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Backyard Discovery, Skyfort II Playground Cedar Wood Swing Set with Playhouse Fort, Sandbox, Picnic Table, Slide, Monkey Bars, Swings, Rock Climber, Outdoor Playset for kids Age 3-10 years

4.4 4.4 out of 5 stars 649 ratings

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Purchase options and add-ons

Brand Backyard Discovery
Color Natural
Product Dimensions 200.79"D x 263.78"W x 149.61"H
Frame Material Cedar
Finish Type Unfinished
Material
Wood, Cedar
Item Weight
720 Pounds
Maximum Weight Recommendation
54 Kilograms
Maximum number of compatible seats
2

About this item

  • Customer Favorite Outdoor Swing Set: Your kids will have fun playing backyard games on the Skyfort swing set. Nicely equipped with multiple playhouse accessories and features to keep your children entertained for hours.
  • Long Lasting, Withstands in Severe Weather: Why Cedar? Cedar thrives in damp climates, enabling it to withstand many conditions. In laboratory testing, our durable cedar wood proved to be rot resistant and highly resistant to natural decay.
  • Every Accessory Under the Sun: This backyard swing set and fort is a sturdy structure that stands the test of time, a top of the line clubhouse with wood roof, windows, covered entry way, and bay windows. Sun balcony and crow's nest with telescope.
  • Enjoy Quality Time: Whether make believe or for real, enjoy a picnic with your child on the picnic table. The lower deck has a snack stand. Instead of going to the beach, play in the sandbox.
  • Swings, Trapeze, Rock Climber: Two belt swings and a trapeze, rock climbing wall and flat step entry ladder. and 10ft. Speedy slide and Monkey Bars
  • Stain Saturation May Very: All lumber is pre-stained for a smooth and clear appearance, as well as cut and stamped with the part number to help speed up the building process. Some pilot-hole drilling may be require
  • Step-by-Step Setup Via Our App: Download our app to view videos and diagram instructions for setup. This is a large playset and comes in pieces, we have included these tools to help you along the way.

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Product Warranty: For warranty information about this product, please click here. [PDF ]

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Backyard Discovery, Skyfort II Playground Cedar Wood Swing Set with Playhouse Fort, Sandbox, Picnic Table, Slide, Monkey Bars, Swings, Rock Climber, Outdoor Playset for kids Age 3-10 years


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Product Description

This outdoor playset will be the kids' favorite, with its raised clubhouse play fort, wooden roof, gabled entry way and balcony. From the crow's nest, they’ll cast a keen eye to the horizon, then race to the monkey bars and swing set on its three-position swing beam. A solid rock wall and standard ladder will give them healthy climbing fun while a 10' wave slide will zoom them down to start all over again!


From the brand


From the manufacturer

Product Description

Skyfort II Infographic

Meet the Skyfort II Swing Set by Backyard Discovery!

  • Made with high strength steel brackets
  • Brackets are powder coated to prevent weathering
  • Safe-T-Fuse nuts resist loosening over time
  • 100% cedar wood resistant to mold and decay
  • All plastic pieces are UV resistant.
  • Surpasses ASTM standards and is made to last.

If timeless style combined with superior performance is what you're looking for in an outdoor gazebo, look no further. Bring the Skyfort II Swing Set home today!

Childrean playing on Skyfort II enjoying the 2 swings, and sliding down the wave slide.

Augmented Reality version of what the Skyfort II looks like.
Delivery Information (in.)

  • Box 1: 92 x 22 x 9 148 lbs.
  • Box 2: 92 x 22 x 9 214 lbs.
  • Box 3: 92 x 22 x 9 174 lbs.
  • Box 4: 92 x 22 x 9 174 lbs.

Features

CUSTOMER FAVORITE OUTDOOR SWINGSET: Your kids will have fun playing backyard games on the Skyfort swing set. Nicely equipped with multiple playhouse accessories and features to keep your children entertained for hours.

ENJOY QUALITY TIME: Whether make believe or for real, enjoy a picnic with your child on the picnic table. The lower deck has a snack stand. Instead of going to the beach, play in the sandbox.

