The Giant Swing

 I am going to tell you about our “Giant Swing” and how it came to be.

            Around Christmas of 2007 Gabriel decided it would be a great idea to have a big swing that could be changed into different types of swings: trapeze, board, log, or tire. So he set about convincing all his little sisters to ask for it for Christmas. He also started designing it and persuading Dad that it would be a perfectly great idea. So, after many months of careful planning, and Dad’s approval, he was ready to buy the supplies: cable, rope, nuts, screws, links, and all sorts of swing essentials.

 Finally the big day came to put the swing up. The tree he had selected is a huge oak that we assume to be around 100 years old with the limb he wanted to used being about 40 feet up and hanging over a flat area that we used to call the “Camp Site.” If you've ever been to our land you know we don't have many flat areas at all. :) On this large branch he would hang the swing, but the only problem was that our 32 foot ladder would only reach safely to the base of the branch! This was no problem for Gabe!  With many safety ropes all over him he climbed up the ladder as far as it reached, then shinnied up and across the branch so he could begin hanging the swing.

Once up there we hooked a rope, that was tied to the branch, to a bucket so that we could send things up to him and he could send things back to us. Gabriel worked hard on that swing for many hours until we had a trapeze dangling from the sky! Of course we still did't have anything high to swing off of so Gabriel nailed boards to a tree as steps and made a place about 15 feet up to jump from. After several months of jumping from this and crashing into a large tree at the other end, and after a terrible fall a newcomer made, and after Gabriel wasn't satisfied anymore with how the first jumping place was, he decided to make a new, higher, more stable jumping place where you wouldn't crash into any trees, unless you were a really bad jumperJ. A few more safety devices, changes, and years later, we are still enjoying this wonderful “Giant Swing” just as much as we ever did! Gabriel never has gotten a good tire swing attachment, but we don’t mind all that muchJ. And every time he’s gone up the tree to check on things since then, he has decided to leave off the safety ropes. They were just a nuisance!

Our paratrooper turned preacher friend
trying out the trapeze.

Gabe hooked our baby swing up
 so Lydia could have a ride.
(2007)

Lydia on her first high jump!
(2011, age 6)