This day I love.......: Big

4 comments

OK, so I am not one to go on about the weather but I am really getting fed up of this rain now. I am wanting to finish BIG, so close, and am wanting to go out and play with the girls. In the breaks between the rain we did manage to get a little done on our BIG project.

We finished the repair works on our play frame and my Dad came to help. We unfortunately could not save the ladder, it was too badly rotten and lots of the rungs had cracked. Big game hunters came to our rescue and sent us a new wooden ladder.

We had to get it a little wider than the previous ladder in order to give the correct height. The wood used is of great quality. The ladder feels really well built and is smooth, so there was no need to sand. We plan on painting the ladder with the rest of the climbing frame, but the rain did not hold off long enough. Both girls could not wait to try out the new ladder. My eldest was a bit wary at first but she scaled it with ease. My youngest can manage the first few but then wants picking up. Better than she does with other ladders.

We were also sent the TP activity pack to add to the climbing frame. The activity pack contains a chalk board, a phone and a telescope. The idea was to replace the chalk board at the top of the ladder, but my eldest did not want to, as she likes the clock. So instead we put the chalk board inside the play house for her, and she spent most of the morning chalking.

The chalk board was a huge success and great to spend some time outdoors, even when it was raining. The rain cleared and my eldest wanted to play pirates. She scaled the ladders to board her ship and began her look out through her telescope. She spied treasure.

Quick, she needed to make a telephone call to call her sister. Her sister answered and off they went to dig up the treasure.

Whilst the girls were off hunting for treasure, my Dad was busy with the new swing, to replace the worn out tyre swing. The girls are too little to make use of the tyre swing, so I wanted something they could make use of and something which would be fun and last some time. I came across a Horse swing made out of recycled tyres, at Great Little Trading Co. With my eldest really loving horses I thought this would be ideal for her.

My Dad made a beam for the swing and set about putting the tyre up. The swing itself comes fully assembled but it still needs putting into the right height.

One of the main ideas behind BIG is to make new of something old. The horse tyre swing fits in perfectly with this. It is made from a recycled tyre, and carefully moulded into the shape of a horse. My eldest fell in love with it the second it was up. She was so happy to play on her horse, I think they are going to be friends for life.

Unfortunately this happened

and kept happening. The only thing we have left to do now with project BIG, is paint the climbing frame. As soon as the weather eases, we shall paint the climbing frame. I cannot wait to show you the images when it is all complete and finally reveal what BIG is about.

Not to be deterred by the bad weather, I wrapped up the girls and BOB, and we headed out

We met my Mum at the park, and unsurprisingly it was empty. My eldest loved having free run to explore the park. She loved running around and playing on the slide. My youngest slept the whole time.

Of course it was soon time to head home but my eldest did not seem to mind too much as she wanted to get home to her horse.

My eldest really wants the rain to go away so she can play outside on her horse, and I really want the rain to go away so we can play outside and paint our climbing frame.

This day I love rain rain go away

No comments

Something BIG has come to this day I love. Its time to reveal, but first here is the background to the project.

A year ago we moved into our dream house, it had everything even a beautiful play house and swing slide set in the garden for the girls. My eldest was keen to play on them and the first thing that happened was one of the rungs on the ladder broke, We checked and did repair work to make it safe but the equipment and the house are 12 years old, never been painted or really looked after and so we kept doing more and more repairs. We were then faced with a decision, do we keep making repairs or do we rip it all out a start again? We decided that we would make do and mend. We are incredibly lucky and grateful to have the equipment so lets restore it back to new. Let's clean, fix and paint and get the girls involved. Start a project with the girls so they can value their play equipment, want to play and take care of it. More important let's get them outside playing.

So a project was born, lets Restore, Recycle and Renovate our outside play areas, so the girls can be inspired and motivated to care for them as they get older. So they have somewhere safe to play and somewhere that will last as they grow older.

This bank holiday weekend we began our Project. First up, cleaning!

Luckily we had sunshine for 3 days, day 1 was spent cleaning the playhouse and the other 2 days the swing slide set.

My husband and eldest got to work with the Karcher K2 Pressure washer along with the Karcher Wood detergent to clean the wooden frame. As you can see from the above pictures the frame was incredibly dirty from 12 years worth of outdoor dirt.

My husband set up the pressure washer really quickly and got to work. As the idea behind the project is that the girls help too, my eldest could not believe her luck when she got to have a go. The Karcher is so light to handle that she had no problems with it. My husband stayed with her just in case though.

The power of water from the vario lance and cleaning power from the Karcher K2 was absolutely amazing, it made really light work of all the dirt and debris on the wooden frame. My husband did this patch in less than 20 seconds just to show me how good it really was.

Due to the Karcher K2 light weight and compact size my husband found it really easy to manoeuvre round the swing slide set. The long handle made it really easy to push or pull.

Although it took 2 days to finally clean the swing slide set it would have taken a lot longer had it not been for the amazing cleaning power of the Karcher K2.

Of course my eldest did not want to clean all the swing slide set what she wanted to do was play on her bike from Galt toys.

She absolutely adores her bike, she loves the bright red colour and how easy it is to move. She loves that it is as she puts it 'a proper bike' It so easy for her to steer that she was riding up and down the patio for most of the day

I love how well made it is, and that it is helping her gain better balance. As she was having so much fun on her bike I could get on with the sanding whilst my husband cleaned.

We made a good start to our Restore, Recycle, Renovate project, the play house and swing slide set are amazingly clean. I keep looking at them through the window in the pouring rain at how clean they are. I managed to sand everything down, which means next job is repair work and painting. My husband had fun with his new toy, a Karcher K2 pressure washer and my eldest had fun with her lovely red bike from Galt toys. I cannot wait for Part 2! Oh and the red bike from Galt toys has made its way indoors and is been rode up and down the hall way, its safe to say she enjoys it!

If you are undertaking a similar project at the moment, which encourages kids to play outside, Restoring, Recycling and Renovating Outdoor play spaces then please let me know and leave me a link in comments, thank you.

This Day I love the Big reveal.

We were very kindly sent a Karcher K2 pressure washer, and a bike from Galt toys, The words used are my own honest opinion on the products.

7 comments

3 comments

About me

Follow Us

Popular

Brands