Why I Oughta...

I came across this tire swing at Menards recently and immediately snapped a photo and texted it to Nat.  I mean...who wouldn't want a 'Tractor Ride'n', right? Her response?  A simple: "no." Which, is probably the only answer I should have reasonably expected, right?  I mean...come on.  Look at this thing.  It *is* ridiculous. So, if you're in the market for something like this, you're in luck.   There's at least one left at Menards on North Avenue.

As I've done in years past, I try to check out the annual cedar playset that Costco is rolling out in the Spring.  In fact, they're always some of the most popular posts here on the blog for folks coming via search.   Here's a post from 2012 showing that year's version with some plastic parts.  Then...right after that, they came out with a different version in 2012  that had less plastic parts.  And here's the one in Costco back in 2011 that we ended up buying .  I spent a bunch of weekends (along with my father-in-law) putting it together - which was a lot of fun. Since we sold the house, we left that playset behind.  It was a one-of-a-kind due to the location we placed it, we had to make a pretty major modification in terms of orienting the swings . This year's version has a nice little upgrade:  two slides.  One being a tube slide that winds around and the other being a open slide that has a few undulations in it.  Otherwise, it has much of the same it

Last week, I posted a photo and description of the Suncast Wood and Resin Playset from our local Costco in Oak Brook Illinois and commented that I was pleased that we purchased the Cedar Summit version last year because I preferred the looks of all-wood version over this year's edition that has a lot of plastic panels and elements.  I was surprised that Costco eliminated the Cedar Summit folks in favor of Suncast - it seemed odd to me that they'd take out a nice (seemingly) higher-end product and replace it with something that I perceived as being lower-end with increased pricing. A few days later, I received a nice note from the folks at Cedar Summit that set me straight and provided some good news for Costco Playset/Swingset shoppers around the country.  They, indeed, are selling this year's Cedar Summit edition and it is called the " Mountainview Resort '.  He also laid out the facts: The Suncast plastic/wood playset is ONLY available in the Midwest an

You bet we are.