STAYcation

This year we had crazy plans of renting a huge motorhome and heading south for a 10 day vacation, visit relatives and friends along the way... The whole idea was that we could see people without 'imposing' on them by bringing our own beds with us which would also keep our junk to ourselves... you get the idea!

As time approached and teeth bills (cleanings, cavities, extractions, crowns) piled up we decided on a STAYcation!!!

WHAT TO DO?

We were given some 'free' wood that would make the perfect LITTLE fort for the kids to play in! So Nate worked up the plans based on the lengths of the boards and the sizes of the beams and came up with a workable plan!

~Red Dragon Fly~

So we started off with the first day being filled with lots of extra children. Some friends of our were moving so we borrowed 5 of their children plus one more friend for the day on Saturday.

(if you look closely you'll see 13 kids plus me and Nate in our 11 passenger vehicle)

Then we took (just our seven) to the 3.00 theater to see Cars2 and watch it on the screen 'That was bigger than mom's car'!! It was fun to watch them watch the movie and eat a huge bucket of popcorn! The two little guys fell asleep and we felt like pretty lucky parents each holding one (they never/rarely fall asleep in our arms/laps)!! That was worth it all right there!

Todd and Nate measuring for the foundation

The place where we wanted to put the fort was on quite a slope. So Nate thought that instead of digging down for the foundation that we'd just set the concrete platforms in place, put the posts on them and brace them up and then have a CAT come push the dirt around the posts keeping them upright!

This served three things: 1. it got the dirt all leveled out where we will one day build a 'little' shop. 2. that dirt was pushed around to the back of the house creating a more level place for our backyard, making things a little more user friendly and holding up the posts... 3. It saved hours of digging down and placing the foundation for the 'little' fort!

~DIRT DIRT DIRT~

(above= the girls made a slide out of the little dirt hill and kept themselves busy for several hours)

We had family in the hospital (Not immediate family) and so we got to have their two boys with us for a couple of days! They always fit in to well and didn't feel bad at all running around town with 9 kids under the age of 10! And, of course, we had to make a little stop at Kristpy Kreme's for donuts!

Halley spent and spends HOURS out on that swing. She sings and tells stories and makes up games for the kids! She spends a lot of the time pushing the other kids and teaching Vance how to hold on. His legs aren't quite long enough to latch around but he's getting close!

After that we needed to go and retrieve all of these free boards and wood to start the floor and walls! It has taken two trips and we'll need at least one more to finish it off. If the material is there then why not use it for EVERYTHING possible!!

So, needless to say, it's NEVER going anywhere and could possibly be our bomb shelter in case of a storm... It's sturdy AND WONDERFUL!!!

Each board has a foot long nail into it in several places! It's been a slow process but I'll have to say, that the whole point of building it wasn't just solely to get the kids a fort to play in, it was mainly a project for ALL of us to work on together and take part in building WITH DAD!!!

There is still lots to be done on it but it's looking really fun! Uncle Ti spent hours out there helping cut and put up boards and beams, it goes a lot faster with two sets of muscles!

And of course, SPUT (Sweety Pie Uncle Titus, named by Trae himself) for all the kids to hang on and snuggle with! We can always use extra laps around here!

We did all sorts of fun balancing tricks. This is the fun stage Trae is at right now!

The boys have so creatively taken all the 'extra' boards and made their own fort nearby, it's actually pretty impressive for a first build!