Thanksgiving Playset Memories
As the weather gets cooler and the fall decorations are coming out, that leads me to thinking of my favorite holiday…Thanksgiving.
Growing up, more than any other holiday, Thanksgiving was all about family. As the leaves began to change colors, sweet memories of our kids playing at Mom’s house begin flooding my mind.
My Dad installed a wonderful playset on the lot next to Mom and Dad’s house years ago. As we pulled into the driveway our kids would be fighting seatbelts to be the first to climb to the top of this solid redwood world of adventure.
As one child would be boarding his pirate ship, another sought the tower of her Cinderella castle. Little imaginations running amok as dimpled cheeks would smile and shout out to cousins to come and join the fun. First, second, even distant cousins became different beautiful, colorful flowers in the same redwood garden.
The family dogs would be running around with the children, tails wagging, many in watch over the kids as they sniffed around. Many of the family pets would take their first ride down the slide before the holiday was over. This became the foundation of connections that caused all our children to become lifelong friends.
Fun is Our Middle Name
You see, cousins are like celebrities to little children, the barometer of how fun a family gathering will be. Every year, the questions of whether this or that cousin would be there led to exclamations of “I can’t wait!” and “It’s going to be so much fun!”
You could hear car doors slamming. As people would arrive and bring in dishes of deviled eggs, casseroles and pies still warm from our ovens back home. We would glance over to see the kids and their cousins playing safely. A lot of smiling and laughing and hugs all around. How long had it been? So much work to do before dinner would be served. We would head inside to get things ready, grateful that the kids won’t be underfoot, knowing they are joyfully playing with their cousins.
Holidays are a time for talking and laughing in the kitchen where family is catching up on each other’s lives. Meanwhile, out around the children’s castle/pirate ship/mountain of redwood, the adolescents and teens share their secrets and plans and troubles. All loving the new additions to the playset of climbing walls, higher swings and the taller decks that accommodate their growing bodies.
Thanksgiving is a time to give thanks!
How we loved coming out after dinner, to watch our children play and show us tricks. Watching them climb the rope swing, their tiny feet with dirty toes splayed out as they began to slide. The teens waiting for the young ones to get tired so they could put out sleeping bags on the deck and look at the stars. My how they grow, oh my how time carries on.
Today isn’t that much different. Our family enjoys the new deck porch swing that has been installed as we watch our grandchildren exploring the world their parents loved a generation ago. We watch our children watch their children and delight in how close the cousins are. We love the dirty faces and tangled hair of our little grand-monkeys, running in a frenzy, chasing one another around, up and down the huge structure.
The grandchildren’s parents aren’t too afraid to demonstrate their expertise on the monkey bars and climbing wall if needed, which always brings giggles to the crowd. Now, these childhood playmates can begin to grow up to be forever friends like their Mama’s and Daddies did. And their parents, the beautiful flowers of the past, have scattered where their lives have blown them, but always strive to make it to Thanksgiving…where they can tell the stories of their fantastical childhood, to their own children and reminisce with their cousins about the magic of past Thanksgivings and fun on their Redwood Giant.
Schedule Time With A Playset Designer
Fort Worth/White Settlement Showroom Frisco Showroom
7600 White Settlement Road 301 King Road Suite 1
Monday – Saturday Hours 9-4 Monday – Saturday Hours: 9-4
Phone: 940-479-2439 Phone: 940-479-2439
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