No, that's not an enormous bird feeder. Yes, it is a telescoping tree pruner dangling from a tree. Would you all believe me if I told you the tree grabbed the trimmer and tore it from my hands, then told me to get back or the dog would get it? No? That's too bad. Would've made a great story.
And to think, this was the high spot of the day. The rest of our projects today for the Forever Home phase something-or-other did include what I thought would be an exciting and enticing foray into the world of *Secret Forts*.
Me: *whispering* Boys, check this out. Won't this make a great secret fort?
*crickets* Yes, in broad daylight. Stone. Cold. Silence as they surveyed the scene before them:
Me: See the magic castle back there?
John: You mean the dead tree?
James: Yeah, I think she's talking about the dead tree. Mom, are we going to build the secret fort behind the dead tree?
Smidge: MAGIC CASTLE!
(OK, at least he saw it.)
I laid out the plan to prune and clear out that clump of foliage in front of the "dead tree" (or, as some of us more imaginative types prefer to call it, The Magic Castle) so that they'll have a cool cave-like spot there when the leaves have filled in. For the record, when I was six, I'd have killed for something like that.
The boys worked hard, and they were diligent. But I don't know if "enthused" would be a good way to describe their view of the process. We hauled out a lot of dead limbs from the once-lively tree, and James wondered whether it'd be this gross when we were done. We made it into the inner sanctum of the someday-fort, and John began pondering just how many types of poisonous spiders dwell in there. They both ran for it the second I told them they could go. Ah, well, Balto and I thought it was pretty cool.
EmBaby fell asleep in the swing, so she missed a lot of the excitement. And Smidge? Well, he's still young enough that if we say it'll be magical, then it'll be magical. He worked the hardest of all of us.
Kiss those babies!
~Dy
10 comments:
Well, at least you had fun in the fort with somebody! I'm with the boys, though...I always wonder what kind of poisonous spiders are lurking in the good hiding spots, too.
I tried the whole secret fort thing with KJ a few years ago. We have a giant bush-like tree-like thing. I could see that inside was mostly open space. We just needed to make an entrance and clear it out a little bit. KJ said that I could do what I wanted, but he was NEVER going inside that thing...could be all sorts of creepy crawlies in there. Do you know that I actually considered doing it anyway so I would have a secret fort? I could picture myself reading a book in there...
Rebel
www.mindspring.com/~rebel_hart
Aw man, even when I was like 13 and when we were living in Alaska, my sister and I used to build the most killer snow forts ever! We played in them all winter, unless the "enemy" came and destroyed it. Then, of course, that meant war... er, rather, snowball fights till someone went home crying and bloody.
Um, maybe they'll come around. They just need to mull it around in their minds a little bit and come up with their own ideas.
-dawn
I guess we all had strange and wonderful childhoods! LOL!
Dawn, the bleeding is what I hated most about snowball fights. They never show that in the movies.
Rebel, Zorak has actually planned a grown-up hidey hole behind the garden. Of course, he called it "the make-out bench", but it will also be a nice place to read. Not at the same time, of course. *grin*
Jennie, he got to the base of the dead tree and just about freaked, "DO YOU KNOW WHAT KIND OF SNAKES MIGHT LIVE IN HERE?!?!?" I think they get it from my mother. Definitely not from me.
It'll be fun to see how it all turns out.
Dy
Oh, these young fellas of yours need to see our treehouse! No snakes or spiders (well, maybe a few), and all we have to worry about is them falling from a very high place!
When I was a kid, we have a vacant lot, where we made forts and hideouts- loved it.
Loved the pic of Smidge and the wagon.
LB
That bottom picture is absolutely marvelous!
Isn't it funny (and a little sad) how they so quickly lose their belief in magical things? T. used to tell us, when he was five or so, that he was going to go to Hogwarts when he was old enough. Last night, Ed said that he thought he had heard werewolves howling, and T. said, "Dad, don't you know that werewolves are fictional?"
At least you and Smidge will have fun creating the magic castle. And maybe the older boys will join in once you can assure them that there are no crawly beasties there. I'm kind of torn between wanting my kids to enjoy playing in the woods and wanting them to look out for all the copperheads we keep being told about around here.
Hurray for Smidge! Your property is perfect for forts. My kids love forts. Our suburban property doesn't satisfy, but our church building is near open space and a creek. They've got a fort there...and an island!
What a darling picture of Smidge!
One of our houses (ha) had a cool tall hedge that the previous owner had spiralled around creating a hidden spot to conceal his landscaping materials. The girls and I were so excited to discover The Secret Garden. We quickly realized we were not the only ones to have found it: A homeless person was using it as a hidey-hole and had left behind the remains of several meals and an unmarked bottle of cloudy yellow liquid...
Great post! Adorable pictures. Your kids are getting SO big! Pretty soon they'll be making forts all over that property!
When I was a kid we lived in this one house for a year but there was this island that had a little walk way to it. (It was mostly rocks and some dirt through the water to it but getting dirty was half the fun) They called the island Government Island because, we had been told, they had gotten stone for the white house there. On this island were the tallest stone cliffs that were straight up and down like someone had taken a knife and cut them straight down. It was the greatest place to play. Every child needs that magic that makes children wonderful. Good luck on the magic castle.
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