The Making of a Tree House

Before we moved into this house four years ago, I pinned a "Handmade Hideaway" on Pinterest and said to Ryan, "we are making this as soon as we move." Four years later and we are FINALLY making our tree house.

I've been feeling for some time now that we needed a family project. Something that we could all help with, something the kids were interested in and excited about, something to bring us a little closer together as a family, something to make us feel like we accomplished something hard and challenging. So far, this project has been the answer! We are having so much fun, learning all sorts of new things, working together, and teaching each other how to use tools, measure, and build. It's been awesome and I can't wait until we get to see the fruits of our labors. But more importantly, I hope this tree house will be a place for more fun and family togetherness for years to come.

First things first, we had to build the platform that the tree house will sit on...

Getting a tutorial from Ryan on how to pre-drill the hole that the lag screws will go into...

Using power tools is awesome, even if they are kinda wimpy power tools...

Screwing in the joists. Ella was a huge help since she's got more muscle than her siblings (and more patience)...

Yay, the base is finished. Now we just needed some muscle to help us flip it over and carry it to its final destination in the forest. This was the hardest part because of the never-ending rain and finding a time that worked for all of our manpower to come help us. Once it was flipped, building progressed a lot faster...

Kendall and Hudson helping to lay the decking on the platform...

Laying the decking on the platform was time consuming but with so much help, we were done in no time...

Screws are not for eating (or smoking) Miss Kendall...

Getting those screws to go through so many inches of wood took some dad power...

And there it is, phase one is complete. Now on to the walls. As the kids were taking turns drilling in the deck screws, we also made a pathway leading to the tree house. Eventually, we will line the path with plants and flowers. That's phase 114...

Phase two - build walls. We started with the back wall since it was getting late and about to rain AGAIN...

Back wall done (until we add the siding)...

Yay team! Progress reports to come.