Last summer, my kids never wanted to go outside. Maybe it had something to do with our old swing set (the only photo I have of it is a winter photo):
So I convinced Sam that we needed to buy the behemoth swingset on display at Costco. "Come on," I said, "You're good with your hands, I bet you could put that bad boy up in one weekend." He reluctantly agreed. (I won't mention the fact that he almost had to sell a kidney to pay for the thing!)
After getting the 7 huge boxes home, he laid out all of his supplies.
He even set up a work table in the backyard complete with all of his tools and the how-to dvd (yes, it comes with one!) set up on the portable dvd player. If it had been me, I would have just opened the first box and started drilling.
After working for an entire day (some of it with his dad) Sam came inside cursing the thing. He was delighted to find he had a third degree burn on the back of his neck. The next day, he soldiered on (with a dish towel hooked onto the back of his hat to cover his neck--sexy.) The goggles gave him instant street cred.
Fast forward a week. This was Ryan every day as Sam worked:
Ryan hates to be inside when anyone is outside--especially dad. Finally, the Behemoth was finished.
Look how much fun they are having:
Look how much he enjoys being outside:
Look at that smile:
I ask Sam if those faces make it all worth it. His reply "Probably not."
So I convinced Sam that we needed to buy the behemoth swingset on display at Costco. "Come on," I said, "You're good with your hands, I bet you could put that bad boy up in one weekend." He reluctantly agreed. (I won't mention the fact that he almost had to sell a kidney to pay for the thing!)
After getting the 7 huge boxes home, he laid out all of his supplies.
He even set up a work table in the backyard complete with all of his tools and the how-to dvd (yes, it comes with one!) set up on the portable dvd player. If it had been me, I would have just opened the first box and started drilling.
After working for an entire day (some of it with his dad) Sam came inside cursing the thing. He was delighted to find he had a third degree burn on the back of his neck. The next day, he soldiered on (with a dish towel hooked onto the back of his hat to cover his neck--sexy.) The goggles gave him instant street cred.
Fast forward a week. This was Ryan every day as Sam worked:
Ryan hates to be inside when anyone is outside--especially dad. Finally, the Behemoth was finished.
Look how much fun they are having:
Look how much he enjoys being outside:
Look at that smile:
I ask Sam if those faces make it all worth it. His reply "Probably not."
