Barbara Lawlor, Nederland.  On any given day all summer long, a flock of kids of all ages can be found perched on large logs in the front yard of the log cabin on Fourth Street. Sometimes the children can be seen peeling the bark off the delimbed tree trunks, revealing the warm glow of beetle-killed pine.

Although some might say it looks like child labor laws are being violated, the children say it isn't even work—it's fun. It is a social event, it is a neighborhood project, it is one couple's dream to live in a town where what they do can become part of the community. It's just like they imagined life would be when they moved to Nederland.

Tommy Lee and Chad Applegate moved from Indiana a year ago June, packed up their three children and three cats and left the Midwest, heading to the mountains. She left a job as a waitress and he left his construction job, not sure where they would find what they were looking for, but knowing what they wanted. They both had been in Colorado and knew that it was the geographical change they wanted.

"Our children were 11, 7, and 5 and it was the right time to go for it," says Tommy. They stayed in a motel in Lakewood while they shopped Craig's List and found the cabin on Fourth Street. It needed work—it is one of the oldest buildings in Nederland—but Chad was the man for the job.

Tommy was hired at New Moon Bakery and Chad worked on a remodel job in Boulder. After about eight months, he decided he would work for himself up here. While he constructed a log deck for the cabin, he found a network of places to get logs. He and the kids had always talked about building a tree house, but the property was tree-free. Not one single tree with branches to support a house meant for kids.

But he did have logs. One day in early June the family went to work and built the basic structure of a tree house supported by a log frame. They worked all day and after the sun set they raised the logs by the light of the moon. The play site had its foundation; now anything was possible.

During the next two months, the structure took shape and became a kid magnet. Soon neighborhood children and parents were stopping by to see what was going on. More often than not they would offer a hand and end up being part of the project. The old Tom Sawyer trick.

Chad says the logs began to guide him. "I would look at a new piece of wood and wonder what I would do with it. I really wanted the play site, to add to what was already built. It was easier to watch the kids, too. They always had someone to play with. Neighbors began bringing things over: an old slide; leftover lumber. The only thing we purchased was the lag bolts and screws."

Even strangers would stop and offer to help for an hour or so. And slowly, the structure had form and substance and a life of its own. One neighbor, Hilliary Martin, said she would stop by and peel a few logs while her two girls played. She built the tire swing that hangs from the floor of the treehouse.

She built a seesaw made of logs designed to hold four or five children on each end; the logs carved into each other to make the fulcrum. They took the seesaw to NedFest and set it up. Hilliary,  Tommy, and Chad were astounded at how popular the seesaw was and went looking for more logs.    Chad got a license and a permit to haul standing dead wood out of West Magnolia.

"We are the peaceful pirates," says Hilliary, whose tire swing she says will hold 2,200 pounds. "We used CVC pipe to keep hands from getting pinched by the chain and scavenged metal for the monkey bars."

Chad says the name of the whole project is the Three Treasures Studio, named for the Chinese philosophy of Humility, Economy, and Compassion, words to base his business on.

He says, "This whole thing is morphing. I like it better that I didn't start it as a trade, but people want what we are building. This whole thing is in tune with the vision we had when we came here. All we had to do was start talking to people."

When Chad started the deck he discovered that he was short seven boards. Then a neighbor came over and said he had some decking if Chad wanted it. There were eight boards waiting for him.

In the morning, Chad and Tommy take their coffee outside and look at the playground and marvel that they are in Nederland making their dreams come true. They ponder their seesaws, wondering what they should do to make them work even better.

Chad says the logs aren't really balanced, but once the kids climb on it, it works as it should. He says there is an education in the simple act of teeter-tottering. "The kids learn how to push, how to distribute their weight. It was so popular at NedFest we saw that we had to make more of them: it got us out of the box and we thought, wow, we can do anything. I have a life like I've never had before."

The playground yard has become a social hub. Chad says his youngest child already knows more people than he does. Cars slow down. People ask questions. The past summer has been a good chapter in the couple's life, not to be forgotten. Tommy says, "This whole project has opened doors for Chad and we want to let other people know what can be done when you start a good thing."

They picture a zip line because they watch the kids and learn what it is they want. They plan to close in the playhouse against the weather. They have been asked to make a picnic table and foresee other commissions.

They ask their children what they want to see on the playhouse; after all, it is meant to be a kids' dream house. Chad says their imagination has been sparked and they can work the design out better than adults.

"Our life has become what we believe in; what we want to show our children. We are into child labor and offer no apologies."

The kids do get paid in Lunchables, their favorite treat. Hilliary says she gets paid in Lunchables too. If she didn't she would quit. Tommy says the kids picked the one thing that she would never give them.

"We are going to make it longer, make it higher. This is a process that is always happening and all we have to do is listen to the children to know what to do next."