We Got A Christmas Tree And So Much More...

A few weeks ago, in fact the first weekend in December, we purchased our Christmas tree. It was a Saturday morning and the family was eating breakfast at our favorite spot, the Minuteman. We had already decided that after some nourishment we would be heading out to a "cut your own tree" farm. While I was reading Wally the birthday game (what is the bday game? the bday game is when you try and guess the ages of the celebrities birthdays of that day) from The Star-Ledger, I noticed an article about a Christmas tree event in Ringwood New Jersey at the Audubon Society (there is an official name but I can't remember -- Wally can you?). Anyway, since we didn't have any idea of where one of these Christmas tree farms were located, we thought this would be a great option. Not only could you purchase a Christmas tree with the profits, literally, going to the birds, there were a host of fun activities to partake in, and boy, did we ever take advantage of the "free" activities.
When we got there, we realized we wouldn't be chopping down any trees. I guess I misread but that seemed to ok with the Wally and Ben. Going early to pick up a tree, we got the pick of the liter -- a rather tall, shaped like a triangle, douglas fir. Benjamin was happy, Wally was happy and I was happy with the choice (I've been known to cry with a bad tree choice). What usually takes us about 15 minutes or more to pick out a tree, take about a minute. Our tree was the first we looked at that day. The bird folk said they would tie the tree to the car while we enjoyed the activities.
Our first stop, to check out the hawk. We had to keep a bit of a distance out of fear of Benjamin trying to pet the bird, but we got the great picture below. Next, we made a bird feeder and ornaments (no pictures but the feeder is in a tree outside and the ornament is on the tree inside). Following the craft projects, we headed in for cocoa and apple juice. And it doesn't end there, after the refreshments, Benjamin got his face painted for the first time with who else but Frosty! Finally, Benjamin got to pet a few snakes all this when getting a Christmas tree.