It's time... Christmas is in the air! One Sunday morning (November 29th to be exact) we load the car and start our adventure. Where are we going? To a Christmas Tree Farm... after years of requesting, Erik's dream is coming true. We are going to cut our very own tree and loading it in the minivan. I think his dream was cutting the tree, I'm sure owning and driving a minivan was on the dream list! I am prepared, cups of water, snacks, diapers, change of clothes, etc. First stop is Home Depot for lights and a tree stand ("the last tree stand" as it's called, last a lifetime so we are told). We then drive 45 minutes to Clover, SC to a little tree farm. I say little because the majority of the farm was still baby trees that needed to grow for another 5 years.
We are greeted by a couple who runs the farm and their dog. Wearing Santa hats, they hand daddy the red/white striped saw. Off we go, walking up and down the tree paths, trying to find the right tree... ideally an 8 foot tall tree with perfect branches for hanging our non-glass ornaments. Owen & Camden are touching every tree, especially the 'charlie brown" sized trees. Five minutes after walking, Owen has to use the potty. Thank goodness for the travel potty in the car! 
We catch back up to daddy and Cammie and continue our search for the perfect tree. Then they spotted them... their little faces pressed against the wire fence and staring across the road. "Cock-a-doodle-doo" is the noise coming from across the street. We are at the tree farm and Owen & Cammie want to stare and laugh at the 10 roasters across the street. We call them to follow us and Owen eagerly starts to walk towards us, only to turn back to his sister "Cammie, we are not talking to the roasters right now."
Fast forward - we found the tree! BUT cutting the tree will need to wait... Cammie has a diaper that needs to be changed (a.s.a.p.). Erik takes her to the car as I try to keep Owen from ripping all the orange ribbons (price tags) off the trees... he is growing very impatient. Daddy & Cammie return, clean diaper but I had the baby wipes in the diaper bag on my shoulder (oops). Back to the tree... Owen & Cammie are now fighting over goldfish. Erik is able to distract Owen by letting him help use the saw against the base of the tree. They saw and saw, finally our 8 foot tree falls to the ground. YEAH!
Erik throws it on his shoulders, takes it to the "shaker" and through the net thing... the nice gentleman, carries it to the car and I head to the nice lady to pay for our tree. Meanwhile, the gentleman insist that the tree should go inside the minivan, trunk (although little trunk, it's the largest part of the tree) in the car first which means it sits directly between the car seats. Meanwhile, I hand the nice lady a debit card to purchase the tree and she looks at me with a smile but almost a frown "CASH or CHECK" only she says. Meanwhile, tree is already stuffed in the car and we are 15 miles from the closest town.
Owen thinks sitting next to the tree is exciting and Cammie is screaming in a very sad way. Oh boy, this will be a fun drive to town. Off we go... 15 miles down the road, closest gas station has the ATM we need. It takes Erik 3 tries to get the ATM to even work... finally cash is out, milk for kids purchased and off we go... 15 miles back to the tree farm. We paid the cash, thanked the nice couple, and took our kids and tree home. Owen & Cammie fell asleep (great, that's their nap for the day) and we made it home in 45 minutes. Whew... kids are up, tree is up, and it's Christmas time in the Kohlenstein house!
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