Giant Wooden Spool Playground.

So, one day my son showed up at the house with a great present for me.
It was a massive 300 pound wooden wire spool.
He wheeled it to the back yard.
Initially I had thought it would be a good table to use for my garden.
But when he wheeled it in and flipped it on it's side,
I realized it was way too tall for me to use to put my plants on.

So it sat.

Christmas came.
We used it as a display table for our minions Christmas inflatable.

And then...
again....
it sat.

I couldn't do anything with it.   I couldn't  move it, because it was flat on its side
and much too heavy for me to flip.

So it sat.

One day I was on the twenty five year old swing that we had purchased
when our kids were little.   My grandchild wanted to push
me and her sister on the swing.....fast.

That was when the quarter century chain finally gave out.
And there we sat, on the ground.

I promised my granddaughter that I would fix the swing.

So, piece by piece, I ordered parts and put it back together.
Then an idea took place.

I asked my son to please come roll the huge wooden spool
over near the old swing set.

He did this for me.

Then, I pondered.

and I pondered........

I started getting a great idea......

The old broken swing set,

the wooden spool.

It could work!

My daughter and son in law found someone getting rid of an old slide.

I'll TAKE IT!!!!

 I played around with a few ideas.
My granddaughter would always ask me if I had fixed the swing.

I pondered and pondered.

Then it all started to come together in my head!   

My husband was trying to clean out the garage,

so I helped by getting rid of some of the paint.  

I painted the spool, and the swing.

My son gave me a can of Thompson Water Seal.

Just in time, too, as it rained the next day. 

I got new chain and hardware for the swing. 

I found the old trapeze bar from the old swingset.

I sanded it, got new hardware and painted it. . . pink.

I rolled the spool up on some blocks.   

I noticed on the way home from work that someone was getting rid of a nice pool ladder.

I enlisted my husband's aid in retrieving this treasure. 

After that I went online and found a few handles,

a steering wheel,

some climbing wall holds,

and then,

most importantly, 

a new larger slide!

And then...

I pondered again.

My daughter and son in law showed up....

My son in law helped put on some of the accessories

and attach the ladder and slide. 

He didn't even have a chance to finish and the kids were climbing all over it!  

Of course he tested it out! 

It is not done yet, but so far, it is a hit!   

A company even sent me this teeter totter for free!!!! 

Still need to put the rock climbing holds on, 

and possible a few other ideas....

But so far it is coming together!!!