One Saturday morning in June it was decided that Ben and the boys were going to build a play structure in the backyard. I pictured a small little tower with a slide and a few swings. Ben and the boys, however, got on pinterest and things got a little out of control. They "pinned" any and every picture that they thought was cool and then worked on eliminating from there. My favorite memory is hearing them yell out, "We've eliminated the pirate ship!"
So what was decided upon was a HUGE fort, standing 5 foot above ground, with a deck on three sides, a slide, a rock wall, and a swing set. Basically a guest house, right? It's turned into a huge, entire-summer-building project. But, it's a fort that the kids will be able to play on (in fact even sleep in) for years to come. And the process of building and working on it as a family this summer is a timeless memory. Heck, I even got in on the action and learned how to use a chop saw.
Here's the original plans for the fort:
Buying supplies together. These cart with a handle and are genius.
Before pictures of our backyard:
This is our "back lot" and the fort is replacing the play set that the Morris' gave us when they moved to Portland. We have great memories on that play set, but the boys' big bodies were outgrowing it!
Step one on a rainy Sunday morning before church: digging post holes and seting them in cement. Seth and Sam were great helpers with digging, running the hose and mixing cement.
Thankfully the weather wasn't always rainy
Everyone with their shirts off like daddy
The kids have all hauled a lot of boards this summer, even little Joshy
They were all proud to help
The ground level is built!
Hard workers!
Now for the framing of the fort
One of the really cool elements of the fort is that we decided to use old fence boards for the fence and siding. This aspect, however, is one the reasons that it has taken so long to build! Using reclaimed fence boards has meant that we've spent countless hours pulling apart old fence, taking out nails and pressure washing the boards. The result is pretty stunning, though!
Ben had the idea of the varying heights. He's so talented in construction design!
Protecting Fort Morris
One day while we were out working on the fort, I decided to see if we could get Josh to pee outside by simply letting him be naked all afternoon. The kid held it for TWO hours. What a stinker. At least I got a cute picture! He'll totally thank me for this one some day, right?
More pictures of Fort Morris to come. Next is phase two of the back yard renovation: the basketball court. Here is another "before" of the yard. It shows my enormous compost pile right where the court will go. It's always been Ben's dream with our property to have a cement court for the boys to play on in backyard. We decided to bite the bullet this summer and get it done!
I have a hard time looking at all these concrete pouring pictures without getting a little huffy. The guy who did the work for us did an excellent job on the court; however, he totally destroyed my yard. He didn't tell me when he was coming, so I wasn't there when he arrived and I didn't get my compost moved to a spot I wanted. We also failed to discuss the disposal of the dirt with him, so yards and yards of it got spread all over our lawn. Overall, there were some very frustrating things. The boys, however, thoroughly enjoyed having lots of gravel, dirt and a skid steer in our back yard.
We even got to see the truck dump this one (do my kids ever wear shirts?)
A great place for boys to play! Hours of entertainment!
Lots of work going on in the back yard! Total construction zone.
Dirty. Always dirty.
While the concrete worker may not have been the best communicator, he was excellent with the boys. He patiently let them watch every aspect of his work and answered all their questions. It was really sweet to watch the boys so fascinated by the work (This is the view from my kitchen window)
And he even let them sit in the skid steer (oops, I didn't get a picture of Sam)
Then at 7:00 a.m. one morning, the concrete trucks arrived! We got the boys up early so that they could watch. Our neighbors, Chris and Larry even came over to watch with us too. I served coffee and zucchini bread and it was quite the occasion.
The workers were so patient with the boys!
Neighbor Chris had a great idea of making a little form for a hand print block for the kids. He asked if the extra concrete could be poured into it, and now we had a movable stone of the kids (and Rosie's) hand prints
Chris making our concrete block. His dog, Kona, (the background) is Rosie's best friend
The finished product!
A smaller slab for a new shed (another phase in this back yard renovation!)
Now back to Fort Morris. This is a current picture of the front of it. We still have some siding to do on the back, some front trim work, a door, climbing rocks to put on, and the swing set to make. It sure is pretty, though, huh?
Side view; this is where the rock wall is.
It's been really fun to let the boys have ownership in making the fort. When they asked to help paint the rock wall, I knew I had to say "yes." Here's Seth:
Everyone paints in their underwear, right?
Sam's turn (he's got a dirt mustache)
And even little Joshy got to paint. He's thrilled!
Working hard (once again, where are my kids clothes?)
First lunch in the fort!
I have lots more pictures to come. Truth be told, I wish I could post beautiful pictures of everything magically done with gorgeous landscaping around it, but I can't. Nothing is done and everything looks messy. The play fort is 3/4 of the way done. Only the framing and roof on the shed is done. There is no hoop on the court. The yard is destroyed. There is sand, gravel, weeds, and overgrown grass everywhere. The weather is shifting to rain and the days are shorter. We're busy and time is short. We may have bit off more than we can chew. But, it will get done slowly and surely. And it will be worth it in the end. And maybe someday it will be beautifully landscaped. Until then, we already have some great pictures of the memories made. And that's what I'll post next time!
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