Tree Hunting

It has been quite a dramatic week for our Christmas tree - purchased, decorated and almost cut down...

Last weekend we went out to a Christmas tree tent that was set up next to a food truck park and playground.  Amy and Stephen joined us for the afternoon.  It was a gorgeous day and the kids loved being able to play on a new playground.

Silly faces are all the rage these days...

We took them into the huge tent to check out the Christmas trees.  They were huge and gorgeous and ridiculously expensive....  after playing in the trees for a bit, we made the choice to get our tree from good 'ol Home Depot.

While our tree hung out drinking a ton of water, Todd and I prepared to string lights outside in the front yard.  Then we got the idea to put some in the backyard for the kids to play under in the evenings.  We got so excited about that plan, we just put all the lights in the backyard!  So, we may look like scrooges from the front yard, but we have a party going on in the back!

The next day we moved the (super duper massive) tree inside to get it set for decorations that night.  It may be the biggest tree we've ever had.  Bordering (or over the border) of way too big.  HAHA

The kids were SUPER excited (and slightly confused) about having the tree in the house.  After they went to bed for the night, Todd and I put the lights and ornaments on.  It was fun to see the kids surprised in the morning by the lit and decorated tree.  Then, we noticed that Lia was not feeling well.  Her face was really puffy and she was sneezing every 14 seconds.  Todd wondered if she may be allergic to the tree...  She was miserable and we were starting to wonder if that was, in fact, the case...  Todd and I started talking about if we needed to take the tree down (knowing that meant we would have to cut it up into pieces to get it out of the house) and buy (last minute) an artificial tree.  I tried to keep her away from the tree, but that didn't work well for a 4 year old excited about fun ornaments.  So, then we tried to leave the house to see if she started to feel better.  I called my parents to see if they would have Lia over for a sleepover as a test for if she improved without the tree around (they have an artificial tree).  Lucky (?) for us, she still felt bad and when she came back the next day, there was no change in symptoms.  So, HOORAY!  The tree is here to stay!