Build a house

     A while back, my mom asked what I wanted for my son's birthday.  I was walking by the french doors that look outside and saw the tree in our miniscule back yard and jokingly said, "A tree house."  Now, I really wanted one but didn't think that was going to happen.  She laughed and asked how big.  Not too big, again, miniscule back yard.  When she asked my dad -whose hobby is wood - he apparently didn't blink and said he could do that.  Both my parents dote on their grandchildren - REALLY.  It is a good thing we live 6 hours away or they would be SPOILED!  Sorry Siblings - I can't help you because you live closer!  (just a little jealous - free babysitting would spoil me. *** Pause while imagining free babysiting - ahhh)

     Moving on!  I am super excited about the tree house.  I had one growing up.  I still remember when my uncle showed up with all this what we would today call "reclaimed" wood.  I also think that he was introducing his fiance' to his older brother.  Who knows, I was about 8, 9, 10 at the time.  I do remember them kissing and me giggling. . .
     Anyway, it was more like a porch that was attached to 2 trees. I guess we call that a fort and not a house.  Doesn't really matter because I loved it.  That was my vision for S.'s tree fort. 
      I think that we all remember things that we did in our childhood that we want to pass on to our children. There is a phrase that some parents live through their children by having them do what they weren't able to do.  I think when we give our kids something that we enjoyed as children, we sometimes relive our childhood through them.  In this case, it isn't such a bad thing because it just might encourages us to go out and play too (you should have seen J. on the Slip N Slide).  Seeing the tree fort outside makes me remember all sorts of good things - like the time one of my brothers was "charging" the castle when the other had tied one end of a rope around a log and the other around a tree branch and then let the log end fall like a pendulum to stop the attacker.  Now pause while you picture it . . . .  and laugh. 

     So S. got a tree house for his birthday.  I get to play the witch that locks the princess in the tower.  My son is the hero and my daughter the princess.  And if the kids drive me nuts, I can climb up there and knock the ladder down.



I love tree houses.