Easy peasy tee pee set up for kids

The peonies are blooming in our garden !!!  Before they all die away, I thought it's high time I cut some and bring them inside !  they are so lovely to look at while I mind the kids.  While out in the garden with some free time before dinner, I had an idea to set up the tee pee !  I've been wanting to do this for a while now.  I even bought the bamboo sticks but just haven't got the time to get to them !  But today, right at this time, I have time :D  If you want to try this, you will need:

- 6 bamboo sticks, $1.19 from Rona (they came in 8 feet high and we got it cut down to around 6 feet to fit into our car)

- 1 flat bed sheet, I used a queen size for mine but I think a king flat sheet will cover better

- 2 strings, 1 to tie the bamboo sticks together (at least 30" long) and 1 for the sheet 

What I did is I gathered all the sticks at the top, tie the string around the sticks then across and around each sticks !!!  Basically just tie them all over so they don't fall or slide out :-)  Then I took each stick and arrange it on the grass so they form a hexagon shape.  Take the bottom end of each stick and push it into into the ground to keep it in position.  Mine barely dug in but they stayed up and kept the shape ok.  

Next, I gathered up the mid point of the flat sheet, wrapped it around the area where I tied the bamboo sticks and used another strong string to tie around the fabric to keep it together and that's all there is to it !  There's no specific way to tie the bamboo or sheet, just tie which ever way you need to keep them from falling apart :D  We also decorated the top of the tee pee with ivy vines and flowers and some wild climbing plant we found in our garden !!!  That part was really fun for the girls.  They gathered up all the stuff and I lifted each of them up to throw the vine over the bamboo sticks.  The structure set up took about 7 min. and decoration took another 5 min.!  Not so bad, not so bad at all.

The girls had great time running in and out of the tee pee !  Bee found a huge moth in the tee pee and we shooed it away before she can take hold it !  She got quite upset so for a good chunk of time ! she was pouting and kept saying "mothy mothy" :(  She also got annoyed with me asking her to be still for a second (I try to take a family picture (didn't work)).  I don't like to force my kids to do something they don't enjoy (depending on what of course) so if they showed no interest or annoyance then I scrap it.  Taking pic. with her is getting harder nowadays as she rather play than sit in for family picture.  Totally understandable and expected.  Both her and Love doesn't mind me taking pictures of them while they play though.  I always prefer to take spontaneous pictures of the girls over posing them, because it not only capture the real moment but also doesn't interfere with them enjoying whatever it is they are doing.

It was a fun afternoon for me !  I got to set up the tee pee, decorated it, watched the kids play and managed to capture some of it.   I love taking pictures of the kids !  It makes me happy.  But you already know that with all the posts I posted :) I do really enjoy it.  I have no special technique, pro. knowledge or special skills, other than just take random shots, click click click, and then I surprise myself with whatever I captured :-)  

Here are more pictures without the Adobe action filter (the name is called Afternoon for those who wants to know):

She lost her first tooth so whenever she holds something that can fit that gap, she puts it there :-)

This is what life is for me at the moment !  Constantly wiping milk mustaches and a baby that licks anything that is near.  

I love this picture !  It's captured them perfectly !  one is all cool in the don't-care kind of way while the other does everything over the top and passionately !