Fort Hayden
It has been sooo HOT here these past few days! Up until now our summer has been wonderful. Many, many of our days have been in the mid to low 80's with no humidity that we noticed. The evenings were cool and pleasant enough for Brian and the older 3 kids to sleep outside in the fort. Alas, the hot, humid portion of summer has taken hold and we are all lamenting the horrible change in our weather. I am, however, enjoying the comfort of our air conditioned home.
One of the most popular parts of the summer, so far, has been the building of Fort Hayden. I cannot tell you the HOURS that the children have played and played out on the fort. There have been several days when they were in such a hurry toget outside to play on that fort that they would come downstairs dressed, having their rooms in order, eat their breakfast,and do their work for the day before 9 O'clock in the morning!!
Thankfully, we haven't had any major injuries either, and I am still AMAZED at that!!
We did have a couple of mishaps...
The first two days that the fort was done, both Ethan and Caleb managed to fall through the inside opening where the ladder comes up. Caleb was backing up to hold the flashlight for Brian who was working on some part of the fort and he "miscalculated" how much space he had. He got a scrape and a bonk on the head, but was fine shortly after. Ethan was up there with a couple of friends, eating an ice cream bar, TALKING (as he always is), being silly and he walked backwards not paying attention to the HOLE in the floor! He fell and cried a bit, but was most upset that his ice cream bar was ruined. (that's Ethan for ya)
Needless to say, Brian has since installed a hatch that fits over the hole. It is not hinged because we were concerned about smashing fingers, but Brian made it fit right in at the same level as the floor. The rule is now...If you're on the top level, you must put the hatch on!!! Since then we haven't had any problems at all.
Brian is still planning on adding a 2 person glider swing and putting a roof of some sort on the tower. We also have a baby swing to add to one of the tree branches , which will be great fun for Titus. We take him out and swing with him on our laps, which he loves, but it will be nice to let him have his own swing too.
Brian says that he feels like it is one of the best things he's ever done for his children and from what the children say... they agree. :)
**I'll have to post pictures later, this website is giving me fits ! grrr.
One of the most popular parts of the summer, so far, has been the building of Fort Hayden. I cannot tell you the HOURS that the children have played and played out on the fort. There have been several days when they were in such a hurry toget outside to play on that fort that they would come downstairs dressed, having their rooms in order, eat their breakfast,and do their work for the day before 9 O'clock in the morning!!
Thankfully, we haven't had any major injuries either, and I am still AMAZED at that!!
We did have a couple of mishaps...
The first two days that the fort was done, both Ethan and Caleb managed to fall through the inside opening where the ladder comes up. Caleb was backing up to hold the flashlight for Brian who was working on some part of the fort and he "miscalculated" how much space he had. He got a scrape and a bonk on the head, but was fine shortly after. Ethan was up there with a couple of friends, eating an ice cream bar, TALKING (as he always is), being silly and he walked backwards not paying attention to the HOLE in the floor! He fell and cried a bit, but was most upset that his ice cream bar was ruined. (that's Ethan for ya)
Needless to say, Brian has since installed a hatch that fits over the hole. It is not hinged because we were concerned about smashing fingers, but Brian made it fit right in at the same level as the floor. The rule is now...If you're on the top level, you must put the hatch on!!! Since then we haven't had any problems at all.
Brian is still planning on adding a 2 person glider swing and putting a roof of some sort on the tower. We also have a baby swing to add to one of the tree branches , which will be great fun for Titus. We take him out and swing with him on our laps, which he loves, but it will be nice to let him have his own swing too.
Brian says that he feels like it is one of the best things he's ever done for his children and from what the children say... they agree. :)
**I'll have to post pictures later, this website is giving me fits ! grrr.
Looks so fun, and well-built - why buy one for those expensive prices?! Hopefully they'll have lots of fun and no injuries! :)
ReplyDeleteI love your fort! I can hardly believe how big your children are. I would love to see some more pictures of the children. Glad that you have AC - we do too, as of 2 weeks ago! Whew! Hot, humid weather here in Wisconsin too. We broke a couple of records last week with temps in the 100's. We are going camping next week for 5 days - I am hoping that it cools down a bit. - Jenny Story
ReplyDeleteDan and I just love what Brian built! That is sooo awesome! However did he do it? Did he follow a plan? Copy a picture? How did he get the lumber home? Dan's excited to build something like this for our boys someday.
ReplyDelete