  • The crow's nest is a rare feature, only being on the Skyfort II, Skyfort III, and the Eagle's Nest. If heights are a feature that is being shopped, the Skyfort II is the perfect fit for your yard.
  • Why Cedar? Cedar thrives in damp climates, enabling it to withstand many conditions. In laboratory testing, our durable cedar wood proved to be rot resistant and highly resistant to natural decay.
Child enjoying the monkey bars on the ASTM safety rated monkey bars

Quality of Materials

In any child's swing set, imagination reigns. But what kind of kingdom can a child create when their backyard is decked out from deck to sandbox? Let kids have the time of their lives with the Skyfort II, a backyard playground and fort. With a fantastic array of activities, kids will play for hours, perfect for parties and family get-togethers alike. Enjoy a snack or have a picnic under the provided picnic table; kids will be happy to have their own clubhouse.

The Skyfort II playground will engage children with its playground set that includes numerous activities including a sandbox, swings, rock wall, and benches. The modern, yet natural design is a great addition to any backyard and provides a relaxing spot for adults to enjoy family time outdoors with their children.

BACKYARD EXPERTS: We have been offering ready-to-assemble outdoor play and patio structures for over 35 years! Bringing joy to children and adults from our swing sets and playhouses to wooden and metal pergolas, cabanas, and gazebos. Whether you're looking to relax, play or entertain Backyard Discovery has you covered.

Customer review of the Skyfort II.

GREAT ADDITION TO OUR YARD!

4 years ago

We bought the Skyfort II about a month ago, and our kids absolutely love it, rain, or shine my kids are on it! We loved a few different sets from this site but ultimately chose the sky fort II because of the features it had. Our kids ages are 9m, 2y, 6y, 9y and 11y and there is something for all of them with this model. Shipment was fast and delivered right in our driveway, it came in 4 separate boxes with all of the parts labeled and easy to find. Total installation was approximately 14 hours for my husband and I, simple and self-explanatory; easy to read instructions. I would recommend this to anyone. My advice to those buying this set: keep everything from the numbered boxes together in piles as the instructions reference the boxes, they come in.

Customer review of the Skyfort II.

Customer review of Skyfort II

Children enjoying their time on the Skyfort II. Enjoying the crows nest, and the monkey bars.

Fully assembled Skyfort II, with children on it.

Backyard Discovery Beachfront Backyard Discovery Buckley Hill Backyard Discovery Canyon Creek Backyard Discovery Cedar Cove Backyard Discovery Lakewood Playset Backyard Discovery Skyfort II
Backyard Discovery Beach Front Backyard Discovery Buckley Hill Backyard Discovery Canyon Creek Backyard Discovery Cedar Cove Backyard Discovery Lakewood Backyard Discovery Skyfort II
Customer Reviews
4.1 out of 5 stars
2,262
4.4 out of 5 stars
2,252
3.8 out of 5 stars
87
3.7 out of 5 stars
119
4.0 out of 5 stars
351
4.4 out of 5 stars
649
ASTM Certified
Rock Wall
Tube Slide
Crows Nest
Working Door
Monkey Bars
Play in Kitchen

What's in the box

  • All wood, mounting brackets, plastic accessories, swing chains, screws, bolts, assembly instructions
  • Looking for specific info?

    Customer reviews

    4.4 out of 5 stars
    4.4 out of 5
    649 global ratings

    Customers say

    Customers like the value, appearance and fun of the toy set. For example, they mention it's well worth the money, provides recreation daily for the family and that it looks awesome. That said, opinions are mixed on quality, ease of assembly, and size.

    AI-generated from the text of customer reviews

    57 customers mention42 positive15 negative

    Customers like the value of the toy. They mention it's well worth the money, has a great price for the setup, and will definitely out last them. Some say the structure is sturdy and has the biggest play area for the price range. Overall, customers find the product to be a good purchase for the family.

    "...However... it was completely worth it. I would NOT do it any other way...." Read more

    "...We kept coming back to this one as the best one with the most varied features for the money...." Read more

    "...This has been well worth the investment. If you do decide on this project then make sure you set aside plenty of time and patience...." Read more

    "...It is designed with cost cutting mindset and not with end customer in mind. I think it will last may be a year or two...." Read more

    48 customers mention43 positive5 negative

    Customers like the appearance of the toy. They say it looks awesome, very nice, and has a beautiful structure. Some mention that the construction and design is quite lovely.

