The Fantasy of Trees

The Saturday after Thanksgiving, right before heading to MAYO to get our own Christmas tree, we spent the morning at the Fantasy of Trees at the Knoxville Convention Center. I love going there, we don't do it every year, but may start doing that when the kids are older. It's a charity event to raise money for Children's Hospital. They have lots of crafts and activities for the kids (face painting, a carousel, making ornaments, etc, etc) and a few little knick-knack shops tucked in the corners. They have one section filled with wonderfully detailed gingerbread houses (Emma and Ben are standing by their favorite...the igloo). They have a big stage at one end of the building with dance performances scattered throughout the weekend. But the main thing is the trees. Hundreds of perfectly decorated, usually with some cutesy theme, tall and wonderful Christmas trees. People or businesses or families or 8th grade classrooms or whoever wants to decorates these trees then donates them to be sold (same deal with the gingerbread houses). People like us who are there to look around can choose a tree to purchase and they get to load it up with all the lights and ornaments and whatnot all over it and take it home and put it in their living room and feel good about helping sick kids. I could have stayed and looked at the trees for a long, long time. But we saved it for last and the kids were kind of spent by then. Maybe next year I'll just go by myself.