A Day at Apple Hill

Let me start by saying ....I have these great memories of going up to the Santa Cruz mountains the day after Thanksgiving and chopping down the ol' Christmas Tree. So, I had these grand visions of our family hiking through the woods to chop down our Christmas tree and create those same family memories.

Well, our Apple Hill experience was somewhat of a nightmare. First, we dressed for warm weather and it was more like a summer day. So, Dexter and I were sweating as we were hiking around trying to find the perfect tree. Well, being that Dexter was a logger in the Canadian Bush back in the day I thought he would love this experience. I quickly discovered that was anything but the truth. Every tree I pointed out seemed to have some flaw according to Dexter. Finally, after enduring Aubrey's endless crying (it was way past naptime) and Jaq's five year old monster temper tantrums (his opinions weren't being heard) Dexter had just about enough. So, he walked over to the first tree he thought would work and said, "I like this little guy".

First clue that his pick was not a good one. I said, "Let's go back to some of the first trees we saw." He said, "Nope I'm cutting down this one." I said whatever at this point because I was equally frustrated with the whole tree thing by now. As soon as he cut it down I wanted to cry. It was the ugliest tree I think we've ever had. I tried to be positive because after all this was my idea. The branches on this "little guy" were so sparce that it reminded me of a charlie brown christmas tree. In fact, we couldn't even use half our ornaments because they were all too heavy.

However, the saddest part of this whole adventure was when we were all loaded up into the car, the tree was roped on top of the car roof, and I looked at Dexter with all my enthusiasm of what was supposed to be a memorable day and said, "Wasn't that fun?" I truly meant it because in spite of all the complications I loved the fresh air , it was beautiful and I was determined to have it be a wonderful memorable day.

Dexter just looked at me and said, "That was not fun. Sticking my head in a bucket of ants while it's on fire would have been more fun. "

Well, you could imagine how that made me feel. So, what happened to Dexter Leger Logger? Can we say Apple Hell? Sadly, I don't think there will be anymore trips up to Apple Hill for a Christmas Tree.