The metal fabricators finally delivered Cheyenne's slide and swing set. It was supposes to be a present for her second birthday, but it arrived a few months too late.
We are friends with the owner of the local metal and glass fabricating business. She is a really nice woman. I guess she had a couple of her metal fabricators quit on her, so that is why it took so long to build it.
Also, we made a critical error when we went to order the swing set. The owner of the metal and glass fabricators did not have a swing and slide set that was already designed in their sales catalog... all they had was a slide and sea saw(spelling?) set. Luckily we had seen a very nice swing/slide set at a restaurant that we both patronize, and we told her to make a similar set. The owner said she did not know how much it would cost to build something like that. She told us that they could give a rough estimate on the materials, but the labor would have to be added up as they worked. Well, we just never went back... with her employee problems and all. We figured that the owner would tell us the estimate on materials once she had all of her business problems sorted out. Months went by without a single word, until finally we received a call. The fabricators were already half way finished with the swing set, and it was going to cost more than $750. Needless to say, we were in quite a bit of "sticker shock", but it was too late to back out by then. The owner of the shop has been very kind to us in the past. She helped us out once when we were in a very tight spot, so we did not want to back out on her and cause her to loose a bunch of money on the deal. The swing set is well made... superior craftsmanship and excellent materials. I have seen other, cheaper swing sets here in the Philippines, but they were just thrown together. The cheap ones had sharp edges on the slide that could cut a child, and we did not want anything like that. I guess Cheyenne's slide is actually meant for commercial use in elementary schools. It is really beautiful, and it will still be in working order for Cheyenne's children one day. "Off topic: Cheyenne came up to me the other day and said, "Daddy, I have a baby in my belly. I wasn't prepared to hear that for about another 23 years! I guess she was watching a movie with her cousins, and she wanted to know why the one woman had such a big stomach. It's not their culture to lie about things like that."
Anyway, the owner of the metal fabricator shop knocked $100 off of the price for taking so incredibly long to build it, and she gave us no-interest credit for the balance. So it's okay. We just have to get it painted now. It only came with the rust proof paint, and we tried to paint over it... but used the wrong type of paint. We will just have to hire a painter to do it correctly.
I posted three videos below. You should be able to hear Cheyenne speak if you turn the volume all of the way up on your speakers. I will try to load a few photos on to this blog as well. She had a really bad runny nose that day, but she was still so cute.
Leave a message or email me, and tell me what you think.
P.S.
Sorry about the quality of the video. I think that my videographer/wife was on crack when she filmed these videos! She used a normal camera, so she thought that she could turn the it 90 degrees like you can with normal photographs. She is pretty embarrassed about it... as she should be!
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