    "...It is very very sturdy, and looks beautiful in the yard. I am happy to answer questions!" Read more

    "...Good: Its actually very nice. especially for the money...." Read more

    "...by other people here, is some lesser form of wood but it looks great in the backyard upon the completion of build...." Read more

    "...The kids love it and I think it looks nice in the yard. 10/10." Read more

    28 customers mention28 positive0 negative

    Customers find the toy set fun and great for kids. They say it provides recreation daily for their family, keeps the kids occupied, and has the potential for more fun with accessories. Customers also mention that the fort is a hit with their friends and the playground is very nice.

    "...The telescope is fun...." Read more

    "...This set is huge, kids love it. HOWEVER, there were several issues:..." Read more

    "This was a fun project. Before purchasing this item, I read a lot of reviews about the directions being confusing...." Read more

    "...My boys love it. it's secure and durable and provides recreation daily for our family. :)" Read more

    191 customers mention109 positive82 negative

    Customers are mixed about the quality of the swing set. Some mention that the finished product is sturdy, attractive, and high quality. They say that it's extremely stable as long as assembled correctly. However, others say that the wood is soft and starts to crack, split, and pop.

    "...The seesaw swing is awesome, since the girls aren't big enough to "pump" on a normal swing really well, yet...." Read more

    "...The wood can split a little if you're not safe and there's nothing you can really do about that, but I am a 275 pound man and I was all over this..." Read more

    "...18 month update - the set is holding up really well. We even moved it to the other side of the yard to make room for a major backyard improvement...." Read more

    "...As others have noted, this place it is quite sturdy!..." Read more

    138 customers mention72 positive66 negative

    Customers are mixed about the ease of assembly of the toy. Some mention that the instructions are very easy to follow, seamless, and worth putting together ourselves. However, others say that it's pretty hard to put together especially in cold weather, takes a lot of time to build, and the instructions don't clear which directions the holes are supposed to go.

    "...I think the oldest child we had was like 10.5? Perhaps older. The slide is long... even I get going a little bit on it...." Read more

    "...Some of the steps are hard to tell the orientation of the boards. You can skip ahead in the manual to figure it out, but you need to do it carefully...." Read more

    "...- The instructions are pretty good, but you need to check, double check, and then check again that you have certain boards in the right spots...." Read more

    "...The instructions are pretty good most of the time and I only had a couple places (putting on the smaller roof and mounting the crow's nest) that..." Read more

    23 customers mention15 positive8 negative

    Customers are mixed about the size of the toy. Some mention it's the perfect size for big kids and little ones alike, very safe and sturdy. However, others say that it'd be smaller than expected, gets large and heavy fast, and has inadequate width. Some customers also mention that the entrances are really tiny and it'll be a bit of an issue to make them fit right once they're already together.

    "...the price, you get SO many options for them to play on, and kids of all sizes can fit. It is very very sturdy, and looks beautiful in the yard...." Read more

    "...Everything fit how it should and all holes lined up where they should have been. It feels very sturdy and our kids LOVE it...." Read more

    "...You start to put the frame together and it gets large and heavy fast (that's what she said)...." Read more

    "...This set is huge, kids love it. HOWEVER, there were several issues:..." Read more

    23 customers mention5 positive18 negative

    Customers are dissatisfied with the durability of the product. They mention that the screws had snapped in half, the anchors broke, and the slide came undone at the bottom. Some customers also report that the toy was heavily damaged in a wind storm and that the boards are buckling.

    "...I had a screw head that was all warped and another bolt head that popped off...." Read more

    "...since mid-July, but by Labor Day, the slide popped off/came undone at the bottom and is not usable until we have time to get new screws and find a..." Read more

    "...First of all, I gave it 4 stars because we had a few issues with the wood being damaged or damaging easily...." Read more

    "...Yes we where careful, but it took both of us and did not crack or brake...." Read more

    22 customers mention6 positive16 negative

    Customers are dissatisfied with the completeness of the toy. They mention that some hardware pieces are missing. They also say that there are too many different types of screws for the same parts.

