MAGIC TREE FORT

My older kids loved the magic tree house books when they were beginning readers.  Now my youngest has started enjoying them as we take turns reading together.   The stories are always full of adventure and imagination.

I feel so lucky.  We have a magic tree fort in the back of our property.  My husband built the kids a tree fort when they were little in our lower yard, in an apple tree grove.  Unfortunately, the trees became diseased a few years ago and we had to cut them down.  There was sadness in not only saying good-bye to the trees, but the childhood memories that were made in that tree fort.   The kids were promised another tree fort and we managed to salvage most of the material.

True to his word, my husband reinvented the tree fort last year up further on the property, in an old  pine tree.   As in life, sometimes change is good!  The new fort comes with a view of the river!   Like many of our projects around our house, it remains unfinished but it is done enough that the kids can climb up the temporary ladder and enjoy the magic of the fort.

This weekend my brother and his family came to visit.  The cousins always have a blast together, and the weather couldn’t be more beautiful (or unseasonal)!    It reached nearly sixty degrees when they were here, a perfect opportunity for everyone to hang out outside.

Cade and his cousin headed right to the tree fort.  Soon, the tweens were up there as well.  I kept checking in on them, since things were so quiet and calm.  I figured something surely must be wrong!   However, it was just that they were busy.  Busy landscaping!  They were beautifying the property around the base of the fort, a million stories converging in their young minds as they were transported by their imagination.  Riley asked me to go up and check it out.

I gotta say, I was rather impressed!

Each step I climbed on the ladder started to transport me.  To simpler times of dreams and imagination.  As the birds sang, the gentle breeze touched my skin and I felt sunshine on my face I realized the importance of the magic tree fort.   Time stands still.  I am whoever I want to be, not who I think I should be.  I can be anything, dream unbelievable dreams, be a kid again, uninhibited, without limits.   Don’t tell me kids, but I think I may just hang out in their tree fort a little each day to remind myself of possibilities!

LIFE LESSON? Every adult needs a magic tree fort.