Clubhouse

Well, we didn't accomplish everything we set out to do over the summer, but one of the things we did finish was a treehouse/fort/clubhouse for the kids. (We haven't quite settled on what to call it.) The kids have been begging for a treehouse for years. We don't really have a tree suitable for one, but after salvaging our deck last year, I came up with the plan to re-use some of the lumber for this...clubhouse stilt thingy.

We spent most of the summer working on it a bit at a time, with a big push in the last week and a half. Most of the wood is re-used; the 4x4 timbers were originally support posts from the old deck, and the floor is an old barn door that had been left in the upper level of our garage. Bear did much of the construction work, after I showed him what to do. The idea was for him to master a few basic carpentry skills and to become comfortable with the tools. (Mouse was invited to participate but she didn't want to, and I wasn't up to making her...although I plan to have her doing home improvement projects around the house, too, eventually. Mouse did do most of the final coat of paint.)

Here's how it turned out: