Today…we built a play yard

After 8 hours of work, the rebuilding the play yard project is mostly done…mostly. I have no pictures yet but will take some when its all completed. There were a few things that caused delays, like screwing in 4 braises only to realize the bolt holes on one side didn’t match up and so I had to take out the screws, put the bolts on and then screw the braises back on (I was wishing I had experience in construction at that point – I’m sure there’s some things those people just KNOW from doing what they do all the time). The most time consuming part of the whole project was just getting all the bolt holes to match up so I could get the bolts in (there were about 20 bolts that needed to be put in). I had to find creative ways to move the wood enough to get everything to match up. So now all that’s left is adding nuts to some of the bolts (I ran out of nuts and washers), drilling screws every place there is a bolt (for reinforcement), adding the swing, the slide, and a few other small items.

The kids are excited to have the play yard back. However, trying to rebuild a play yard with an 11 and 7 year old as your helpers can be REALLY trying at times. I was hearing things like, “This is going to take forever”, “We should just give up” and “We should call dad for help” (dad was nowhere nearby – he was in another town working at a college today – and as if I’d just give up and get dad!! I was determined. Stuck at times, but not about to give up). So the comments were incredibly irritating. Especially when I was trying to figure out how I was going to get yet another bolt to line up so I could pound it in. I must admit, I lost it on the boys a few times. But generally they were good helpers and I don’t think there’s any permanent scarring from mom’s tirades.

It’s nice to see it up again. I’m looking forward to hanging out with the kids in it and taking Lynae up there. She was watching us while we were working and was quite interested in seeing this monstrosity come into being. She’s an adventure girl so I’m sure she’ll have lots of fun in it.