Tree hunting and trimming

We made our annual trip out to Lakeside Christmas Tree Farm , near Phenix City, Ala., to cut a native Eastern Red Cedar. The next best thing to a trek in a snowy forest hunting for a Christmas tree (which I have fond memories of from my childhood in Colorado) is a wagon ride out to a Christmas tree plantation, where you can pick up a crude hand saw, let the kids run around in the maze of trees, and then cut your tree yourself. Here are some photos from this year’s excursion:

(Will took this one)

and one from our tree decorating celebration:

With Christmas music as background, Will sipped hot cocoa while Owen sobbed every time I removed a box of breakable ornaments from his reach. He tossed my offerings of soft teddy bear ornaments or cloth wreaths to the floor, unappeased. Finally a durable Georgia football ornament pacified him for a bit. Still we wound up doing most of the decorating during his nap time to keep the frustration to a minimum. Now I’m waiting for our little climber to take his first stab at tree climbing as he attempts to reach those tantalizingly shiny red Christmas balls.