Hammock
My mother gave us a rope hammock a while back that we weren't able to hang up, because we've been reducing the number of large enough oak trees in our yard to support the weight of such a device. I guess she figured that it would have been wasted if something wasn't done about that, so she unexpectedly showed up last week with a hammock frame as well. She tells us she got an excellent deal on it.
It was simple to put together -- no tools required, just snap together -- so when I had a few spare moments yesterday I did just that. After a quick trip to the hardware store to buy some chains, I got the hammock hanging.
It's lovely. I found a nice spot underneath a copse of trees in the back yard that's covered in shade for most of the day, and spent a bit of time in the hammock myself. But the big win is for the kids; James and Emme, in particular, love it, and are delighted that the rope hammock is big enough to accommodate them both simultaneously.
James, in particular, seems taken with the idea of wiling away the summer months in the hammock, and is petitioning me to extend our household Wi-Fi to the backyard so he can play online using his Nintendo DS from the hammock. Of course, if I did so, I'd be able to work from the backyard as well, so there's some benefit to his idea.
Now to figure out where to put the hot tub I've always wanted...