christmas tree festival 2012

this is our ohio thanksgiving tradition - the christmas tree festival. we weren't going to go today because it is only open a few hours and we have been rushed the past two years due to it closing for the day. but somehow my turkey defrosted more than usual (it was only slightly icy when i put it in this morning) and we ate in the early afternoon instead of closer to our usual dinner time.

mason actually remembered going last year and has been asking about going again. it is funny because madelyn didn't really remember until we got there and she usually remembers everything.

i would guess that there are at least 100 trees and probably another 100 wreaths, dolls and other christmas themed items

i think this one was one of my favorites made from newspapers and water bottles

madelyn's favorite was this princess pig tree - pink piggy banks with tiarras

maddux wanted his picture with this less impressive tree

mason picked this one at random as his favorite

we all liked checking out this circus miniature display - madelyn said that she wished she could go there

we found a purple one for nana

this one was daddy's favorite - i really liked it too

madelyn was torn about this eloise tree being her favorite but stuck with this princess pigs

apparently, this was the "good" santa. just another reason not to do the santa-thing - who wants to think this guy is coming in your house while you are sleeping?

madelyn and mason made gingerbread men to hang on this kids' tree

maddux did not want to make a gingerbread man, but he was interested in getting a picture on his cheek. they had several images to choose from, but he was very set on the red candlestick. odd choice i thought. he almost picked the christmas lights but stuck with the candlestick. the girl doing the face painting was excited about his choice - she said it was her favorite to do. he did a great job holding still which was good because the girl was going for perfection.

and she did a really great job too. after looking in the mirror to see his cheek, maddux went back to show it to me on the sign again. and rubbed most of it off his cheek in the process. oh well.

madelyn prefers to have them paint her arm so that she can watch - clever girl.

to help mason hold still i asked him to try and guess which part she was drawing (they had the images on the table in front of where he was sitting. i think he did a pretty good job tracing on the picture what she was doing on his cheek. the picture had a red nose, but mason asked for brown instead.

i love looking at all of the trees and that we can see them for free. such a fun tradition to kick off the christmas season. love.