Epic Treehouse Playdate!!!

By Amy

So, remember in my "The Elusive Art of Making Mommy Friends" post, I said I had a goal of setting up more playdates?  Since becoming a mom, I hadn't really jumped on the playdate bandwagon...and I was determined this summer to hop on.  So, after hearing of a bunch of the huge bloggers in the bloggy world having these "epic playdates" sponsored by Hyundai... I thought, "Well, Shoot.  We can totally do EPIC too, sponsor of not!"  (No disrespect, I'm just a little jealous cause we didn't have the funds to go zip-lining through the redwoods...Ha!)

So, in true DIY style, I set out to create our own fabulous shindig.  And, I'm happy to report that a few days ago, my friends Amber, Delilah, and I did indeed take our kiddios on an EPIC playdate.  

How epic?

We played and relaxed in a 5 story treehouse.  My dad, my brothers, and I built the treehouse when we were kids.  (Ok, my little bro and I mostly handed up nails and fetched stuff...)  But, a little background on this freaking cool place:

Growing up, I was so jealous of my friends who played night games with all the neighborhood kids or had block parties in the street (picture the "Sandlot".)  I didn't live in a cul-da-sac.  My family lived a quarter of a mile down a gravel road, with nothing but foothills and sagebrush forever behind our house.  Sometimes as a kid, I wished I lived in the city to escape the farm chores of hauling hay and moving pipe, but man...there were some definite perks to living in the coutry.  One of these?  The treehouse.   

It was built in a sprawling tree over several summers out of left-over wood and salvaged nails.  My big brother was the dreamer and architect, and my dad took time from his full-time office job and hobby farmwork to help put his son's "Swiss Family Robinson" dream into reality.  (Which is funny since my dad is not a fan of heights.) We spent hours there, and I read many a book in the hammock, spied on the teenage boys moving pipes with no shirts on in the adjacent field (scandalous!  Ha!) and we even held parties and group dates there.  We loved it!  We played treehouse hotel (I was always the crazy owner down in the lobby) and pirate ship for for entire summers, pulling the water bucket from the pond below to swab the deck.  Life was good at the treehouse.

But, now, my parents' grandkids live hours away and we're all grown up and gone, and the treehouse doesn't get all the love that it used to.  So, that's where I took my friends and their kids!  After a 45 min ride, with my son screaming most of the way, (sorry, Amber!) we arrived.

And...The kids loved it.  Seriously, I thought they were going to set up camp an we'd have to leave without them.  Even the babies were good sports for most of the time!

So here's our playdate!  Please prepare yourself: you're about to see pics for days!  Ha!

Welcome to the treehouse!  My son and my momma.

The treasure chest! 

She's holding the pirate's booty!  Haha....get it?

Delilah and Jasper

Amber with her visiting nephew

Me and my stinker son!  And, I swear I didn't plan to be all matchy-matchy plaid.  It just happened.

DONT JUMP! Ha!  My mom's hand is holding on to the back of him...he wasn't even scared!

Crossing the canal...

Walking back to the house

haha...funny pic of Payden

Sandbox!

The foothills behind the house.

Delicious picnic-ing...

And...somebody realllllly needs nap. 

SO, after lots of fun, yummy food, too much sun, and several baby tantrums, we called our epic playdate a wrap.  A there were lots of snores in the car on the way home. (hallelujah!)  And though this was a pretty sweet location, playdates don't have to be elaborate.  Heck, McDonalds Playplace can make for a great playdate...kids are running around having fun, (probably peeing in the slides...ha!) and moms get to hang out and have some adult conversation.  WIN WIN!

So, how about you?  What do you like to do on playdates?  Do you love a relaxing home playdate?  How about the park?  Have you had any crazy elaborate playdates?  I'd love to hear, cause I need ideas.  :)

 Thanks, friends!
-Amy

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