Swing Set Steal!

I mentioned another craigslist deal coming soon when I posted about our kitchen table...well here it is, a fun new swing set / club house!  The unbelievable part is that it's a Rainbow set and was only $125!!  For anyone who isn't familiar, Rainbow makes high quality redwood sets that cost thousands of dollars brand new - the owner said this particular one was originally $3000.  The funny part is that my "luck" in winning this item was mostly because of the owner's decision to sell it to the first person to bring him cash, and not necessarily the first to express interest to the craigslist post as is the most common craigslist practice.  This guy wanted cash in hand and the swing set gone asap so he could make room for a new pool that same week.  I recognized the brand and good condition of the set from the add description and picture and emailed him that I was available to bring the money anytime during the day without seeing the swing set first (Ryan and I agreed this was a great deal for $125 and worth risking any flaws that may not be noticeable in the picture).  The owner told me there was already a lot of interest and that several people were planning to come over to his house to see it (and probably buy it) at the end of the work day.  But my immediate availability and decision to bypass an inspection bumped me up to the top of his list and he gave me his work address to deliver the cash.  For some reason - maybe the urgency with which I was emailing back and forth, hurrying to get cash from an ATM, and seeking out this craigslist stranger's place of work - the whole thing felt like I was making some sort of undercover deal.  So I brought the money to his work (which was luckily nearby in Reston) and the swing set we had not yet seen in person was ours!  It took Ryan some time and work to disassemble, transport, cut a couple new pieces of wood, power wash, sand, stain and put back together...but as of Mother's Day, it's now up and looks beautiful!  We still need to finish staining and put up the connecting half that has all the swings, but the boys have been having a blast on the slide, fort, and tire swing everyday this week.

The boys disproved my initial worry that it might take them a couple months to learn to safely climb the large ladders!  They easily climbed right up with the goal of going down the big yellow slide as motivation!  We've been putting Spencie up at the top of the slide and guiding him down since he's too little to climb the ladders...but I don't think that will be for long.  That boy loves climbing and he is unstoppable.  Today he found an alternate way to the top - by shimmying himself up the slide!  He then turned around and went back down all by himself.  He is by far the biggest "daredevil" of the three!