a "fort"

Many many months ago Sydaleigh asked if we could build her a tree house. Um, no. Then she asked if we could build her a club house. She came to us with a plan and had designed it all out on paper, it was going to be two stories with different rooms and windows and stairs and she created it all and was looking to us with pleading eyes to construct it for her.

We tried to tell her that we are not engineers or architects or contractors and completely lack the skills necessary in constructing a two story club house.....but the girl was insistent. Sweet thing. I love her confidence is us!

Not wanting to disappoint her, I did some brainstorming and came up with the next best thing. Something doable and realistic that I could manage.

I recommended we build.....a platform! It was the best I could do. But I sold it really well, came up with a design and she was totally into it! (whew-thank goodness! No way I could have managed a two story club house....but a platform, now that I can do!)

So, I arranged to have fifty mud bricks delivered via donkey and cart and they were unloaded in our back yard.

I carried each brick to the front of the yard and Sydaleigh helped arrange them, clear the area of rocks and debris so they laid flat.

I recommended we put some poles on each corner and wrap some fabric around them to enclose it a bit, but Sydaleigh liked it simple.

What started out as an elaborate two story club house ended up looking like this. A little platform for the kids to stand on, play school, have their horse club and play around, pretend to be a fort, as she calls it.

And she liked it just as much as the fancy design. Yay for compromise and being content with simple things!