Birthday Tire Swing

For the twins first birthday, I built the twins a swing set. This year, I didn't do any where near as much. Instead, Amy and I bought them a tire swing. I designed the swing set to accommodate a tire swing underneath the tower and was looking forward to eventually getting one.

Amy and I got a good deal on a tire swing from a Toys 'R' Us that was moving. The rope was too long and it was designed to be hung like a traditional swing from two points but I thought I could make it work. I shorted the rope and bought some stuff from Home Depot so I could hang the swing from one point in a way where it could spin. I also needed to reinforce the floor boards to hold the tire swing.

Here is the new tire swing before either kid ever saw it.
Caroline was immediately interested in the tire swing. She was so cute holding on tightly. After getting on, she right away started saying, "Caden, sit there" referring to the seat opposite of her.
Caden was happy to get onto the swing with Caroline.
They both wanted me to sit on their with them but I told them I was too big and the tire swing is just for kids.
I pushed the twins all around spinning them quite a bit. They loved it and held on very tight.
After I got them off the swing, they were both a little dizzy. Caden actually fell over several times trying to walk. He found this hilarious.

Now, when I take the kids out to play on the swing set, they first want to swing on the normal swing. After awhile, they want to climb on the tower and go down the slide. And after doing that a few times, they always want to play on the tire swing.

Climbing: Part 1 of 3 -- The Swingset

The twins each have a lot of traits where we wonder the origin. Sometimes Amy or I try to take credit for a trait. Other times, we blame a trait on the other. One trait shared by our twins where there is no question of origin is their love of climbing. I was definitely a climber as a youngin', and even now, I sometimes, er often, think, "hey, I bet I could climb that."

The kids are getting better and better at climbing. We try keep a close eye on them, which is easier said than done. It has become a common occurrence for us to search for a kid only to find them on top of something. We often find them on the diaper changing table, the kitchen table, desk, indoor playscape, entertainment system, bed, etc, etc, etc. Both kids can scale these items in a mere matter of seconds.

A couple weeks ago, the kids found something outside made for climbing--the swingset! We have used the swingset many times over the last year for swinging. But now, the kids know they can climb the six foot ladder, play on the top, and go down the slide all by themselves. Their first time to do this was in front of a very worried Grandma and Aunt Angie.

Here is my little man heading on up the ladder
Caroline was literally right on his heels.
Now, it is Caroline's turn to go first.Grandma was close by to make sure Caden didn't fall.
Caden pulling himself up to the top.
You may have noticed our kids did not have pants on in these pictures. My bad. The next time we went out to climb, both kids were fully dressed.

Notice two fully dressed and proud kids.
Caroline even wanted to sport her Minnie Ears.
One thing both kids liked doing was grabbing onto the handle bars, standing close to the edge, and hanging out as far as their arms would let them. I didn't get a picture of them doing that because I was busy being ready to catch them in case they fell.
While Caden was doing this, he scared me by declaring, "fall!!!" Typically, when Caden says this, he intentionally falls off whatever he happens to be on. This normally entails him falling off the couch head first. He always finds it hilarious. This time, I explained how it would not be funny to fall from this height and that he would get hurt. I hope he understood. :)
Caroline preparing to go down the slide while Caden patiently waited for his turn.
Now, it's Caden's turn.
I look forward to years of watching the kids play on this swingset. I wonder how long it will be before one of them is on the roof top or walking down the swing crossbar as if it were a balance beam? And in case you are wondering, I think I could do it. :)

The Swingset if Finally Finished

After taking a couple months off but I finally spent the time to complete the swingset and can now cross this project off my list. When the kids get older, I'll add a tire swing below the tower, replace the baby swings, and add a two person swing in the third position. But for now, the swing set is done.

Most of the swingset was done for the twins first birthday party but there were a few things I needed to do like build a ladder on the back side, a rope ladder, the bars to keep kids from falling out of the tower, and a few stabilizers.

Here is a picture of the completed swingset.
In this picture, you can see the rope ladder I made and the wood ladder entrance to the tower.
Here is the view from our back porch.
Over Christmas, the Baker kids came over to break in the completed swingset. Here is big Cal climbing up the rock wall. He was a little scared but he made it to the top several times.
Will also made it up the rock wall.
Will then showed off his speed by running across our yard.
Ella was an expert at the rope ladder. Her brothers could not make it as high.
Here is a pic of Will trying the rope ladder and Ella going down the slide.
Big will did not want to go any higher than he is right now.
Ella climbing up the rope ladder.
Ella was all over the place on the swingset. It is nice to see that our twins will enjoy it for many years.
Ella was really good on the rock wall. She showed off how she could go up it using the rope and none of the rocks or vice versa by using the rocks and not the rope.
I look forward to my kids being able to play on the swingset like their older cousins.

Daddy's Birthday Present for the Twins

We mentioned the playscape that Jason built in a previous blog, but, I didn't think that post gave you a full understanding of the playscape...so, I am dedicating a full blog post to it. I was the official photographer of the project and tried to capture each step for you to see.

Here are the plans that Jason drew up for the playscape....he seriously drew them out himself, calculated all the angles and even used a protractor for the sketches and angles. Seriously impressive!

After drawing up the plans and figuring out what supplies he needed, Jason and his dad made a trip to Home Depot. They bought a ton of wood, bolts, screws, and even splurged on a new miter saw. There was so much, they had to rent a truck to get it back home, carried it into the backyard, and made this stack.

Ok, well, the stack doesn't look at big in pictures as it was in real life. On Saturday, August 21st, Jason started the construction of the playscape with the goal of completing most of it by the twins first birthday party. It took a few weekends of hard work during the hottest time of year, but Jason was able to get it built.

Here he is cutting wood with his new miter saw.
The first thing built was the tower base. This was the hardest part and took a lot of math. With our yard being no where near level, Jason had to survey the area and figure out the elevation of all the points where the swing set would touch the ground. There is more than a foot difference between the corners of the tower and two feet between the highest and lowest point in the swing.

I helped in this part of the project by holding the two sides up while Jason added temporary supports. I also helped by frequently telling Jason it was not level despite his level saying the tower was actually level. :) Also, you can see our fence blew over during this time, it's fixed now!
Jason standing on what would be the top of the slide and rock wall.
Rock wall, minus the rocks, is up!
Caden enjoyed being up on the tower with Daddy.
Here is the first time down the slide.
Caden's first time down the slide by himself.
Poppa helped put the roof on. He also helped with the 4x6x12 crossbar that holds the swings. Thanks for spending hours in the heat dad!!
Here is the what the swing set looked like before the party. It is not quite finished. Jason still plans to make a rope ladder (behind the slide in the picture), build a ladder to get up the back side of the tower, something for the third swing location, and someday, we plan to add a tire swing underneath the tower.

This is the twins first time on the swing. Daddy had been working on the swing set and just finished hanging two swings. This was the weekend before the twins first birthday party.
Caden LOVES, LOVES, LOVES swinging. He is so excited and loves going as high as you are willing to push him.

Caroline was not quite sure what to think her first time on the swing. She was tired an needed a nap but she did enjoy watching Caden. Now, Caroline really likes swinging...just not as much as brother.


Here are the grandparents pushing the kids in the swing the night before their party.
Here is a video we made of the twins first time swinging on the swing set.




So far, the swingset has been a HUGE hit with the twins! I am sure it will continue to entertain them for years to come!