# The White House gets a swingset! **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [March 5, 2009, 3:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-white-house-gets-a-swingset/488362 "2009-03-05T03:49:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![SaharaTea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9a140/32.png) [@SaharaTea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SaharaTea)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2009, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-white-house-gets-a-swingset/488362/21 "2009-03-06T18:34:11Z")
> [@](#): > > “They ran right for it. They were really, really excited. All four of them,” McCormick Lelyveld said. Now I have a hilarious mental image of President Obama running across the White House lawn with glee towards his new swingset. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![myselfkeepsslippingaway](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/54ee81/32.png) [@myselfkeepsslippingaway](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/myselfkeepsslippingaway)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2009, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-white-house-gets-a-swingset/488362/22 "2009-03-06T19:38:47Z")
> [@SaharaTea](#): > > Now I have a hilarious mental image of President Obama running across the White House lawn with glee towards his new swingset. 😉 I hadn’t picked up on this, but I’m glad someone else did. I like that image even better than the first! 😃 Now that’s what I’ll find myself picturing too. ---
**Author:** ![Ceejaytee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ceejaytee/32/2956_2.png) [@Ceejaytee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ceejaytee)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2009, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-white-house-gets-a-swingset/488362/23 "2009-03-06T19:50:47Z")
> [@lieu](#): > > They really are very well made and many of the attachments are interchangable so if you get tired or outgrow one thing you can replace it with another. We’ve had one, albeit only 3/4 that size, for about 4 years now and with one refresh application of stain it still looks and, for all intents and purposes, is new. While they were already a popular brand, yeah, sales are probably gonna skyrocket. **lieu** , how much did it cost? Their website is silent on the money thang. ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2009, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-white-house-gets-a-swingset/488362/24 "2009-03-06T20:07:23Z")
It’s been awhile so there’s both my hazy memory and product inflation to deal with. I’m thinkin’ ours was around 2K US back then so my very uneducated guess would be that the set pictured in the article would have to run around $3500 to 4000. ETA: I have no idea if items like this vary a lot depending on what part of the country you’re in. Our COL down here is pretty low. Relative prices could be a good deal more up DC way. ---
**Author:** ![Green\_Bean](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/green_bean/32/1760_2.png) [@Green\_Bean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Green_Bean)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2009, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-white-house-gets-a-swingset/488362/25 "2009-03-06T20:18:40Z")
What is this “fisting” thing that y’all are talking about? p.s. **Ceej** –check yer PMs, yo. ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2009, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-white-house-gets-a-swingset/488362/26 "2009-03-06T20:24:17Z")
[This article](http://content.usatoday.com/communities/theoval/post/2009/03/63671375/1) shows it a little more clearly and lists some of the extras. That thing is bigger than I realized. The girls are gonna have a blast. ---
**Author:** ![Mtgman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5a626/32.png) [@Mtgman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mtgman)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2009, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-white-house-gets-a-swingset/488362/27 "2009-03-06T22:40:21Z")
> [@Ceejaytee](#): > > **lieu** , how much did it cost? Their website is silent on the money thang. I priced a bunch of Rainbow playsets(they have an outlet near my house) last summer. They had a couple dozen sets in various configurations around the sales office. The kids went nuts, I think they must have played on every single one of them in the hour and a half or so we were there. They started at about $1700 and went up dramatically. The one pictured in the article is pretty much the biggest non-custom model and seems to have all the add-ons. IIRC it would have run about $6800, including installation. That’s in the Dallas area, which may well be less expensive than DC. The separate picnic table would have been about $350. We didn’t have enough room in the yard for one that size, and the smaller Rainbow sets didn’t look like nearly as much fun(much smaller platforms and no climbing walls, which was a requisite from my 8 year old), so we ended up with [one from Home Depot](http://www.homedepot.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?productId=100609680). I’m kind of regretting it, because it isn’t nearly as well made. Kind of the difference between real wood furniture and Ikea type stuff. The kids love it though, and I don’t expect to still be living in the same house with the same playset when the grandkids come over, so it’s good enough for now. It’s certainly nicer than anything I had when I was growing up. We upgraded it with wood roofs and an extra disc swing. The kids fell in love with disc swings when we were at the Rainbow shop and they were really a lot of fun, so we bought one we could swap out with the swing on the far end of the swing beam. I’ll probably go by Rainbow and buy one of their disc swings because it was much nicer than the disc swing Home Depot carried. The disc swing, a heavy plastic disc and about twelve feet of 1" nylon rope, is about $80 IIRC. Enjoy, Steven ---
