Roxaboxen

Have you ever read the book Roxaboxen? It's a story of a neighborhood group of children who find a dirt plot of land and make-believe all sorts of things during their whole childhood. It's a favorite of my kids, so this spring I wasn't surprised to hear that our kids had their own "Roxaboxen" in the woods next to our house!
There's a catch though. Recently we had watched The Bridge to Terebithia movie which is heavy on imaginary creatures, The Lord of the Rings (don't scowl! It wasn't my idea! But they loved it!), and had learned about Fort McHenry in school. SOooo.... since my children are never at a loss of imagination, they created not one, but several Lands.
Their land was Roxaboxen, which they spent HOURS and HOURS in, digging wells...

pruning bushes



cutting down trees.... well cutting UP trees... Jake didn't actually fell this one...


and various other housekeeping duties (which often included bedsheets, play food dishes, baby dolls, toy guns and other things Mom wasn't aware of...)

Then, there is the enemy land known as Fort Irene. The leader of that land (also known as the big fallen log down at the bottom of the hill)is constantly trying to invade. They, thankfully, have a lookout post nearby that they can spy from called Fort McHenry. I say "thankfully" because, the "dark lords" and other night creatures are always trying to capture citizens of Roxaboxen. Many battles have been fought and there have been a few casualties (poor stuffed animals.... again that Mom wasn't aware of...), but in the end, the Land of the Light (aka Roxaboxen) always wins.
Maps were created, treasures buried, newspapers written and many other governmental institutions were set up. (They lean heavy on the democrat side with "big government" in the form of a bossy big sister, I think.) I was even supposed to sew a flag...maybe I'll get around to it this fall...
Anyway, this has been one of the most creative and fun things that I've seen them work together on so far and it has been so fun being a part of their imagination. One day, Brent and I even got in on the act and helped make a path and clear out underbrush and then pretended with them. It was such a great family experience that I will remember for a long time.