Reading Magic: "The Magic Bunk Bed"

There is something inherently magical about playing outside in the backyard after dark, expanding your imagination in the waning light while testing your bravery against the boundaries of the light cast by the deck light. And so we have spent twilight and the first hour of darkness the last several days playing happily in the yard in unseasonable warm weather.

Their favorite game right now? Magic Bunk Bed, inspired by the chapter books we read in the Magic Tree House series. The so-called bunk bed is actually the fort in their swingset; I'm not sure where they got the idea to call it a bunk bed. But they climb up into the fort, spin the captain's wheel, and wish themselves where they want to go (when I'm invited to come, I sit on the bottom of the slide for a ride!). They've been to China, Australia, both poles, and Scotland. The poles are their favorites, north for the polar bears, south for the penguins. They gather big handfuls of leaves and feed the animals. A big second is Scotland, where they've decided the faeries live; they go there to build more faerie houses. Upcoming in their travel plans? Outer space and Texas, maybe dinosaurs or Egypt. With their imaginations, they can go anywhere . . . .