Christmas...the morning after

Remember how I said that I was going to paint one of those play things?  Lemme tell ya about it....

So first of all, "we" were supposed to get paint for the last month.  "We" should have just gone and bought it but instead "we" got it two days before Christmas.  I ended up painting off and on for a few hours on Christmas Eve night (while the other half was working and little bit was sleeping).

So- a couple of things the blog I went off of didn't tell or couldn't have known.

1. Lowe's doesn't sell Krylon, so we asked about what sorts of paint we should use.  We were told three different kinds would all work for plastics.  They did "work" as in they painted the plastic.  However, it's not the finish we were really hoping for.

2. With this sort of thing, you have to shove pieces together to lock them safely into place.  Shoving = paint being smudged/scratched.  Major irritation when I spent hours painting and have a pretty sore spray finger.

3. The paint we used (which was indoor/outdoor for plastics) did NOT dry as fast as the blog said they would and were tacky even the next day, so more paint peeled/popped/whatever'd off when we touched it for too long.  MAJOR boo.

4. The painting of the slide makes it less slide-y.  He doesn't really slip down it like he should.  Not the worst thing, but not the best.

5. The thing still smells after drying in the garage (slightly open garage door; had fans pointed at it) for 24 hours.  It's not bad, but I can definitely smell paint.

The price of my son's happiness... I still have blue paint on the underside of my upper arm and it's been just over two days.  Awesome.  

Now for the good stuff. 

 He friggin' loves it.  We had to even let him open some presents in there because he wouldn't come out.  He's played with almost everything up on it or under it in the dark part.

Personally- this is my favorite part of it... when his legs are all flail-y while he tries to climb in the side.  (Yes- I help him, but it's hilarious.)  He is working so hard and is going to have fantastic muscles from climbing all over this thing!!

 Heaven forbid we put the flashlight down long enough to go down the slide... it must come with.

Gotta admit- it does look cool when he uses it underneath because it lights up all over the place.

 He loves his personal clubhouse. It's so funny to watch! 

All in all- it was totally worth it for him to love it so much.  HOWEVER--- I do not recommend you undertake this when you have any sort of approaching deadline nor do I recommend thinking it's gonna look perfect when you're done. Just be aware that it's going to look ok and they will love it and won't care one bit what colors it is.

PS- orange and blue = GO GATORS!!!!!!! <3