First swing.

Growing up, my grandparents had three swings in their backyard. The stuff of childhood dreams, each seat was made by hand in grandpa's shop, then rope-bound to a sturdy branch.

My cousins and I spent hours upon hours choreographing swing routines that we later performed for family. 10 cents per show. Not a bad price to watch a perfect back-flip dismount mid-swing! (My cousin Lindsey and I even designed crayon-lettered programs for these events...foreshadowing of our current career paths, maybe?)

Some of the happiest, silliest, most playful moments of my life involved those swings.

Surely these good memories form the foundation of why I've always loved a great swingset. It broke my heart several years ago when "safety concerns" had folks all in a tizzy about removing them from playgrounds. Dude, let me tell you, kids will hurt themselves on whatever equipment you offer up for play. Why deprive them of the primal joy of swinging so high they can feel their stomach drop on the way down!? So glad to see them making a comeback in our neighborhood park.

I present evidence of my adoration (taken a few weeks ago under less sunny circumstances...thanks Katie!), as well as documentation of Aves' first joyful swing experience today. Milestones, folks. Milestones.