Speaking of Swings ...

In our front yard, we have a round swing (see photo - not our swing). We've had it pretty much since we've owned our home, which means it's probably 20 years old (at least). When we had dogs, the swing was in the backyard, and they would play with it. Once the tree that the swing hung on was cut down, I decided to transfer the swing to the front. Everley and Lindley had begun to play on the swing during the past year.

In January of this year, Lindley had her friend birthday party at our house. The kids played on the swing and at some point the swing rope broke (the rope holding the swing is also 20+ years old, so nylon doesn't always last forever). One of the dads in attendance tied a knot in the rope and rehung the swing. The only problem is that it was a few feet higher than it was. Another problem was that only one child can ride on the swing at a time, which isn't always feasible, if the children who want to ride the swing are not in a "sharing" mood.

After taking a look at the swing and noticing that the re-rigged rope was fraying even more, I decided to upgrade the swing. I decided to get one of those "net" swings (see photo - similar to the one I ordered). Of course I had to contemplate again which one to get, and decided to get the one that would hold 600 pounds - just in case I decided to get on it. The good thing is that several kids can ride on it at once - as long as they don't have a combined weight of 600 pounds (a math lesson that Lindley and I had as we were discussing the swing this afternoon). Anyhow, the good news is that the swing came fully assembled. The other news is that somebody was going to have to hang it from the tree.

Lindley wanted to come over, so after school she and Lynnette came over. I suggested getting take out for dinner, so pretty soon Maribeth and Everley and Emmatha also came over. We stood under the designated swing tree and looked at the swing and discussed ways and persons who might climb said tree to hang it. Eventually Lynnette volunteered, and after several attempts on various sides of the tree to actually climb the tree, she hoisted herself into place (see photo - this is actually Lynnette in tree with former unacceptable swing - first we she had to get dangerous swing out of tree). Unfortunately, our first location choice would make the swing way too high for anybody to get into it, much less the kids. We then chose to hang the swing where the old swing was. After a bit of maneuvering and clamping the ends together, the swing was in place. However, there were a few issues ...

First, the swing was still a little too high. Everley could not get on the swing without help or the step ladder (which Lynnette had used to get into the tree). Lindley could hoist herself onto the swing, but that usually caused the swing to slip and go lopsided, which was not at all acceptable. Then there was the issue of the swing being a little too close to the tree, which meant limited swinging, unless one wished to bang into the tree.

Somebody had to babysit!

With all these swing issues, interest waned after a bit, and we went inside for dinner. I ordered a "swing strap" to hang on another branch further away from the trunk and possibly higher (the strap is 10 feet long, which means the swing should be low enough for everyone to get on, which means it will be a magnet for Danger Baby). Once it gets here, we should be back in the swing business.

The only problem is who's going to climb that high in the tree to hang the new strap ...

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Today's blessings include: Lindley, Everley, and Emmatha time; Lynnette getting up in the tree and hanging the swing; take out from Cheesecake Factory