Our Backyard Mountain

 "In our backyard it doesn't look like we have much room because it's all uphill, but the hill has a huge woods that we can go hiking in.  Some of the boys play AirSoft up there and it's a great place for hiking and camping.  At the top you can see mountains in the distance, but you cannot see the houses.  It's the first place we tested our hammocks.  If we're very lucky, sometimes we see deer and turkeys.  There are a lot of squirrels and birds.  We've also seen a fox and a coyote.  There are also box turtles, we were surprised to find them up there.  And, there are great trees to climb.  We use the fallen logs and sticks for forts.  We worked to clear a path that winds up to the camp platform.  We usually cut straight through the woods.  It's more fun.  When we first moved here some of the boards of the platform were broken, but we replaced them.  This is one of the things we are really going to miss about this place." - Jackson T.

Zipline

A Christmas gift for our children made possible by the generosity of a group at church, finally set up in the backyard (it only took us 6 months!).  The kids are thrilled!  

We have a backyard zipline!!!

(It's quite thrilling to ride!)

Forts

Up in the woods, overlooking the house, the kids have built a neighborhood of forts.  Starting with simple structures using fallen branches and extra lumber.  Now the complex of forts consists of woven walls and semi-weather resistant roofs, is connected with cleared paths (and booby traps) and labeled with directional signs.

The kids have been busy.
(Davis is the lead architect of the backyard forts.)