The Day We Went Back to Tent Land

One of our favorite Spring Break traditions is when we get to visit Tent Land.  Our journey there simply involves turning one room into a giant fort and it becomes the main destination of all things fun during spring break.  Last year, we didn’t visit Tent Land.  Emily was born on the first day of Spring Break so I wasn’t quite up to anything that fun or that required that much effort.

This year on the other hand, we were all ready for a visit to T-land.  Instead of it’s original location in our family room we moved Tent Land to the living room this year.  I was so committed to the project this time that I even used tacks on the walls to hold up the sheets and blankets.  That move shocked everyone, including me, but it was totally worth it because our fort seriously rocked this year.

We put our playhouse at the entrance with the hopes of tricking Emily into thinking that the little house was the whole fort.  We thought it would keep her occupied and allow her to part of the fun without making it too easy for her to destroy the rest of the it.  The decoy fort tricked her for about 30 seconds, then she was climbing through the window and hunting the girls down. 

This year they each had their own bedroom and there was a secret entrance and an emergency exit (but I wasn’t allowed to photograph those).  They made one room a kitchen and another became a theater.  Their Build-A-Bears had special spots too and Shimmer (Katelyn’s bear) even had her own room.  They loved the tunnels and hallways and spent hours in there together.  Most of the time I couldn’t see them but could just hear lots of giggles.

One of my favorite moments however, was when I reminded Katelyn that it was time for her to practice piano.  You could see the joy in her eyes as she told me that she couldn’t because the piano was covered up.  That’s when I broke the news that I took piano practice into account during the design phase and included a retractable roof so that the piano was accessible.  She was speechless.

They loved sleeping in there too.  They spent most nights in their “bedrooms” but towards the end of the week they decided to sleep in the “theater room” located at the back of Tent Land for some extra fun. 

It was a fun “trip” and we were sad when it was time for Tent Land to leave, but we will definitely visit again next year – I better start working on the designs… but first I have to go patch the holes I voluntarily made and do some touch up the paint on the walls.  A small price to pay right?