A New Tradition...probably not!

I'm not sure we ever bought a Christmas tree when I was a kid.  We would just head out on the property and look for a tree and then drag it back home.  We usually ended up with a Red Cedar, not my favorite because it was so prickly.  But, I remember the process fondly.  So, this year, despite some objections from the rest of my family, I loaded us up into the car to go cut down our own tree.  

About 5 minutes into the process, we were not finding anything reasonable left in the field, so the boys were frustrated and done.  Rachel had, unfortunately, worn her brand new Converse shoes, and it was pretty muddy.  She just couldn't let it go and felt very upset that they were getting dirty.  At this point, I considered leaving to head to church to just grab one there.  But, we headed to another field that was much more full of trees.   It was hard to find one the right size, but we eventually found this one, even though it was a little shorter than we would have preferred.  

So, we got to work cutting it down.  The boys were very excited to help.  But, it was muddy on the ground, the tree was prickly, and it was hard to saw.  So, Alex and Zack gave up after less than a minute.  Matthew, though, kept trying.  He wasn't making much progress, but at the very least, he gave us a break.  It turns out that trunk size is an important consideration for deciding on a tree.  Ours was quite large, so it was a challenge.  I think we have a particularly hardy tree, though, because the man straightening the bottom with a chainsaw was having some trouble, as well.

Dave creating a Survivor-like challenge - who can stand the longest on the stump on one foot.

Finally, we got the tree down.  Matthew got the honors of trying to cut the remaining edge.  And, then, he and Alex helped Dave carry the tree back to the car.

Afterwards, we let the kids play on all the extras they have there.  They rode the slides, jumped on the air pillow, did the bamboo maze, played tetherball, etc.  It was all fun - until Rachel jumped as Zack got in front of her smacking his mouth on a large tire.  His mouth was bleeding and his tooth was loose.  A couple pulls and out came that tooth.  Zack, in classic Zack fashion, was milking his injury for as much attention as possible.  He was upset, Rachel was lamenting her dirty shoes, Matthew was starving, my camera wasn't working, and I was wondering why I thought was a good idea.  To make matters worse, when we got home, the large trunk did not fit into our tree stand.  I had to go to 3 stores before I could find one to fit.  Next year, I think we'll just head to the church.

All said and done, though, it is our Christmas tree.  We decorated it last night and it looks good - a little bogged down with ornaments.  And, after some more frustrating minutes with my camera, I was able to figure out what was wrong with it.  Not many pictures from the evening, but I love this one of my new-smile Zack