Tree Fort

One night while we were playing outside, Miles said, "Mom, our playset is MUCH too small for me.  We need a bigger one."I told him that all of the playsets I've seen are about the same size with just more/less accessories. He responded by saying, "well, I'll draw a new one!" He ran inside/came back out some paper, crayons and a pen. He preceded to draw the view from the outside as well as plans for the inside. As he was drawing, he said, "mom, when I'm done with this, we can give it to a builder to make. Then, the builder can give it to the painter to paint. Its going to be AWESOME!"

As you can see, his plans include several slides, a chimney, 3 levels, several staircases (including at least one that can roll up), a rock wall, parachutes (including latches coming down from the ceiling where the parachutes will be stored), swings, monkey bars and a tent. He also included drawers for clothing, art supplies, etc..

When I told him that it would probably be really expensive to make, he said, "don't worry mom!  I'll chip in!"  :)  He also suggested that if Mike, he and I all chipped in that we could cover most of it and then just get "a little bit from the bank."  :)  He was so excited he asked if we could Skype with Mike (he was in Canada for work) immediately so that we could start reviewing the game plan. 

I was feeling badly for Miles that as soon as Mike came home that Miles was going to learn that we definitely couldn't build his tree mansion (I found myself wishing that I was Gwen Stefani or Tori Spelling -- surely these girls would hand these "plans" over to an architect and make their son's dream into a reality, right?). But - Mike surprised me. He has such fond childhood memories building a huge race track and tree grandstand/viewing platform with all of his neighborhood buddies in the woods. He and Miles are trying to figure how they can build something cool together (I suggested maybe a Brady Bunch style clubhouse on the ground?). The two of them even went to Home Depot together to check out supplies while I took Noah and Griffin to see the play Goodnight Moon on Sunday. Who knows what or when this structure while emerge, but at this point, its all definitely a possibility.

(PS Dad, Miles remembers me talking about the tree fort you build for me and Dana in Connecticut and he's already said, "Pop will DEFINITELY need to help." I say 'come one, come all' to any grandfather or uncle that is interested in helping. :)