12.07.2010

Chop It Down

We had a very busy day on Saturday. After we piled both kids, our housemate, my mom, the dog and all our gear for the day into the truck, Daddy-O and I hopped in and we headed to Plumas County, California to hunt for a Christmas tree. The forest service allows you to cut your own for around $10 or $15, a heck of a deal for a nice big tree!
We met up with our neighbors and good friends about half way there in Chilcoot, CA and caravanned the rest of the way to the turn off onto forest service land.
O could hardly wait to get out of the car and into the snow. He was instantly wet and refused to wear his jacket. (note to self, make getting into water resistant snow clothes a non-negotiable issue. A cold, wet kid is no fun).
JoJo and Kids Walking

The first order of business when we go tree hunting is to get a little 'warming station' set up and ready to go. This means hot water for cocoa and cider and bratwursts on the grill. There were marshmallows for the kids cocoa and peppermint schnapps for the adults.

warming station

This year we also had to make sure the littlest hunters were toasty warm, so a bit of snuggling and bundling up was necessary.
Jojo and Fifi

H

Then the hunt begins
OandDad
Scouting out trees (and making/dodging snowballs)
On the hunt for the perfect tree.
photo by my mom

And some family pictures have to be snapped. The Geo-family:
family pic
and us:
Forestville folks
photo by my mom
See Fifi's little feet sticking out by my belly. Love the ergo carrier and so glad she finally fits in it now. She was fast asleep while we hunted for our tree.
At last,
 a tree is found and agreed upon.
TIMBER!
Tiiiiimber

Stumped

This is the part in the story where I am glad that Daddy-O is strong. O got really cold and SUPER fussy. He HAD to be carried and he had to be carried by Daddy. So the entire way back to the truck Dad lugged not just the tree, but the boy too. See that little blue peaking from the bows of the tree- that's the kid! We need to remember a sled next time!
 Sherpa Daddy

Back at the truck, we swapped into some dry clothes and shoes and piled in to get warmed up while the guys strapped the trees to the roof. As you can see, sleepy time wasn't far away for O, he was out within minutes of this photo.
Post tree hunt
photo by my mom

We headed to Greagle where we met up with Daddy-O's family for dinner and then headed to Portola for the Santa Train. I will post about that on Thursday.

4 comments:

  1. What a fantastic idea to have a 'warming station'! We just hit up the Boy Scouts for our tree, but this just looks fantastic. Maybe next year...

    Isn't it almost your birthday, fellow December Baby? :)

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  2. looks cold- good thing there was a warming station!

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  3. Wow, that is a great deal! And I bet they didn't even factor in all the awesome picture you'd get!

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  4. Anonymous7.12.10

    This is the first year we haven't gone and cut one down. I'm pretty bummed about it. I can live through you though. :)

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