Chapter 4: Scott's Treehouse

While the girls were out in the backyard enjoying their garden and lemonade, Scott comes home and brings his two friends, Turner and Ronald with him. They think it's the perfect day to build a treehouse. Scott and Ashleigh are brother and sister. In fact, they are twins! They usually get along so it's always a fun time hanging out with those two at their home. You never know what happens when Scott is around, that's for sure!

As they walk around the house, they notice the girls sitting around the table having lemonade and just chatting up a storm. "Hey, Ash!", Scott yells. "Would you guys help us make a treehouse?" "Only if we can use it, too.", says Ashleigh. "And we want to decorate it, don't we girls?" "Sure!!" the girls answered in unison. "Awwww",says Turner,"you guys will make it all frilly and laced up and we don't want that." Ronald frowns. "Maybe we can come up with an idea together so it works out for all of us," replied Ronald. "There has got to be a way."

So, the six kids hang out on the porch and figure out their plans to build a treehouse. They all decide that it would be better not to have the house up in a tree, but around it and figured out what color they wanted it to be and so on. Scott and Ashleigh realized then that it's going to take more than just the six of them to build something like that without some adults around, so they go inside and talk to their parents about their plans to see what they think. Believe it or not, their parents agree to help and really like the idea of the house being on the ground instead of up in the air. They talk about the plans until the sun sets and get ready to start the next day.


The next morning, Ashleigh, Scott, Maggie, Kaitlin, Turner and Ronald all show up with their allowance to get ready to go to the store for supplies. When they get back, they get ready to build. While the adults do the heavy work, they give the kids the paint jobs and other things to do to get ready. "Okay kiddos, the walls are up so now you all can get started on the painting," Scott's father said. They worked for a long time on the treehouse and it was looking really good. They stopped to have a bit to eat and then picked up where they left off. By the late afternoon, they were done. "Now, you all can't use the house just yet, because we need to double check the walls and the paint has to dry and cure," Ashleigh's mom had said. The kids were so excited. They can't wait to use their new treehouse for the summer! Oh, what joy!

As they sit and relax and enjoy their accomplishment, Kaitlin realizes that Cocoa, her puppy was nowhere to be found and she has always followed her everywhere! "Oh no! Has anyone seen Cocoa since we started?", asked Kaitlin. They heard some whimpering coming from the treehouse and looked at one another and wondered. So, Kaitlin gets up and looks inside the house and lo and behold, Cocoa sitting pretty in the middle of it all, covered in paint from the walls. The walls were smudged all over! The girls were giggling and went to get Scott and Ashleigh's parents. They came out and took one look at Cocoa and started to laugh. What a character! They took her inside and gave her a bubble bath and when she was clean, they were satisfied until they remembered, that they have some painting to do. So, while Cocoa stayed indoors drying off, they went back outside and finished what was started. Tomorrow will be the day to play!