My New Hammock from Walmart

See these two pitiful trees?

For the last 4 years, a rope hammock has hung between them each summer.  To our sadness the poor thing finally had a few ropes fray and break last fall.  We didn’t miss it much in the winter–after all we always stored it in the shed anyway since we wouldn’t be using it–but now that spring is here the spot just seems empty.

So when Walmart offered us a “wildcard” spring post–I knew exactly what I wanted to do.  Sure–I love crafts and would typically have chosen to come up with something fun (as a busy mom I sometimes feel guilty about taking the time to do fun craft projects–but when it’s work I kind of mentally give myself a free pass!).  But this time, just this once, I went with the option that might not be as fun to write about, or as fun for you to read about, but that will be something that I know will give my family years of enjoyment.

I ordered a new hammock!

My local Walmart didn’t have any hammocks in the store, so I ordered from Walmart.com.   Our previous hammock was cotton rope.  I completely discounted the cloth hammocks when I was browsing–Since we leave this up in all weather (and it rains quite a bit) I didn’t want to have fabric out there (although there were some gorgeous ones).  Since the cotton rope we had previously had eventually broken (I’m sure from a combination of the kids rough housing and weather damage) I decided to go with a soft polyester rope this time in hopes that it will be more weather resistant.

I picked out the Island Bay Northshore Large Rope Hammock.  Our budget was supposed to be $40–my total with shipping came to $79–so of course I paid the extra 🙂 :

When the box arrived we put the hammock up right away–we had all the hardware already installed from our old one.  Buddy jumped in and claimed the first turn–which caused Princess to pout.  Then they spent the next 45 minutes bickering over who’s turn it was, accusing the other of purposely swinging the hammock in such a way as to knock into the person waiting and pretending that minor bumps were major injuries.  While not the peaceful relaxing thing I had planned, they obviously were both excited by the hammock:)

Once the newness (and the bickering) wear off, I know that they will be spending a lot of time out there this spring, summer and fall; playing together (bickering aside~they actually do play together), having quiet time, or hanging out with their friends (their little friends have always thought it was cool that we have a hammock).

Just for fun (and for perspective)–here’s a picture of the hammock and where it is placed that I took from Princess’s bedroom on the 2nd floor (please excuse the screen–and my dirty gutters).

So that was my big spring purchase from Walmart! What kind of things would your spring not be complete without?

****This is a sponsored post****

Disclosure: As a participant in the Walmart Moms Program, I’ve received product samples and compensation for my time and efforts in creating this post. All thoughts and opinions are my own.