Charlton Family Circle: Enjoying Christmastime

I am so glad that the semester is over, and I was surprised to get A’s in all three classes. I expected an A in two classes, but I was surprised to get an A in Romantic Lit. I had a rough time keeping up with all the reading in that class. Oh well, I got the grades, and I’m overjoyed with my 4.0 gpa.

The first weekend in December, we went to a Christmas tree farm to pick out and cut down our Christmas tree. Last year, we used an artificial tree that we had had for about 2 years, I guess. Half the lights on the darn thing didn't work, even after changing literally every bulb and every fuse on that string. Nothing worked. I can’t remember if we donated the tree or trashed it, but I was so frustrated that we spent that much money on a fake tree that only survived 2 years. Ok, so it wasn’t that much money… but the whole point of a fake tree is to keep the tree from year to year, right? That and not having to put lights on a tree… So, last year we resolved to get a real tree this year, and when I found out about this Christmas tree farm, I couldn’t resist taking the family there to select our tree.

(I should mention that this was also my first day with my new camera. There’s a learning curve, and I was at the bottom of it. Forgive me for the strangely colored pictures. Some are better than others…)

Mom, Dad, and Ian came too. They didn’t buy a tree since Nanny is allergic to pine trees…. But, they had a fun time with us. :)

We picked out our tree, cut it down, and then we jumped on the hayride that carried our tree back to the front.

After they measure it, shake it an bag it, we went to play. The farm has a fun playground, a horseshoe pit, a fire pit for roasting marshmallows, a petting zoo, duck races ( a big hit with the kids!) and more than I am probably forgetting.

This is a shot of the duck races. Little rubber ducks are placed in a little trough, and then the kids pump water to see whose duck can get to the other side the fastest. Timmy, Tanner and Ian had so much fun here. :)