**Author:** ![gaffa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e68b1a/32.png) [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2009, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-white-house-gets-a-swingset/488362/28 "2009-03-06T23:12:17Z")
Very clever to purchase this set from a supplier in a very deep red state. Too bad we don’t have [a system like the British](http://www.barwil.co.uk/index.htm). ---
**Author:** ![Equipoise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/equipoise/32/151_2.png) [@Equipoise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Equipoise)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2009, 4:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-white-house-gets-a-swingset/488362/29 "2009-03-07T04:44:20Z")
> [@gaffa](#): > > Very clever to purchase this set from a supplier in a very deep red state. Indeed. Even the most hard-core Republican has to have a bit of pride that a company in their state has gotten so much fantastic publicity. > [@gaffa](#): > > Too bad we don’t have [a system like the British](http://www.barwil.co.uk/index.htm). I was clueless about what you were talking about. What do water taps have to do with swingsets? Then I realized that the logo at the top left says “By Appointment to H.M. Queen. Manufacturers of Kitchen & Bathroom Taps and Mixers. Barber Wilsons & Co Ltd” which I guess means that she approves and a certain level of quality must be maintained. ---
**Author:** ![NinjaChick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/71c47a/32.png) [@NinjaChick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NinjaChick)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2009, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-white-house-gets-a-swingset/488362/30 "2009-03-07T18:04:34Z")
> [@SaharaTea](#): > > Now I have a hilarious mental image of President Obama running across the White House lawn with glee towards his new swingset. 😉 That’s kind of adorable, and honestly, I wouldn’t be surprised if we see pictures of him playing out there with the kids. He just seems like such a great dad. ---
**Author:** ![TheScogg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a5b964/32.png) [@TheScogg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheScogg)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2009, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-white-house-gets-a-swingset/488362/31 "2009-03-07T18:24:53Z")
It’s refreshing to hear that kids from such a privileged class would be overjoyed with some of the simpler pleasures of life, like a common (albeit, very nice) swingset. They must be very grateful, well raised kids. ---
**Author:** ![Equipoise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/equipoise/32/151_2.png) [@Equipoise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Equipoise)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2009, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-white-house-gets-a-swingset/488362/32 "2009-03-07T19:12:16Z")
> [@SaharaTea](#): > > Now I have a hilarious mental image of President Obama running across the White House lawn with glee towards his new swingset. 😉 That reminded me of something and it took me awhile to find it. Your mental image might be helped with one or more of the [photos in this montage](http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x7980945) of Obama running. ---
**Author:** ![Equipoise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/equipoise/32/151_2.png) [@Equipoise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Equipoise)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2009, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-white-house-gets-a-swingset/488362/33 "2009-03-07T20:40:40Z")
I’m waiting impatiently for a picture of the kids on the swingset to show up, and after that Michelle swinging. I don’t imagine there’d be pictures of President Obama on the swingset, but at least there are [several pictures here](http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x8249403) of him in front of the swingset (scroll down). ---
**Author:** ![Green\_Bean](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/green_bean/32/1760_2.png) [@Green\_Bean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Green_Bean)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2009, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-white-house-gets-a-swingset/488362/34 "2009-03-07T20:45:24Z")
> [@Equipoise](#): > > I’m waiting impatiently for a picture of the kids on the swingset to show up, and after that Michelle swinging. I don’t imagine there’d be pictures of President Obama on the swingset, but at least there are [several pictures here](http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x8249403) of him in front of the swingset (scroll down). Yeah, I always thought Michelle seemed like a swinger. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2009, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-white-house-gets-a-swingset/488362/35 "2009-03-07T22:18:54Z")
Closed at the OP’s request. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-white-house-gets-a-swingset/488362.md?page=1)