Monday, December 8, 2008

Into the Woods.

Happiest Baby. Ever.


GORGEOUS view.
The giant tree beside Jim? Yeah, Ours. We had to shave it down a bit... :)










Cute little troopers.





Does anyone else know that play? I loved it- had the soundtrack once upon a time. Great show. Good songs. "Into the woods, and out of the woods- and home before dark!" Anyhow...

So, like true Northwesterners, we look forward to the excitement of visiting the tree farm each year to select the lucky little Douglas that gets to come die a quick death at the Jones house. (Okay, no offense to my artificial tree-owning compadres, but I just can't do fake. Sorry. Hate me if you must. And yes, we do kill the tree within days. Still not an argument for going fake.)


This year, however, Jim decided we needed a little more adventure in our lives. We purchased a $10 permit at the ranger station in Enumclaw and set out into the forest to find our next victim, ahem, Christmas tree. (Um, BARGAIN, by the way!)


Oh the fun that awaited us! (No sarcasm in that tone! Seriously fun!)


We bundled everyone up and started hiking (yes, it was relatively arduous with 4 small kids and one in a backpack), navigating around stumps, fallen logs and lots of densely packed trees. The kids LOVED it- nary a complaint among them (even though they fell like every two seconds climbing the hill)! I loved it! The view was amazing. Breathtaking even.


We found our tree- our first Noble Fir- within about 1.5 hours. It was great.

Next year, we will definitely plan it out better- we'll take a lunch, build a fire, spend the day, convince as many of our B-L friends as possible to caravan with us and make it a party! Woo Hoo! Seriously, it make the little rec major in me feel so glad to be in the outdoors- and what is more breathtaking than Washington mountains? (Don't answer. Let me bask in the memory.)


So, you artificial tree aficionados, give it up, swallow your pride and join my merry brigade next year. Seriously, SO fun.






5 comments:

Unknown said...

Fun, I think we are in for that little fun trip! Beats the $43 we just spent...although it is an awesome tree!

Cassie Jensen said...

Always the most fun to head into the mountains. But where was the snow!? You can't hunt for your Charlie Brown hand-cut tree without a good 2 feet of snow and snotty-nosed little kids with boots full of the white stuff! So next year pick a "snow day" and we'll be there! And, yes, you must bring the hot cocoa and lunches- freezing or not- it is definately a memory making experience!

P.S. We do have 2 fake trees, yes, 2! And we use them proudly (with our little asthmatic in the house), thank you very much!

happychow said...

Alright, CJ, I'll let it go. We have a few fakies too, but I still loves me some fresh trees...

Anonymous said...

I'm so there

Emily said...

We had a much different experience getting our tree in the forest, but it looks like you managed to go before the snow came. You can read about mine on my blog, entry "Our Mini Tree."