Play Structure

We just adopted this playset from our extremely generous neighbor, without ever meeting her.

I had mentioned to my friend and neighbor Tricia that we were thinking about constructing some sort of playhouse or fort in the backyard this summer (something the kids have been begging for!) A week or so later, Tricia caught me outside A's school and said that she'd been talking to her next-door-neighbor, Jodi, who has two high school-aged daughters and a no-longer-used play structure sitting in her backyard. Tricia connected the two of us via email, and over the course of a week, between email and voicemails, Jodi and I coordinated the details.

On Saturday, Ben and I dismantled the play structure and moved it to our yard. It took a couple of days to reassemble it, replacing one board and several bolts in the process, and digging out an area of the yard to make it level and sturdy. Ben just finished the last step of assembly as dusk fell this evening, and A couldn't wait to get out and try the monkey bars! Over the next few days Ben plans to power-wash and stain it, and then it will be good as new.

Both A and E were extremely perplexed by the fact that high schoolers no longer use playground equipment. ("But Mom - what do they do for outside playtime?")

This evening we walked over to Jodi's house to meet her in person (she was out of town all weekend while we were doing the big move). We took her a bouquet of our tulips as a token thank you. It was great to meet another neighbor, and in the process, we learned that she (a) is a nurse at the same hospital where I work and (b) is a friend and former colleague of A's best friend's mom. Small little neighborhood and town!