Christmas Tree Farm

Last weekend was our official Christmas holiday kick off weekend. We had big family plans for the weekend. On Saturday, Mike and I were going to Mike's sister's annual Christmas party and Sunday we were going with Mike's parents to a Christmas tree farm to find our family's tree. Because of the time line and the locations, we decided to have a big slumber party at my in-law's house. Maureen's kids (Mike's sister), Emily and Patrick, were staying over as well so it would be a full house.

Everything started off as planned. We went over to Mike's parents, had a great time eating dinner with them and Dylan happily waved us off to the party. And, as we do every year, Mike and I had a great time at Maureen's Christmas party. When we got back to Mike's house is when plans got totally derailed. Dylan was lightly stirring when one of the new kittens knocked something over with a bang. That woke him right up and he starting wailing. With the little one not calming well, Mike and I realized that if we stayed none of the 3 of us would be getting any sleep and we'd likely start waking the rest of the house at some point. We made the decision to head home. It was close to midnight and we were all in our pj's. So, we gathered what possessions we would need for the night, wrapped up in blankets and headed to the car.

It ended up being a great decision. Once we got home, Dylan went to bed easily and slept in so that Mike and I actually got a somewhat decent night's sleep. All of us refreshed, we got started later in the morning and went back to Nana and Bumpa's to pick up with the rest of our plans. Next on the agenda - a trip just across the border to NH to a Christmas tree farm.

Somewhere back in the recesses of my mind (and I'll have to consult with my parents about this), I seem to remember doing this as a family in my younger years. But, as Mike can confirm, my memory is crap so this felt like my first time with this type of experience.

The 6 of us packed up in one car (Mike, Nana, Bumpa, cousin Emily, Dylan and myself) and made the 45 minute trip up. Once there, we paid, received a saw in exchange for our money and drove down the road a little ways. We parked and set out to find the perfect tree!

In the Christmas Spirit!

Which tree will be ours?

Dylan had an absolute blast walking around the fields with all of us and, as usual, a great time with his cousin, Emily. She did a great job being in charge of him while my in laws, Mike and myself were doing the difficult job of searching through the farm for the tree that would come home with us.

Stopping for a pose

Ready to Help Dad

Riding the Cart with Emily

Tom and Betsy found their tree then helped us find ours. With our high ceilings and placement of the tree in the corner this year, we were looking for tall, not too wide, but with good branches to hold lots of ornaments. Finally, we decided on one and Mike, Dylan and Tom had some team work to cut it down.

Dylan, and the little helper he likes to be, just had to help wheel it back to the car.

There was just a moment when Mike had to steer over some stumps that Dylan was forced to let go of the cart. The face below shows you how he felt about that!

The Pout

It was a good way back to the car so Emily decided to entertain us with her gymnastic skills. She's an awesome little gymnast and Dylan just thinks all of her tricks are hilarious. He was belly laughing at her....it was very cute!

Wheeling it in to get it wrapped up

Two Beautiful Trees Loaded and Ready To Go

Since Emily had done such a great job with Dylan, we gave her the lunch pick. So, on the way back to the highway, we stopped at a Burger King (I was a good sport too since I'm really not a fast food gal) and we had a fun lunch together before heading back. After dropping everyone off, we headed home to trim the tree!