Bench swing arbor

I can't believe how quickly this week has flown by! I've been so busy getting ready for Kyle's birthday (tomorrow!), our anniversary trip coming up next week (to Seattle!) and a million other little things. And of course there has been work and a little bit of garage sale hunting thrown into the mix as well. :-) I'm sorry I've been away from this little blog for so long!

Anyway, last weekend I went home to my parents place (in Portland) to celebrate the fourth. We had a wonderful backyard BBQ with lots of family (and I decorated with these little DIY gems from {Nifty Thrifty Things}-- they were a big hit!) But before all of that fun, the earlier part of the weekend was spent working on this:

A bench swing arbor!

My mom has had that bench swing practically forever (I remember when I was little, we bought it at a garage sale for five dollars-- and then proceeded to cram it in the backseat of our car on my brother's and my laps!). The swing used to hang under a fort play structure my dad and grandpa built for us-- about 22 years ago!-- but unfortunately we had to take down our "playground" a few years back when it started to become unsafe. Since then, the bench swing has sat forlornly under our deck-- until now!

Isn't the arbor beautiful? And when I say "we" built it, I actually mean my dad, husband and brother. :-) I simply helped stain it after they were done (and I painted that little birdhouse stake off to the right of the arbor). Basically, I got all the fun jobs. :-) But I think it turned out wonderfully, and I'm really impressed with their work!

Now if only I had a backyard of my own... Someday!