Masten Park

Zoey has been begging to go to the park pretty much every day but with it being so hot it was really hard to justify going over there just to spend only 5 or 10 minutes and then march home with sweaty and bored again kids. Knowing I had a paycheck coming in the mail soon and really our backyard is quite large and empty I figured it was time to get a playset. Everyone I talked to that has one says it's totally worth it and the kids love it. I set out to find the one that was the best value for my budget. I zeroed in on the Patriot II by Adventure Playsets.

And so the "adventure" began...

as four very large and heavy boxes.

Then I had to separate and inventory all the wood pieces. They sent two G10s and one G9 when I was supposed to get two G9s and one G10, but the only difference in them is an extra pilot hole. So far so good, I can live with that mistake without calling the company.

In order to validate the warranty, all the wood had to be sealed to protect against rain and the sun. Brandon sealed about 1/4 of the wood and I did the rest. We used a little over a gallon of sealer that claims to be effective for at least 2 years. At $35 a gallon and a huge stain on the garage floor, it better! For the record I sealed all my wood over the grass, like any neat person would....

Then all the sealed wood had to dry for at least 24 hours, and even then it was still a little gookey. That's a technical term

Then I had to inventory all the hardware and this is where things got complicated. First off, there was no instruction manual included in any of the shipped boxes, I had to download it online. After much frustration of part numbers and counts not lining up on the paper I realize the person I bought the set from sent me a Patriot kit with a straight slide, while the differences in the models is quite minimal, it took me a while to sort through all the versions of manuals online to finally figure out that Patriot 2009 revision was closest to the hardware sent. Even then, some of the part numbers were wildly off, mostly for wood screws. I decided we'd work with what we had until we absolutely needed to call the company for replacement parts or go to Lowes.

And so the building began...and this is all that got done on Saturday.

Zoey is thrilled at getting a park and wanted to help.

Monday the fun continues...lucky us the turtle sandbox fit right into the built in sandbox so we can have protection from cats and other gross things that like to get into sand.

The playhouse begins to take shape, I begin to hear a lot of "oh I'll just Dremel that smooth and it won't be a problem."

The kids are ready to play, so we need to take a time out to swing around a little.

So the ladder isn't actually supposed to be installed until 10 steps after the current one, but Brandon was tired of jumping up and down from the platform. Once installed the kids immediately start climbing up it. I guess that's why it wasn't supposed to be installed yet.

Strong enough to hold three grown men installing a roof.

 Who needs a ladder anyway? A little creativity and a few cricks in the hand is all you need.

Installing the picnic table.

On Tuesday evening the slide appears. The moment it is put on the kids are going full blast 'til bedtime.

This thing is FAST, nothing like the slides at the park. Ian just flies off the end of it. He has since discovered he can control his speed if he goes down feet first on his belly and uses his hands to create slowing friction.

Wednesday night after the kids are in bed, Brandon and I finish the swing arm. I'm sure it would have been much easier to assemble in daylight rather than with flashlights.

And a back view. Pretty cute!

Overall I love it and the kids do too, they play on it on and off all day. I would have preferred the rock wall and slide in opposite positions so that the south facing slide wouldn't be so hot most of the day and I could have a better view from the kitchen of what the kids are doing in the picnic area. The quality of the wood is average, plenty of knots and we ended up with our fair share of splits and cracks but nothing structural. The anchors were a pure nightmare to put in because of the drought, it was like trying to drill into cement. I had to soak the ground where the anchors were supposed to go during the process of screwing them in. The most frustrating part was the hardware included just didn't match up well, many things were dead on in count, others were severely underincluded such as 1 1/8" wood screws and fender washers. We were short on some bolts for the swing arm. We ended up just using slightly longer or shorter screws and I got hex head bolts from lowes to use in place of the washer head-locking proprietary bolts included with the set. Also many of the sizes of screws and washers are non standard and are not readily available at your local hardware store. That was SO annoying. I did have to call the company and get a replacement screen for the back window and a bushing for the glider that were not included (the website is screwed up and I couldn't order replacements that way, I had to call the company, it was quick and painless that way. I am still waiting for the replacement part arrivals, it's been 4 days since I ordered), everything else we just worked with what extra hardware (and there were lots of leftovers of some things) there was and what we could get at Lowes.

The final count:

Wood parts inventory: 2 hours
Hardware inventory: 4 hours
Wood Sealing: 8 hours/ over 3 days
Building: 18 hours/2 people/4 days
Total: 32 hours
8 days from delivery to completion, no work was done on Sunday

I hope the kids use this thing for at least the next 7-8 years!!! A special thanks to all our friends who helped! Come play at Masten Park!!