Bye Bye, Tree

We had some excitement here today.  And when I say excitement, I mean the type of action that only six and four year old boys really appreciate.  We had a tree removed from our backyard.  It has been leaning in the scariest way for about a month now.  We've never loved this tree.  I know.  Trees are good.  We planted two in our front parking strip in January.  I like trees.  Just not this one.

It had sharp thorny projections and wasn't good for climbing.  Various branches had been rubbing against some wires connected to our house and every time we removed the offending branch, the tree would lean over a little more so that a new branch can take over the job.  Irritating.  Did I mention that the sound of the rubbing could be heard in our bedroom and was sometimes loud enough to be heard through my earplugs at night?  Bye bye, tree.

If you look closely at that middle trunk, you can see a massive crack.  Not good.

I don't usually allow couch standing, but they were so completely enthralled.  The presence of work crews around our place has a rather hypnotic effect.  The boys stare with mouths agape and move zombie-like to whatever surface will provide the best view.  It just happened to be the top of the couch for Paul. And yes, he is wearing his bathing suit.

Machinery, on the other hand, produces shrieks of excitement and leaps for joy.  They've just spotted the chipper parked in front of our house.

One down, three to go.

I finally asked Luke to turn and smile. He did.  I asked Paul, too.  He was not able to comply.

Still standing on the couch, watching in amazement.

Why does Luke look so old in this picture?  The baby teeth help, but other than that, he seems SO grown-up to me.  In a *completely* random sidenote:  I just finished reading Peter Pan by J.M. Barrie and he cites the reason why Peter was so very irresistible: he still had all his baby teeth.  So there you go.

This man climbs trees for a living and gets to use a chainsaw all day.  My guys probably want to be him when they grow up.

Yes, that's our Christmas tree.  Yes, it was in our backyard.  Yes, these guys were nice enough to take care of it for us.  Probably the most expensive tree disposal we've ever had.  I don't recommend it as an annual practice.

Watching the chipper at work.

In other news, we had guests yesterday.  While their mom traveled with older siblings to a debate tournament, these two hung out with us.  They all had fun, spending much of their time playing pretend games that usually involved pillows, jumping, and someone being an alligator or a tiger.  Love it!

So cute!