Cuttin' Down the Christmas Tree

This past weekend we went to Hensler's Tree Farm in Hamlet, Indiana to cut down our Christmas tree. We used to do this but then stopped for a couple years and used an artificial tree. But we missed going out and getting our own so we decided to return to this.

This isn't just a lot with a bunch of trees on it. It's quite the production. There's a large gift shop, real reindeer, snack shop that sold a lot of hot chocolate on this very cold day, a huge selection of handmade wreaths, petting zoo, and a little hut where Santa and Mrs. Claus hang out at. Cameron sat on Santa's lap and asked for some toy called "Spike the Dinosaur" (he's easily influenced by what he sees on TV).

At Hensler's, you can pick out a pre-cut Christmas tree, but that's no fun. What we like doing is getting on board the horse-drawn wagon and riding out to where the trees are still growing. From there, you grab a saw and have your choice of hundreds of trees. You pick it, you cut it, you haul it back to where you got the saw and some guys run it through a machine to shake out any dead brances and also to wrap it up with twine.

Below is a picture of Cameron dragging the tree with a little help from his sister, who has hold of a small branch and is being careful not to over-exert herself. This was a great family outing and we plan on continuing this tradition for many years and leaving our artificial tree in the garage.