Designing Fort Snrub
A few weeks back a neighbor was throwing out an old privacy fence and their trampoline. Now mind you, they considered this garbage. As soon as the kids were aware of what was happening, they considered it finding gold and exactly what they needed for a new fort in the woods.
They carefully loaded all of the panels onto a trailer and drove them back to their “work” area.
They cleared the perfect area for their fort by driving 4-wheelers and doing donuts in a small area to break down the brush. Then it was time to drag the trampoline with the 4-wheelers into place. This is the roof of the fort which is underneath. The top will be used to place a pop up tent when they want to sleep out there.
They collected old materials from our farm and our neighbors and laid them out so they knew what they had to work with. They could hardly contain themselves on the eve of our trash night and rode the golf cart down our street to collect more treasures. They found a few balls, an old hose reel that has been rigged to raise and lower a flag, chairs, old tires and most recently they picked a huge deck umbrella.
It was time to begin construction. They nailed some boards around the frame. This is holding the tarp in place which covers the trampoline. Even the little ones were helping clear brush and design the area.
Some bamboo flooring and old throw rugs have been collected and added as a floor until they can garbage pick another tarp. The tires are perfect as extra seating!
The name was chosen for the fort using the name of the family who donated the fencing and trampoline spelled backwards. I thought that was a great choice and very imaginative.
This picture was Sunday night as they were driving the two and a half miles down our street looking for more treasures for their fort before garbage day. They wear their bathing suits as it’s been so hot here and they can work on the fort, drive up and jump in the pool and head right back out.
These kids have had very little television or computer time as they are up and out the door to work on the fort, swim, and play in the woods! It’s hard to force them to work on mandatory book reports for the upcoming school year as they are so busy planning, building and having fun.
This is what summer vacation is all about in our world!! 🙂
chase n chance ranch 
Sounds idyllic!
One man’s trash is another’s treasure. Great story! Made me smile.
so true for these kids!