I would HIGHLY recommend the brand that is sold at Costco...or go to a Rainbow Playsystems dealership! They make WONDERFUL sets! They are perfect for all kinds of ages and weather. We have a rainbow in our back yard and live in SD. It is in perfect condition and we've had it for a few years now. Yes, it is an investment...but I know that rainbow playsets are good for more than just "playing" they are also good for education- they have so many great add ons and things. I definately think everyone needs a rainbow!!!

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One happy wife and mommy!!!

Rainbow playsystems are the best. I worked there last year for 6 months. Also I live in SD! It's nice to see another SDer on here.

Ashlee

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Mommy to Gunnar (4-4-05) and Maverick (01-12-07)
Wife to Matt
*Ashlee*

Another happy Rainbow playset owner. We've owned two sets in the last 14 years. The first one succumbed to termite damage (before they had a lifetime warrantee). We replaced it with a larger clubhouse style with 3 swing stations and a rockwall. We've had the new one for 2 years. My youngest is almost 4 and he will not outgrow the system for MANY more years.

They're are not cheap, but are WELL worth the investment IMO.

Also, like someone mentioned, if you don't mind buying used, I see quite a bit of Rainbow playsets listed on craigslist.

Good luck and have fun!

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SAHM of 4

August food budget (groceries/take-out): $500.00/$75.00
Total spent: $238.97/$14.12

July budget/spent: $500.00/$650.00

We live in PA too and got ours at an Amish farm. He had several built on his farm and you could pick and choose the parts that you wanted on them.

I recommend talking to your friends and neighbors who have play sets that you like to find out where they got theirs. That's what my dh did at work and we found something perfect for our needs at an excellent price. Plus is was mostly preassembled for us - dh just had to put some nuts and bolts together.

We were just looking at wood play sets too. One thing to keep in mind--if you get a set w/ a rock wall, try to find one where the wall slats are all next to each other w/o any gaps. You don't want your kid to get his/her foot stuck b/t the slats and risk breaking an ankle. Although, swingsets are just dangerous places LOL! My 2 yr old is already giving me heart failure when he plays!!

Anyway, we decided not to get a wood set for now--it's just too expensive to get a good one. So we opted for a metal swing set from TRU. We spent less than $200 and got a set w/ a slide, two swings, a glider, some other kind of glider/chair thing, a seesaw, and a trapeeze thingy.

Our plan is to keep looking on Craigslist etc and hope we can find one used. But for now, this set got pretty good reviews on the TRU site, the price was right, and DS LOVES it! The 5 yr old neighbor girls have been having fun too.

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Blessed beyond measure