Breaking News! Tree Fort Appears in Backyard!

Breaking News! Tree Fort appears in my backyard this weekend! Actually, it wasn't a surprise, I've been asking my dad to make one for awhile. But he went out of town this weekend and Papa Don (my grandpa) surprised us and said he'd help build it. Let's start from the beginning though.

When we first moved into our house 7 1/2 years ago, we had a lot of old trees and bushes where spiders, rats, and other creepy crawlers lived. So my dad took it all out (with some help) and planted new trees and bushes. But what he didn't know, the old trees didn't want to go away. So we had a lot of rain that first winter, and the eucalyptus on our hill we cut down, started to grow back. 7 1/2 years later, it is over 30' tall!

So I've been looking at that tree for a long time and I've always wanted my dad to build a Tree Fort up there. But he doesn't have the best set of tools. That's where Papa Don could help. Me and my dad last month made a Monkey Trail up on the hill. The Monkey Trail is an old branch that fell off the eucalyptus and my dad made a bridge up to it so we could walk on it.

So we already had a bridge up to the tree that could connect to the Tree Fort we wanted to build. So Papa Don came over last weekend with his drill, chainsaw, saw, and wood cutter (which had humongous blades). First, while I was at school Papa Don went to Home Depot and got the wood. So then after he picked me and Ryan up from school, we saw a bunch of lumber and bricks in our front yard!

Then we had to slip them through the side gate and dropped them in a big pile in the backyard. Next, we got to the action! Papa grabbed his chainsaw and starting hacking away through the bushes on our hill so he had room to work. Ryan and my job was to haul out the old branches Papa chopped down. GP (also known as Grandma Patty) had to break down the branches into little pieces (it filled 6 trash barrels)! So now we had room to build the Tree Fort. We then went and started building the Tree Fort with all the lumber Papa bought. This time we only started with the frame.

Some pieces of wood were too long so Papa had to get his wood cutter and chop it down to the right size. That took a lot of work so we stopped at the end of the day. The next day after school (Friday) I came to the Tree Fort and looked and the floor was already in because when I was at school, GP and Papa put in the floor! I was excited!

Then on Saturday, we put on the railings so nobody would fall off.  Since the Tree Fort is built on a tree on our hill, the back of the fort is only 4' off the ground. But the back of the fort is 7' off the ground! We didn't want anyone to fall off (especially my brother Ryan)!



And finally on Sunday, we built the Lobster mailbox! GP bought it for us and we have a home for it now. I really like my Tree Fort because you can see the ocean and the street below. I can't wait to play on it this week!

And before I forget, since it's so high in the tree, I also have a basement underneath. I don't know what I'll do with the extra space, but I'll maybe store some toys down there.



I love my new Tree Fort. Thank you GP and Papa for building it. Maybe we can camp out on it the next time you visit.

Apple Syrup Art Gallery

Me and my dad like to take pictures. Some of these pictures I took and other ones my dad took while I was there. First up is the picture above. We were taking pictures on Gascony Road in Encinitas- next to Capri School. This one looks like a bunch of clouds coming in from a storm front.

This next one is from last year when I took a field trip to Swami's. This looks big but it's really no smaller than a big twig. I like this one because it has lots of colors and almost feels like a 100' tall.

This picture reminds me of the good times in the canyon down the street from my house. I don't remember my dad taking this picture, but I was there. This tree is down by the sandhill which me and my brother throw huge rocks down below.

This picture was taken in the Swami's gardens also. This one was in the Koi Pond, not on the bluff where the cactus was. I like Koi because when you wiggle your finger in the water, they think it's a worm and try to eat it (don't worry- they don't have teeth).

This picture was taken at GP and Papa's house in the desert (near Laughlin, NV). There house is really neat because they have a mini speedboat that floats in the mini lake shown above. The other cool thing about this place is that it is filled with toy dinosaurs that I put them on the walkway leading to the dock.

These are my two good friends, Lucca and Alex (who we sometimes call Beans). My two friends will always make me laugh. Like this picture that was taken in downtown Encinitas. We were on a field trip that taught us all about the history of Encinitas.

I hope you enjoyed my Apple Syrup Art Gallery!