Up a Tree

One day last week during Maggie's VBS I took Finn and Carolina to Cheekwood Botanical Gardens, where we have a membership, to see to their new tree house exhibit. There are seven life-size tree houses inspired by classic works of literature and it looked like something we would all enjoy.  On Tuesdays in the autumn, winter and fall Cheekwood offers wonderful, free craft projects for preschool kids and parents. I thought they did them during the summer, too, so I made sure to go on a Tuesday morning. We confidently marched into the Learning building once we got there and took seats at a table with a few other moms and kids and I asked the woman in charge, "So, what project are we going to make today?" To which she replied, "Oh. And what are your children's names?" I didn't get the feeling she was just trying to make conversation so it quickly dawned on me that this was some sort of class. I asked and she told me that it was a Mommy and Me art summer camp. Doh! I hightailed it out of there and actually convinced myself not to be embarrassed by my mistake. What a revelation for this neurotic lady!
We went on to see the tree houses.
The first one we saw was a giant conch shell inspired by The Lord of the Flies. For some reason there were African animal masks for the kids to put their faces up to. I don't remember that from the Lord of the Flies but seeing as I was in seventh grade when I read it, it's entirely possible that there is a crucial African animal mask scene that I don't remember. But who cares? Look how cute Carolina looks in the zebra mask.

Finn had a big time climbing in the conch. (Side note- do you say "conk" or "conch"? I say conk. Just curious.)

 

This tree house was based on The Giver, which I'd never heard of. They loved running up a ramp into the tree house and going down the slide. And at one point, while I was helping Carolina down the slide, Finn ran off and I completely lost him for about five minutes. I did run around shouting his name like a crazy person. My kids have basically turned me into a total spazz. He turned up after I suffered 98 heart attacks from fear.

We all really liked the pirate ship tree house, inspired by Peter Pan.

 

The fish tree house was inspired by a book called The Rainbow Fish. It was really cool but you can't really tell from my close up. They used old CD's for the scales. My favorite part was the fact that it had only one way in or out so I could trap my kids in there and know they couldn't escape!

 

This tree house was probably my favorite. It was inspired by The Hobbit and it had a living wall completely covered with plants, a long slide, and a round doorway. For some reason it reminded me of Seaside, Florida.

 Last was a giant rubber band ball tree house. It was suspended over a pond which was unique but terrifying with my two little daredevils. It was inspired by Salman Rushdie's Haroun and the Sea of Stories. 

This activity was on our summer bucket list but I can't cross it off yet because technically the bucket list says "Coal Train Railroad @ Cheekwood" and that event doesn't occur until next Thursday. It should be hot but fun! We DO have a guest pass so if anyone wants to go with us, I'd love to get you in for free. Let me know.  When we go next week I'll have to take better photos of the tree houses themselves so you can see what they look like.