More Fairy Houses

The girls went full tilt into Fairy House Construction this past vacation. One evening Lauren grabbed sticks and rocks and went to work building quite an elaborate set-up in the crook of four small oak trees that grew in a small circle close together. She gathered acorns for food, and even found some empty "caps" to the acorns and made them into bowls for the fairies to eat from.

Lauren starting to build her fairy house.

The beginnings of the village that eventually formed.

A table, three chairs, and acorn food. Fairies must eat!

A view of Lauren's final village.

Annika went to work too, and built a series of houses around one big tree, and also along a large stump. She would spend a lot of time searching for just the right rocks, stick, leaves, or moss blanket to add to her houses. Each trip to the bathroom was combined with hunting for treasures. She ended up with little "vignettes" really, not just a house like Lauren made.

One of Annika's creations. Notice the rock balanced on the sticks?

A moss quilt underneath a leaf canopy.

The final grand collection of fairy house accessories.

This large rock (quite the excited find!) is a mountain. Annika took it home with her, saying something like, "I'm moving the mountain."

The stump with all the small vignettes on it. This was really unique.

The girls spent hours working on their fairy houses, sometimes even choosing to stay at the camp ground and work on the houses rather than go exploring or swimming. I wonder what has happened to all those precious fairy houses now that their caretakers have left the campsite. It made me rather sad to leave them there.

Poppa, however, had a surprise for us when we were all buckled up and ready to go home: He packed up some acorns and other "essentials" for the girls into a small matchbox and said that these were pioneer fairies that wanted to go home with us and help colonize our part of the state. What a cool idea! The girls ran out of the car (checked our garden first) and then went to the back where they had built fairy houses this spring and "released" the pioneers and all their possessions to set up a new camp with us!

The girls releasing the pioneer fairies.

Here is the matchbox and some of the pioneer's items in a newly remodeled house.

Fairy Mountain in the new location.