Backyard World PLAYSETS Picture Gallery

It's that point of year again: playset season. Enough time when millions of parents prepare yourself to shell out thousands of dollars for small-scale back garden jungle gyms because of their beloved children.For years I'd managed to efficiently avert this dependence on suburban family life. And, one day something happened.I cracked.I can't even blame my kids. They never badgered me or complained. I'm not sure they needed a playset. No. I needed one.If we were outside the house in the backyard my kids wandered around aimlessly, invariably coming back inside to the couch. I needed to shoo them again outside and shout, "Go play!" But using what? We didn't have a pool or swings or perhaps a paved driveway to attract on. I decided for my very own sanity and their success we needed a playset.Visions of summertime times whiled away on a swingset or in the attached fort with children's laughter floating by on the balmy air flow, danced in my head. But I needed one thing to be properly clear. EASILY was going to take out a second mortgage to finance a playset, my kids were going to have to live on it--literally.The playset we eyed-up had a house-like enclosure and a picnic table and was almost as large as my house. It was certainly a suitable dwelling for just two smallish people. They could come inside for the wintertime but not until then. And when we ran some electric wiring and domestic plumbing to the fort, I might never have to see them again.But as with most fantasies, once realized, the facts on the ground don't quite match the eyesight, therefore it was with the playset.My research on playsets commenced prior to spring and coil because I thought if we bought in the off-season, we may be able to get an acceptable price. I had been mistaken. A couple of no reasonable prices when it comes to playsets. I have no idea if the hardware is solid yellow metal or if the framework is made of rare, endangered timber, but bargains aren't to be had. So I considered an option a friend advised: used playsets. One could get a complete playset for 50 percent the purchase price. That had my name written all over it.Unfortunately, it didn't have my husband's name written on it. He was against the complete playset idea from the beginning--it would affect his turf. If, however, I was going to insist he acknowledge he has children and they require gadgets, then he motivated he would need a deluxe model worth being put atop his pristine lawn.Still, I continued in my search for pre-owned models, persuaded I could gratify us both. And I was successful in finding a used playset in relatively good condition large enough for just two school-age kids. It even got a rock wall. But the best benefit was it only cost about a thousand bucks. Success was mine.Then my hubby pointed out the playset was someplace beyond your tri-state area, and we didn't have a vehicle large enough to move it even if we performed want to take the half-day drive going obtain it. I nodded silently. I grasped. And with a heavy heart, I quit on my used playset search.For those who have never had the knowledge of shopping for a playset, it's quite a daunting task. There are numerous makes and models and levels and configurations to choose from, and everything the real playthings are extra. Perhaps you could buy a fairly cheap wooden framework, but your children would be able to do is stare at it wistfully since it would be only an oversized sawhorse.I continued to comparison shop online for weeks before day finally came when I discovered my dream swing action set. It got everything I'd imagined. The one problem was I couldn't find the money for it. Over the course of the next weeks, I stopped at the playset many times, hoping to occur upon a deal. Then, mid-summer, it finally occurred. The company had what constituted a storewide sale in playset circles: free gangplank weekend. I used to be sold.Free gangplank weekend was an enormous coup for me, and I breathed a sigh of relief that the hunting and agonizing and planning was over. Then the sales guy struck me with the monthly bill. Slightly below $2,000. And it was FREE gangplank weekend!The playset has been bought and paid for, delivered and erected inside our yard for nearly per year, but it was not played with much. Or possibly I will say it hasn't been played with as much as $2,000 would warrant. We haven't made our money back on it yet, but a few items have been well worth their price. The swings and trapeze bar. That's really all you have to. Take it from someone whose been used up.The youngsters still wander aimlessly about the garden, ignoring the one component, the priciest one, that they lobbied so vehemently, the fort. It sits empty except for the parrots and the squirrels. But maybe if we installed a TV in there...