My Kids Want A Swingset, Do Yours?

Our last home had a giant swingset or play structure in the backyard.  My son was four and loved to play on it.  We lived there for a few years and decided to move to the other side of town.  My husband really wanted a pool and started looking at only those homes that came with a pool because we figured it would be much cheaper and less trouble to buy a home with a pool than to start from scratch and have a pool put in.  Since we live in Texas and the Summers are very hot, there are many homes with pools in their backyards.  The problem with having a pool is that the majority of the homes in our area have very small backyards.  If you have a pool, then your backyard is mostly water and concrete with very little space for the kids to play when they are not in the pool.  Now that the heat is fading away, the urge to run and play in the yard is back and my kids are now trying to figure out how we could fit a swingset into our backyard without being too close to the pool.

The pool is a great idea for the hot months, but when it is cooler, you either have to warm the water or wait until Summer comes back around to get back in.  I still have to maintain it and adjust the chemicals, so right now it is a lot of work with little reward.  It is this time of year that I also miss our old swingset.  We use to have picnics inside it and have contests to see who could climb the farthest on the monkey bars or who could swing the highest.  It was a lot of fun, and so much easier to have your own play structure than to make multiple trips down to the park.

Now that my oldest is 12 and very good at locating things online, he and his 6 year old brother have decided to do some research on different types of swingsets.   They said that they feel that they could save me some time if they could find the right swingset for us.  In other words, they are trying to use their online skills to talk my husband and I into purchasing another swingset.  Since my son is now 12, I can’t wait to see what type of swingset he chooses.  I’m sure it will not be like the one he had at age 4.  Last night, I had a little extra time, so I quickly browsed http://www.swingsets1.com to get an idea of pricing and swingset sizes that are available.  It has been awhile since we made our last swingset purchase and last time we didn’t have to fit the play set in a backyard with a stationary pool.  However, we do have an area behind our back fence that would work great.  Most of the neighbors have hammocks, so why couldn’t we have a swingset?  It makes since to me, but I had better look into that before I have a huge play set sent to my house.  What do you think?  Do your kids have a swingset in your yard?  If so, what accessories do you have on it?