    "...Too many screws with similar part numbers.." Read more

    "...Also, they were some screws and bolts missing. I think we ended up buying 15 screws and 7 bolts...." Read more

    "...The design is well thought out for safety, and they include extra hardware in case you lose, drop or break a bolt, nut, Tbolt, etc...." Read more

    "...easily when too much force was applied, and they had way too many different types of screws for the same parts, I am still having nightmares of..." Read more

    Long review, long build, but (hopefully) worth it. - With 3yr review
    5 Stars
    Long review, long build, but (hopefully) worth it. - With 3yr review
    We shopped around very extensively for a swing set for our son (soon to be sons in July) and wanted one that was well designed, had lots to do on it, would fit our space, and had activity areas that our three year old could grow into. We looked at all the warehouse clubs in the area (Sam's and Costco) as well as specialist shops and every online one we could find. We kept coming back to this one as the best one with the most varied features for the money.Delivery was well handled - since it's so large it's delivered in four boxes that are about 1'hX2'wX8'L. They were nice enough to slide it right into our garage to ensure nothing got wet.I was able to assemble it with at least one helper in about 14 hours of work but that was after I did my prep. Here's what you need to do to prep for building:- Unbox, sort, and lay out all the wooden pieces. Each piece has a letter/number stamped on them (M24, H13, etc.) from the factory. Lay these out in order. One nice thing about this set, the roof panels and floor panels come already assembled and just need screwed down. That will save you at least two to three hours of building right there.- Sit down with the hardware, the instructions, a box of 100 zip-top sandwich bags and a sharpie. Go page-by-page and sort the needed hardware for a given page into a bag and label it as such. This might seem silly but the hour and a half my wife and I spent doing this while watching TV one night saved three hours + of time during the build.- Ideally, you need two cordless impact drivers - one with a good phillips bit and one that can take the included T-40 and T-30 bits used for bolts and lag screws. I made do with one impact but it was a lot of bit switching at times and got tiresome.- You need a drill as well. I think we had to drill maybe 15 holes per the instructions tops. Given how infrequent this is, you can get by with a corded drill for those few times you need it if that's all you have.- Other needs: a good smooth-faced hammer (nothing waffle print as it will scar the wood). Having a miter saw helped with allowing me to cut a few guide blocks for the spacing on the pickets. The instructions tell you how much to space them, I think there were three different gaps for the different areas, and having guides helped me not worry about breaking out the measuring tape for each. I would have a 3/8 ratchet with a T-30 and T-40 socket available as well. There are a few spots where you're driving lag screws and can't get an impact driver around to get them.- The instructions are pretty good, but you need to check, double check, and then check again that you have certain boards in the right spots. There are pilot holes for later construction steps that MUST be oriented the right way. Look at your lumber, look at the steps very closely, and double check. The shading on the instructions makes if very difficult to see where the holes need to be at times. I probably lost an hour total over the two days flipping boards here and there.- Putting the slide together sucks. I'm sorry, there's no other way to say it. Have help and take your time. Hanging it on the structure is one of your last steps so if you get frustrated, walk away and come back later. They have you put it together very early and then set it aside so as long as you don't lose the hardware, you can come back to it later if needed.- I think we had three boards that tried to split on us during construction. It would be a good idea to have some small 3/4" outdoor screws handy to bring any splits back together. Overall, wood splitting was not a concern at all.- Make sure the swing arm is level. The crows nest sits on top of it and needs to be level as well. We had to dig down about four inches at the end to make sure things were level. No big deal, but just make sure that side is square and true.- We used level dry blocks (big rubber foot-pads) under the corners and the swing and monkey bar feet. I highly recommend you get some of them as well. They will make leveling a bit easier and allow you to trim/mow without beating the wood up (it is pretty soft cedar).- The finish on the wood looked good but it will need soaked with a water seal product very shortly. I'm planning on doing that mid May prior to a short vacation so that it has time to soak in and cure before the kids are running all over it again.tl;dr great set that my son and the neighbor kids already enjoy!Two month update: the set has taken sun, lots of rain already, and even a hailstorm. It's holding up very well. I noticed the finish starting to fade very slightly so I applied some Olympic premium sealer in clear from lowes - about $30 per gallon. Put it on with a garden sprayer and let it soak in for three days during a short time away. The wood took most all of it in readily and it looks great. Beads water like a sheet of plastic right now. I used 1.5 gallons to cover the whole thing. I'd highly recommend doing the same to any cedar outdoor set.18 month update - the set is holding up really well. We even moved it to the other side of the yard to make room for a major backyard improvement. We un-anchored it, detached the ladder, rock wall, and slide, and the rolled it across the yard on 1 1/2 pc. Took 45 minutes to move it 120 feet and turn it 180. After we moved it, I went around and tightened anything loose. I'm convinced most of the negative reviews are from people who didn't tighten things well enough. Looks great in it's new home.3yr Review - Just finished coating it with sealer and tightening everything up. This kit is holding up very well. We've even added things to it - a bucket and pulley, bell, steering wheel, drums, a periscope, and a metal wall to hang nerf guns with magnets glued on. My 6 and 2 year old love this kit, the neighbor kids love it, and my wife and I do not mind spending an afternoon a year sealing and tightening it all up. It still looks great.Quick notes:- I switched to a Valspar water based 6yr sealer this year. It darkens the finish a bit but it looks fantastic, goes on quick, and cleans up easier than the Olympic I used before.- We put artificial turf in the sandbox area, under the swings, under the steps, slide landing area, and at the base of the rockwall. I would highly recommend this if you don't have it surrounded by mulch. I acquired ours at Costco to the tune of about $2,50/sq foot and have it secured down with landscape fabric staples.
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    Top reviews from the United States

