The Fort

Here are some pictures of a little fort Rick and the boys have been working on. Our backyard is basically a wooded hillside and it goes up pretty steep. It is bigger than than the pictures make it out to be, but you get a general idea. They're still working on it and I don't know what else they're going to do to it. It's a good climb up the hill. The other day we had 2 bears wandering through the fort, but they didn't do anything to it. Because of that, the boys can only go in it when Rick and I are outside and close by. Chances are, if the boys are outside playing and making noise, we don't usually get the bears coming around. They're more inclined to come around when everyone is inside and the neighborhood is quiet. But it's a cool little fort and the boys have fun playing up there.

There was a treehouse at the house I grew up in. I believe it was there when we moved in, but my brother and sister fixed it up a bit. It was in an eucalyptus tree. There were little wooden pegs hammered into the tree that were used to climb up it. I was too little to go up there for the longest time. I remember climbing up into it once, only to be too afraid to go down again. I think my brother had to come out and help me down. Eventually, I got the hang of it and spent a lot of time playing in that old tree fort. This lower picture of my house was taken from the boy's fort, so you can see how far up it is. Did you ever have a fort or tree fort when you were growing up?

On another note -- we went to town yesterday and I got my Sea-Monkeys. There was only one package left, in my favorite color blue, so I took that as a good sign. We haven't set the little tank up yet, but I'm doing that soon. The water has to purify for 24 hours before you can add the eggs to it. Of course, Rick ranted about buying them, but he had no choice this time. I was talking to the boys last night as we examined the little kit and I mentioned how I always wanted Sea-Monkeys when I was a little girl, but my mom wouldn't let me get them. Nathan goes, "Well, you're an adult now, so you can." Such a clever kid. Anyway, we're going to give them a try and see how well they do. I keep reading how they should be near sunny places, so I might have to move them around the house a bit. I'll try to get some pictures if we have success with them. Wish us luck!