Labor of Love......

So for two years our girls have been asking their daddy to build them their own private club house. We finally decided we needed to set the time aside to do this thing for them that they would always remember as special. It wont be long before they don't want to climb trees and play in forts so it was important to us. The girls and their friends tore the gazebo down that was at the end of our property.....

Then it was time to clear all the wood away and get the foundation set....

Personally I think the foundation took the longest and was the most work.When we were pouring the concrete on the posts  I told the girls,"Hey this is like a lesson on building our homes on the rock. Or wait, it could be about the foundation in your marriage." I think they just rolled their eyes at me. Whatever. I was being deep.

Mind you I found a picture on Pinterest that I thought we could use as a reference.....my husband bless his heart is an over achiever though. So the "little playhouse" turned into a mansion with a redwood deck.

We roped the neighborhood kids into hauling wood all the way back to the building site. "Come on, it'll be loads of fun. I know it's 110 out, but it'll be fun."

Thaaaannnkkksss Dad!

My poor husband would come off a 96 hour shift, run by Home Depot to pick up more supplies and come home and work on the fort for 6-7 hours in the heat. Good man.

The girls helped paint the walls and seal the deck.....

A few sound words of advice if you ever plan to build a club house: #1 Make a budget and then double it..no scratch that, triple it. And the time it will take? Oh boy A LOT! But on the flip side, we sat up on the deck under the stars on the 4th of July and watched fireworks together so that my friends was priceless.

The back has an exit door that we are going to hang a rope ladder from for those quick escapes. It's hard to tell from the photos but the fort is high off the ground. 6 ft. or so. So we are also going to hang swings for them to swing out over the cliffs on. Good times. :) Still working on hanging white lights on the inside and the curtain across the front. A work in progress. A labor of love.....