Earlier this summer I built this playground set for my son. Actually, the bulk of the wood is from a recycled ultra-pallet that was going to be thrown away at work, and as you may remember I have an affinity for reclaiming lumber. The other parts actually came pretty easily as well (not to mention cheaply). The rope net I made from rope and a piece of ½” PVC pipe for a grand total of about $20. The rock wall was part of the pallet, and the rocks came off of ebay for about $25. The slide was given to me by a co-worker. The only thing that I put any amount of money into is the sand box, which ran about $80, and if I had been a little more prudent I probably could have built it using other reclaimed wood. The bulk of the playground set actually fell under my two tenets for work, 1) I am very lazy and 2) I am very cheap (and more so the latter).
Playground
Win a Yard Castle from MyFixitUpLife
Let’s say you live a cursed blessed life thanks to one or more children in your household. You have several options for occupying their time. 1) Manual Labor – Forget child labor laws, I’m pretty sure they don’t apply for household tasks like gardening, refinishing hardwood floors and general carpentry. 2) Errand Running – My personal favorite is “Sweetie, can you fetch me a bottle of fermented water”? Please note that toddlers fetching beer is not a reportable offense to Child Protective Services. 3) Live Entertainment – It turns out that kids are highly entertaining when it comes to signing, dancing, and story-telling. This is the traditional way parents found entertainment before TV and the Internet came along.
After your children have spent 23.5 out of 24 hours tending to every need of their parents, isn’t it time we gave something back to the kids? That’s where a two story yard castle contest comes in. Read More