The tale of the treehouse!

So our lovely new home came with an existing tree house built on top of an existing tree stump. It was covered with spiders and dead leaves and numerous insects so was not fully explored by us or the kids when we moved in. And most importantly it was not examined by our structural engineer.

About a week after we moved in our friends came round with their kids and three of the girls decided to be brave enough to climb up and explore the tree house. After the main cobwebs and dead leaves had been swept out by Mum.

The parents had withdrawn to the kitchen for a cuppa and chat when we heard what sounded like a tree collapsing. With our stomachs well and truly in our mouths we ran out to see what I fully expected to be a scene of carnage.

Well the tree house had completely toppled over and slid down the bank. The three girls had been inside when it fell. One of them had been thrown out and had was lying half way down the bank. My eldest emerged from the remains unscathed and my youngest had to be retrieved from the wreckage and sustained two bad knocks to the head.

Following a panicked trip to A & E thankfully no one was badly hurt. However a lesson was well and truly learnt that day. Do not let your kids climb tree houses without thoroughly examining their structural integrity first!