled in our yard. Then, WHOA, I walked around for two days having a minor panic attack every time I looked out the window. Poor TubaDad had to talk me down. Heh. As soon as we had a herd of gleeful kids playing on it I calmed down though. And now, seeing how incredibly happy Ro and Ree are, I don't even notice how big it is.

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  11. So cool!! So many great pics of your girlies having fun! I've heard the local parks have put out an APB looking for your girls as they used to frequent the parks and their absence has been noticed.

    Hannah can't wait to come play with you Ro and Ree!

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  12. Thought of you yesterday, as Jake and I sat down to enjoy a steaming bowl of noodles with our chopsticks.
    After slurping down our noodles, we broke out the salsa and chips. So nice to have a buddy to eat salsa with. Also, nothing better than a well used swingset. We literally wore ours out and have a new one coming in 2 weeks!

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  13. OMW! You have your own private playground! I can definitely see why the girls (and the rest of the neighborhood kids!) are loving it.

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  14. We bought one of those behemoth Rainbow structures 12 years ago and it has been USED (and abused - I had boys before I had girls!). Best money we ever spent. And yes, it's HUGE and takes up a fair amount of real estate on our property, but totally worth it.

    Glad your girls (and the neighbors!) are having fun with it. Hope they will for years and years to come...

    BTW, we had a huge box created around ours and filled it with teeny tiny pebbles. Those have become the new "sand box" for my girls, who just love to fill up buckets and dump them out. And they're surprisingly soft as well!

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  15. That is ginormous! No wonder they are spending hours and hours out there. My kids have loved their big playground and even though they are almost 13 they will still go out on occassion and swing. lol

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  16. That's HUGE! Love the pics.

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  17. Love Craigslist. Seriously, we've traveled to 3 states, but have furnished much of our (newer) home with many great CL finds!

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  18. Love the pictures of the girls! Very nice play set, too. That thing wouldn't fit in our tiny little postage stamp yard. :-)

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  19. Craigslist is awesome! The Tongginator just got a play structure in August and it is SO much fun to watch a whole crew of kids playing on it. Makes it worth the cost and space, doesn't it?

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  20. We bought ours out of the Pennysaver. It was already 9 years old and we bought it about 6 years ago and I'm certain we can sell it for at LEAST what we bought it for. The Rainbow sets last a looooong time. I plan on having this one for at least 5 more years. The Costco ones are cheaply made and the swings don't hold more than 150 lbs, which rules out most adults swinging with their kids. And they don't last more than a year. You will sooooo get your money's worth and will easily be able to sell it later.

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  21. Samantha4/16/2010

    oh my gosh, that would take up my entire yard! lol (no kidding...) :-(

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  22. We're coming over to play!! :) I love craigslist and hope that we'll find a good deal on a set like that someday soon. Enjoy the giggles coming from your back yard! LOVE the pics...ALL of them1

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  23. I LOVE it!!! LiLi has a play set and it was the best investment I have ever done!

    Two things:

    1) You might want to thing about putting Pea-gravel down and box off the entire play set. I did it for LiLi and I am sooo glad I did. I no longer have to mow around all everything. It is also nice for safety reasons. The pea-gravel stops children from really hurt themselves if they fall.

    2) My playset came with an extra pair of swings because I upgraded. I took the other swing and put in the basement for LiLi to us on rainy days or if it is too cold outside. She LOVES it!!! If yours didn't, you can always buy an extra pair of swings.

    You will love that playset for years to come!

    Sharyn

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  24. That is an awesome playset! The girls really look like they're loving it -- and those photos are just fantastic! Makes me wonder what other treasures are available on Craigslist.

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