Geometric Dome

Ever since we bought our home, we've been scheming about what toys we would add to the backyard for the kids. I imagined building a small playhouse eventually, and we entertained the idea of a slide and swings. When I stumbled across this structure on Amazon, it was like love at first sight. And my husband agreed, so naturally we pounced! It was also the more affordable option, go figure! When I was a kid living in Winnemucca Nevada, there was a massive geo dome at the city park that was always the main attraction for me and my brothers. I'm not sure how large it was in reality, but as a child it seemed 20 feet tall! I was pleasantly surprised by the size of the one we got... it's bigger than I imagined, but not so large that it overtakes our yard.

I tried really hard to put it together by myself, I did have the help of our little neighbor friend, Corbin. But I'm lousy at following instruction manuals, so we spent a lot of time staring at the book and scratching our heads. Also, undoing a lot of bars that I put on wrong. I struggled under the sun for hours! And almost gave up a few times. My plan was to have it done by the time my nephews came to play... but like I mentioned earlier... hours. It was partially constructed when they arrived, and the kids were going wild, and babies were trying to eat nuts and bolts and tools kept disappearing under our noses. It was madness! Our sweet neighbor must have felt bad for me, or amused by my efforts, because he peeked over the fence and offered to help, and not long after that, his teenage son was over helping with the assembly. It went so smoothly and quickly after that, and I awarded everyone with celebratory Odder Pops upon completion!

It only took about 3 seconds for a kid to get hurt on it, but hey! They kept going back for more! The kids were monkeying till dusk, and I'm so happy I got to capture the last dregs of daylight as they were climbing about. And yes, I've been climbing on it, too. It can handle up to 600 pounds, woot woot! It's an awesome playground, I'm really excited about it. And nervous about broken arms a bit, too.

I've been working on a disk swing to hang from the top center as well, I'm working on perfecting the design because it's a bit too wobbly for the kiddos. I'm sure they'll get a hang of it eventually though, whilst building up those calluses.