Sentimental Swing-set

Today, the old swing-set is coming down.  Our kids (13 and 17) don't use it anymore. Basically, it's just become an obstacle to mow around.  We've been talking about it here and there, so today was not a big surprise to our kids (who can be sentimental about the darnedest things).  I looked out one moment, and my sweet hubby was up on a ladder working on those rusted bolts.  A few moments later, he was at the door asking if I knew that our son had carved his name in the swing-set.  No.  I didn't know.

I started to follow him out to where the swing-set once stood, and said, "I should probably grab the camera?" He gave me a thumbs up, and I ran back to the house.  When I got outside, this is what I found:

"The end of an era!" I said to my hubby.  We have entered the iAge.  I really miss the swinging days.  Those days were so much simpler.

Shortly after we moved to this home, we put in a new mailbox.  We took the old box (which was just a box on a post), and mounted it at the top of the slide platform.  The kids used to leave surprises in it for one another.  I can remember a few bed-times when we had to run out to the swing-set mailbox to retrieve favorite toys.

When the kids were little, we had one of the two slides in the neighborhood, and ours was the sturdy one -- so neighborhood kids gravitated over to our yard.  I only had to look out the kitchen window to know where they all were.

Today, the swing-set is down -- well, most of it.  The slide and the slide platform are still standing.  That'll be a project for another day.  The ladder is down and in the woodpile, though, so nobody will be using that slide.

Oh, and the carving... can you see it?  Neither my husband nor I knew it was there.  Our daughter remembered right away.  She was there when our son carved it "a long time ago." We wondered why she hadn't had him carve hers as well.  "The 'S,' she said.  "He couldn't figure out how to carve a good S."

I'm linking up with Cha Cha at Heartfelt Home

for Sentimental Sundays.

What are you sentimental about today?