Freecycled Playcenter

On Saturday someone posted a wooden playcenter on Freecycle, and I asked for it for the Grands. A very sweet lady emailed me and said we could pick it up the next day. It is several years old, weathered and missing the canopy and swings, but the wood is good and Ron will be able to restore it to nearly new condition, I'm sure.

So Sunday afternoon, after Mass and lunch with Mom, Ron, Josh and I went over to get the playcenter. I thought Josh was going to revolt when he saw that we would have to take it apart. He was not enthusiastic about the job, but he and Ron were able to get it apart in a couple of hours, after I went home for the socket set. I helped load and unload the pieces, but other than that I wasn't much help.

Now it is all apart in our backyard, waiting for Ron's handiwork to restore it to all its glory (I'll help). :o) He will sand and stain it and put it back together. We need a few new bolts, new swings, and we may get a new canopy or maybe not, since it will be under a tree. We could even put a wooden roof on it, but that depends on whether Ron wants to work that hard.

It has a glider, a cargo rope for climbing, a climbing wall, a long yellow slide, a fort up top and a picnic table underneath. The underneath part will be a perfect place for a "clubhouse" for the grands.

The picture is what the playcenter would look like if it was new. Our slide is yellow, not green, and the wood is gray and weathered right now. If we were to buy it new, it would cost around $600 to $700. All it will cost us is time and energy (oh, and the cost of two new swings), and I think we'll end up with something our Grands will love! Yay Freecycle!