Christmas Fun

I always had a real Christmas tree growing up, but when I went off to college I started using an artificial tree. I've been missing that "real tree" smell...if you haven't given it a chance then I think you should try it out one year. Hal has never experienced the "real tree" smell and all its fun either, so this year we decided to change it up a bit and go to a Christmas Tree Farm. I googled tree farms around here and one absolutely stood out. This place is an absolute must. The place is called Pine Hill Farms and the people there made it a wonderful experience. It is located in Tarrant, AL and it only took us maybe 30 minutes to get there from our place. You get off the Walker Chapel exit (65 north near Gardendale) and it is just a few miles off the exit. Once you get there, you can choose pre-cut trees or cut down your own tree there on the farm (they supply the saw). The pre-cut trees are more expensive. We walked around on the farm and found a beautiful tree to cut down. Once the tree is cut down, then a guy will take it over to this machine that will shake all the squirrels out for you :) and then they put it through another machine thing that wraps it up for you. They even tie it to your car for you!! What GREAT service!! And...I left out the best part. We took a little wagon ride to see real reindeer...Hal and I named one of the reindeer, Olive (Olive, the other reindeer :). They also gave us some hot apple cider to enjoy while we were there. A man there walked us around their workshop where you can pay a little extra to have your tree, wreath, or garland flocked. This is where it looks like the tree has been out in the snow. If you get a flocked tree, they put it in a special bag so the white snow will not fall off. A few other "extras" you can get done in the workshop are... they can put a tree stand on the tree, I saw several ladies putting lights on several trees before wrapping them up to go, and they said they will decorate your tree for you and deliver it. Now, I think the last one is no fun at all but it is an option. They also have a gift shop there that is FULL of ornaments and other Christmas decorations. Like I said, this place is a must! Everyone was so nice and helpful. This definitely got me in the Christmas spirit. Pictures below :)

Driving to the Tree Farm

This is the exit ( if going north, take a right)

there are plenty of signs to follow

great service just waiting on us :)

I'm so bad at making choices

Hal, that will not fit in our house

riding around to look at the trees and reindeer

I think I like this one :)

It looks short in this picture but it is over 6 feet tall...that's tall to me

just doing our thing

making sure they get everything out of the tree

wrapping the tree

seriously, these guys were the best

happy customers!!

we made it and the tree stand works!!

very happy...now I need to decorate! (I will have to post about that later)

Just a few fun pictures

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!