    Reviewed in the United States on April 11, 2016
    Customer image
    5.0 out of 5 stars Long review, long build, but (hopefully) worth it. - With 3yr review
    Reviewed in the United States on April 11, 2016
    We shopped around very extensively for a swing set for our son (soon to be sons in July) and wanted one that was well designed, had lots to do on it, would fit our space, and had activity areas that our three year old could grow into. We looked at all the warehouse clubs in the area (Sam's and Costco) as well as specialist shops and every online one we could find. We kept coming back to this one as the best one with the most varied features for the money.
    Delivery was well handled - since it's so large it's delivered in four boxes that are about 1'hX2'wX8'L. They were nice enough to slide it right into our garage to ensure nothing got wet.

    I was able to assemble it with at least one helper in about 14 hours of work but that was after I did my prep. Here's what you need to do to prep for building:

    - Unbox, sort, and lay out all the wooden pieces. Each piece has a letter/number stamped on them (M24, H13, etc.) from the factory. Lay these out in order. One nice thing about this set, the roof panels and floor panels come already assembled and just need screwed down. That will save you at least two to three hours of building right there.

    - Sit down with the hardware, the instructions, a box of 100 zip-top sandwich bags and a sharpie. Go page-by-page and sort the needed hardware for a given page into a bag and label it as such. This might seem silly but the hour and a half my wife and I spent doing this while watching TV one night saved three hours + of time during the build.

    - Ideally, you need two cordless impact drivers - one with a good phillips bit and one that can take the included T-40 and T-30 bits used for bolts and lag screws. I made do with one impact but it was a lot of bit switching at times and got tiresome.

    - You need a drill as well. I think we had to drill maybe 15 holes per the instructions tops. Given how infrequent this is, you can get by with a corded drill for those few times you need it if that's all you have.

    - Other needs: a good smooth-faced hammer (nothing waffle print as it will scar the wood). Having a miter saw helped with allowing me to cut a few guide blocks for the spacing on the pickets. The instructions tell you how much to space them, I think there were three different gaps for the different areas, and having guides helped me not worry about breaking out the measuring tape for each. I would have a 3/8 ratchet with a T-30 and T-40 socket available as well. There are a few spots where you're driving lag screws and can't get an impact driver around to get them.

    - The instructions are pretty good, but you need to check, double check, and then check again that you have certain boards in the right spots. There are pilot holes for later construction steps that MUST be oriented the right way. Look at your lumber, look at the steps very closely, and double check. The shading on the instructions makes if very difficult to see where the holes need to be at times. I probably lost an hour total over the two days flipping boards here and there.

    - Putting the slide together sucks. I'm sorry, there's no other way to say it. Have help and take your time. Hanging it on the structure is one of your last steps so if you get frustrated, walk away and come back later. They have you put it together very early and then set it aside so as long as you don't lose the hardware, you can come back to it later if needed.

