About eight feet above the Woods family's back yard and around a towering silver maple tree stands a new abode.

Inside are toys, child-sized chairs and enough room to put out a pair of sleeping bags. Outside are a rope swing, wooden ladder, giant metal slide and a spacious patio with a grown-up's deck chair. Like something out of "Swiss Family Robinson," this tree house is for the kids and the adults. Built by The Learning Channel's home makeover show, "While You Were Out" the Broadneck Peninsula family's project will be featured on an episode premiering tomorrow at 10 p.m. The show's premise is to send a family member away for two days while

designers and a crew descend on the home to do a major project.

By Paul W. Gillespie -- The Capital The Woods family stands next to their tree house

Sarah Woods submitted her project idea to the show in August for not just her three kids, Lelia, 8, Elizabeth, 6, and Ansel, 7 months, but for her husband, Ted.

"He's a great dad and I thought it would be a great place for him to hang out with the kids and home school them," Mrs. Woods said.

But making it a reality took a lot of scheming and fibbing.

First Mrs. Woods explained away the guy from Bartlett Tree Experts who checked out the silver maple in their back yard near Sandy Point State Park.

Then for two days in October, she sent their daughters to Ocean City for a short vacation.

Then there was the elaborate plan of a family friend whisking Mr. Woods away for a few days to a resort in Pennsylvania, where he supposedly had a free trip.

"I thought that was my stroke of luck for the decade," Mr. Woods said.

But his luck was only beginning.

Back at home, Mrs. Woods was working with designer John Bruce and the rest of the crew in the pouring rain to get the treehouse and deck ready.

She faced her own complications as Ansel,, who was then 4 months old, was sick and she had to spend part of the day at Nighttime Pediatrics.

"The crew guys were holding the baby for part of the time," she said.

On the show, the couples have to answer trivia questions to receive prizes used in the project. The Woodses answered all correctly and got the slide, the deck chair and dozens of camping goodies from Coleman.

The treehouse is tall enough for an adult to stand comfortably and the deck stretches around three sides of the tree house.

"It's built like a tank. I thought they would do something pre-fab, like put a shed up there, but they custom-designed it and built it from scratch," Mrs. Woods said.

Publicists from TLC did not return calls seeking comment.

She decorated the inside with three small chairs, fuzzy blankets, cushions and a fresh coat of paint in an orange shade.

And all of this time, Mr. Woods had no clue, not even when he was returning home and passed a TLC truck leaving the neighborhood, just thinking he would have to tell his wife about it.

"It still didn't dawn on me that it was our house," he said.

Elizabeth was curious, too, especially when she got home and saw things in the back yard.

"I saw some bars and stuff and I thought they were making a playground but they were making a treehouse," she said.

Since then, she and Lelia have spent countless hours in the treehouse. But Mom and Dad have spent plenty of time up there, too.

"I wrote a sermon up in the treehouse," Mrs. Woods said.

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vfranko@capitalgazette.com