The mother of all forts

When I was a freshman in college I printed and laminated star charts, hopeful that my friends and I could star-gaze one warm California night. I did this because I am a nerd. Also, I love stars. Also, I had never lived in Los Angeles before. Had I lived in Los Angeles before, I would have known that we have approximately six visible stars here.

Let me give you an idea of what that means for us: it takes seven stars to make the big dipper. There are no constellations to be found.

So we have to go elsewhere for our star gazing. A few weeks back, in honor of my 30th birthday, some of my friends and I planned a desert camping trip, complete with star charts, blankets, and lots of hot chocolate. But then a heat wave hit, and the desert temperatures soared over 100 degrees. So we decided we were okay with gazing at our six stars after all.

To make up for our cancelled camping trip, we planned a slumber party, complete with a BBQ, bonfire and...wait for it... FORT BUILDING! Because: happiness.

Building forts is a sure-fire way to bring out the kid in ya. And if there's one thing I wanted to do the weekend of my 30th, it was play like it was 1993. Thankfully, my friends were all about the fort building.

The boys spear-headed the building project.

Please excuse my poor photo quality. My iPhone is very old and almost dead.

And boy did they do a good job.

The delight, you guys; the.de.light.

A little building break

It was the mother of all forts. We couldn't wait to play in it.

Except we had to BBQ first.

And then eat.

And then we gathered around the fire to roast dessert. We made roasted fruit pockets. Have you tried these before? They're so easy and delicious. Just slice up your favorite fruit — we sliced pears, apples, and peaches. Then, put several slices of fruit on a square of tin foil, along with your choice of the following: chopped nuts; unsweetened, shredded coconut; cinnamon; nutmeg; honey; and maple syrup. Wrap the mixture up in the foil and then throw it on a bed of hot coals. After several minutes the fruit will be steaming, caramelized deliciousness. You can eat it right out of your foil pocket or on a bowl of vanilla ice cream. 

A campfire isn't a proper campfire without campfire tunes, is it?

Robert doing a little strumming before our sing-along

Robert and I got after it, energetically bellowing tunes from "Frozen" and "The Lion King" while our friends listened, with great pleasure, no doubt. 

And then, we moved inside to our fort where everyone joined in our singing.

"Under the Sea...darling it's better..."

Oh Disney, you are the gift that keeps on giving.

We closed the night watching "Frozen" and then the boys headed down the street to their house where they slept before joining us for breakfast the next morning.

It was truly the mother of all fort parties, complete with my friend Robert's trademark photo-bomb. And oh Robert, you may have forgotten, but, nobody photo bombs Sarah Jackson without some of those photos being posted for all the world to see. Wua ha ha ha ha!

Happy Tuesday, Friends!

-Sarah



© by scj