    - I think we had three boards that tried to split on us during construction. It would be a good idea to have some small 3/4" outdoor screws handy to bring any splits back together. Overall, wood splitting was not a concern at all.

    - Make sure the swing arm is level. The crows nest sits on top of it and needs to be level as well. We had to dig down about four inches at the end to make sure things were level. No big deal, but just make sure that side is square and true.

    - We used level dry blocks (big rubber foot-pads) under the corners and the swing and monkey bar feet. I highly recommend you get some of them as well. They will make leveling a bit easier and allow you to trim/mow without beating the wood up (it is pretty soft cedar).

    - The finish on the wood looked good but it will need soaked with a water seal product very shortly. I'm planning on doing that mid May prior to a short vacation so that it has time to soak in and cure before the kids are running all over it again.

    tl;dr great set that my son and the neighbor kids already enjoy!

    Two month update: the set has taken sun, lots of rain already, and even a hailstorm. It's holding up very well. I noticed the finish starting to fade very slightly so I applied some Olympic premium sealer in clear from lowes - about $30 per gallon. Put it on with a garden sprayer and let it soak in for three days during a short time away. The wood took most all of it in readily and it looks great. Beads water like a sheet of plastic right now. I used 1.5 gallons to cover the whole thing. I'd highly recommend doing the same to any cedar outdoor set.

    18 month update - the set is holding up really well. We even moved it to the other side of the yard to make room for a major backyard improvement. We un-anchored it, detached the ladder, rock wall, and slide, and the rolled it across the yard on 1 1/2 pc. Took 45 minutes to move it 120 feet and turn it 180. After we moved it, I went around and tightened anything loose. I'm convinced most of the negative reviews are from people who didn't tighten things well enough. Looks great in it's new home.

    3yr Review - Just finished coating it with sealer and tightening everything up. This kit is holding up very well. We've even added things to it - a bucket and pulley, bell, steering wheel, drums, a periscope, and a metal wall to hang nerf guns with magnets glued on. My 6 and 2 year old love this kit, the neighbor kids love it, and my wife and I do not mind spending an afternoon a year sealing and tightening it all up. It still looks great.

    Quick notes:
    - I switched to a Valspar water based 6yr sealer this year. It darkens the finish a bit but it looks fantastic, goes on quick, and cleans up easier than the Olympic I used before.
    - We put artificial turf in the sandbox area, under the swings, under the steps, slide landing area, and at the base of the rockwall. I would highly recommend this if you don't have it surrounded by mulch. I acquired ours at Costco to the tune of about $2,50/sq foot and have it secured down with landscape fabric staples.
    Images in this review
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    200 people found this helpful
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    Reviewed in the United States on October 1, 2016
    Customer image
    5.0 out of 5 stars Methodical Layout is Key! I LOVE THIS SET!!
    Reviewed in the United States on October 1, 2016
    I really love this set. Does it take forever? SURE! But... here's what I did:

    After its arrival, my best friend and I used bedtime, and our massive garage, to lay everything out. Very first step? Print the PDF version (found online) of the manual, page by page. I just printed the actual steps pages, and not all the rest. So, use your "print pages" option to save yourself a few trees. Next, I purchased fold top, cheap sandwich bags and had a couple sharpies handy. Then we opened the boxes, and pulled the packing slips out (one box was missing a packing slip, so we just used process of elimination). There is no rhyme or reason for how this all is packed, other than it fits perfectly, into 3 boxes, like a puzzle.

    The steps have you put together big items first (monkey bars, swing set assembly, rock wall, rear ladder, crow's nest base and slide). Then, it goes on to step by step for how to build the clubhouse. After the main structure is together, you attach all the things. We took the first page(s) and found all of the items needed to construct the first big item. We laid them all into a pile, found all of the nuts/bolts/locks/etc and put them into individual baggies (clearly labeled). We piled them all together, and put the corresponding papers on top of it. Then to the next large piece's parts and pages... and the next, and the next. Soon, all of the main items were placed into piles, with every piece of wood and hardware, with the pages that told you how to construct them, laying on top.

