fort fanatic

Well, if you read my last post (or if you knew me as a child) then you know I am sort of obsessed with forts and I do consider myself rather good at the task of building them.  My best friend Cory and I used to make forts so often that we developed a large repertoire including "The Boat Fort" or "The Washer and Dryer Fort."  One time my mom actually let us use every couch cushion in the house and turn our entire living room into a "Maze Fort."  Then we sent my little brother in with a flashlight and he got lost for awhile.  Then like the awesome Mom she was, she let us keep it up for a whole week.  I will certainly let my own children do such things someday even if it tears my whole house apart... I mean how could I not?   I am excited Jimmy has gotten to an age where he can finally appreciate forts more fully.  Fort building of some form or another has become a frequent summertime activity for us lately.  My presence is usually requested in the forts and it can start to get a little hot, but he is slowly getting better at playing by himself.  I just love when I find him in the forts talking to his stuffed animals and then he tells me to "Go Away Mom!"  The forts I included here are hardly some of my finest work and they usually only stay up for a day before Jimmy is done with them, but I know I am starting him on the right path and he will one day follow in my footstep as "Master Fortbuilder."  This first one was right after we got home from the Children's Museum and he wanted to make his own version of "The Climber."  The fact that all my furniture are hand-me-downs makes it easier to watch him jump all over them.  I don't think I will be investing in any valuable furniture for awhile.

While not actually a fort, this cushion slide is the most frequently seen at our house.  It is easy to put up and down so I suggest it a lot.  Originally we used to pretend it was Splash Mountain (since he couldn't go on the real thing), but know he mixes it up.

He has lots of different ways of sliding down such as "Sideways", "Summersault", "Crazy", and the following one which he usually calls "Lizard" or "Snake" (complete with sound effects).

We recently opened Jimmy's bed up to be a king-size bed when we had some family visiting, so of course he thought that was really cool and wanted to keep it that way forever.  I let him for awhile, but we ended up making his whole room into a fort so that when it was time for it to come down, the bed had to go back to normal too.

And of course flashlights always make forts more fun.

This last one was sort of a half-hearted attempt to make Jimmy a little house out of old boxes on our porch.  Not that impressive to look at (especially since I took this on the last day we had it up and it was starting to fall apart), but he thought it was fun.  We made a tunnel entrance, a little stove, a bed, and a beer box fridge.   I drew pictures on the wall and he decorated them all with chalk.  It was really only good in the early mornings and usually I was the one wanting to go inside, but it was good in June.  I managed to make taking it down into a fun game of smashing boxes so he wouldn't be too traumatized when it came down.  I was ready to see it go.

I am sure there will be more forts to come in our future.  

Now go make a fort yourself and have a happy day!