The Tree Fort

Every October the kids have eight half-days of school in a row. This is for parent-teacher conferences and also to get parents to

A. go nuts

B. get creative

C. both

I know, for all our happiness, I have to get the kids out of the house. There is an empty field about a block from our house (conveniently owned by the church). The field is barren. Elias and I do a little scouting. We find rabbit holes, gophers galore, trash, old iron bed springs, and rocks. There's an olive tree at one end of the field that looks more like an overgrown bush. I bite one of the olives. UGH! Gross! Elias laughs. We later look up the tree in my book and find that there are olive trees that you can eat and get oil from and wild olive trees that you can't do anything with. Let me tell you, don't try eating one of these!

In the field we also find two other trees. One is a scrawny excuse for a tree. The other looks promising. As we crawl under its low-hagning branches, Elias is delighted to find two old swings ready for use. They have been left by some long-gone explorers. I analyze the tree as he swings and decide it will work.

So, when half-days start, we have a project! We push my stroller down the street filled with rakes, hoes, shovels, hammers, nails and any scrap of lumber we could find. The neighbors are giving me strange looks, but I don't care. We are on a mission to build a secret fort!

The kids do a lot of work, but especially Ryanne and Elias. They rake and weed around that tree for an hour. Leah and Mckay are trying to help, but they keep getting distracted and taking "breaks". I help and pretty soon we have a nice, sandy, weed-free patch. Ryanne and Leah set to work building a "protective circle" around the tree with rocks. This is to keep out goblins.

I begin framing. Granted, I have no professional skill. I use way too many nails and only have old mismatched boards. I think if Wes or his Dad were here they would have a lot to say about what I am doing wrong!!! Nevertheless, I proceed. I am drawn into reminiscing about all the tree forts I hammered out as a kid with my two brothers and my sister. We had so much fun!

Slowly this one takes shape. It is a small platform now, but we have ideas for additions later as more wood becomes available. The kids are climbing all over me. They use large rocks to hammer in extra nails (poor tree). They feel pretty expert about hammering after a little practice, especially Mckay. They are also climbing the limbs of the tree like monkeys.

For some reason, this all makes me feel euphoric. Childhood! It makes me think of my own mom and all the fun outdoorsy things she did with us.

The kids have been playing for five hours without thought of food or water. The sun is going down. I am trying to finish the last little bit and can hardly see the nails. The kids gather round to watch the show-- I am missing the nail on every other slam. The darkness gathers round and so the sparks of my near misses glow. The kids are impressed. Here is one moment in life where they think their mom is sooooo cool!

These photos are from the first day when we started building. Mckay was at his friend's house this time. He came along the next day (when I didn't have the camera). We found a birds nest in a hole in one limb. We found a wasp nest too. We have also finished the bottom platform and added a higher platform since these photos!

But mom, there is nothing to sit on. Are you sure this is going to work?