    Next, we got to the instructions for each step of the main structure/clubhouse. Since you can't really "group" them together, we literally went page by page. Each page has what wood pieces and hardware are needed, listed on the top. Some piles had 1 piece of wood, and a bolt or two... some piles had MULTIPLE. (Oh... each baggie, with hardware, I would write something like "monkey bars - bolt # and what size/quantity"... just look at the photos for all of these examples, cause I don't want to explain it wrong). But, we just went page by page. Laying it all out, in order. This took us 2 nights... just the two of us (and a few adult beverages).

    Here was my thought process... I had myself, my husband, and 2 other couples, willing to come over and help FOR ONE SATURDAY. What I didn't want? One single book, being passed around, people looking for things, using wrong pieces, losing things, etc. If I had them for a day, I needed to make the MOST of it. It totally worked! It was the most methodical madness...ever. All the comments from friends were "I'm so glad you had this all so organized!"

    They all came over Saturday morning. They brought their drills and bits (and coffee). We got started right away (about 11AM). Each couple grabbed one of the larger item piles, and put together whatever it was (my one piece of advice? Pay attention to the slide... bolting the wood to the bottom? You need to leave a little slide at the end. The piece of wood doesn't sit flush with the end of the slide. I missed this. Thankfully, a friend had a good idea with how to fix it, without making more holes in the slide... thank you, friend!). After all of the items were constructed, we set them in the front yard.

    It was now on to constructing the clubhouse. This part was harder to work with all 6 hands. But, some were working, and others were grabbing items/tools/instructions/etc. We decided to build most of the clubhouse on the driveway, for a level surface, and easy access to all of the steps, that were still laid out in the garage. Once we got to a point that we felt we should move it, we brought it down (again, refer to photos). From there, we had people bringing each step down, and crews alternating working on the rest of the steps (it was pretty hot that day, so the switching off was nice). But, it was great to have some extra company and encouragement. ;) Toward the end, we had all the crews connecting the big items, simultaneously, and the lone man up in the crow's nest (that thing is seriously the most time consuming part of it all). While they were finishing all the last details, I ran to Home Depot, and picked up 15 50lb bags of play sand. I think we wound up only using 12-13 bags, for all of you wondering. By 7PM, every last item was done, the sandbox was filled, and the kids were having a blast.

    Later, we got some 5" edging, and edged out an irregular shape, around the play set. It took about 6 yards of play bark to fill it with a few inches (makes my mama heart feel better, in case anyone falls off). All in all, I'm estimating it took about as long to lay out the parts as it did to put it together. However... it was completely worth it. I would NOT do it any other way. Nothing was lost, broken, installed wrong (except ALMOST the bottom board of the slide). A few pieces were a little warped.. but none were broken. This is WOOD. Not every piece will be perfect.

    Do I regret this purchase? Absolutely not! My kids are like "can we go out and play on our park, before dinner?" They love it. They are 3.5 and 2, and play just great on it. It is PLENTY tall. Adults can fit... even up in the crow's nest. Can I stand up, completely (I'm 5'11")? No. But we have older children come play on it, and no child has been "too big" for it, yet. I think the oldest child we had was like 10.5? Perhaps older. The slide is long... even I get going a little bit on it. Before I added the wood chips, I could dangle from the monkey bars (there are 4 bars), without touching the ground. With wood chips, I just barely have to pick up my feet. The girls are too small to do the monkey bars alone. I've seen some people block off the entrance to it, on the club house, and leave them off altogether, but my kids don't attempt without us, so we opted to leave it on, for their older friends/cousins. They learned to do the rock wall quickly, and love it. They eat on the picnic table a lot. Downfall? Their friends can NOT keep the sand in the sandbox. I'm debating constructing something that keeps it closed, so those friends can't get into it... I HATE cleaning up the sand from the lower deck. The seesaw swing is awesome, since the girls aren't big enough to "pump" on a normal swing really well, yet. They get going on that double swing like crazy, so I don't always have to be out to push them on the other 2. The telescope is fun. It isn't magnified, or anything, but nobody has complained.

    I can see us getting MANY years of good use out of this. I'm so happy I didn't get a smaller set. Truly... for the price, you get SO many options for them to play on, and kids of all sizes can fit. It is very very sturdy, and looks beautiful in the yard. I am happy to answer questions!
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