All Aboard!

On our way home from finding our tree we stopped for a ride on a holiday train.  

The boys have been wanting an Amtrak trip, preferably something with a creeper car and dining car, but I am not sure when we'll make that happen.  Why is Amtrak so expensive?!? 

So we found one of the many, many holiday train trips available in the area.

I found a simple train trip, about 45 minutes round trip not far from the tree farm.

We poked around the station looking at the model trains before our 4pm boarding time

Both boys really love trains.

Once aboard it wasn't much different than riding the subway, except the scenery was a little different.

Santa did walk through for a visit.

It was a fun little side trip to cap off our Christmas tree adventure.  

The Tree

This year instead of schlepping into the city to get a tree from a street vendor or making the drive to Queens, we decided to head out of the city to a tree farm to choose and chop a tree.

After getting our early morning Christmas donuts for the car, we headed to New Jersey to find out tree.  I can hardly believe I am saying this, but it would have been nice to have a little snow on the ground for this event.

It was barely cold enough for fleece, but we loved all the sunshine.

The boys picked a saw and we headed back to the field with the blue spruce since the frasier furs had 

sold out. 

Charlie gave us a long lecture about how the trees look much bigger in the house than they do outside and about how the trunk has to be straight and fit into our smallish stand.

We looked at lots and lots of trees...

Until Hans found the one.  We tried to sway him.  He even did a few rounds of "Eeeny Meeny Miny Moe" but the fat tree won every single time.

It had a crooked trunk, actually it had a double trunk, and I had a feeling the trunk was much too fat for our stand.

But it was the one.

So Charlie got to work.

It didn't take long to cut her down and the boys were thrilled to help drag her to the road.

While we waited for our tree to be bailed the boys enjoyed the fire, and Charlie shopped for a new Christmas tree stand.  Yup, this one wasn't going to fit in our little stand.

Inside the little shop, the boys found a little mailbox and supplies to write letters to Santa.  Of course they had to partake!

I think Hans only decided he was interested once he saw there was a long line behind him as the kid loves making everyone wait!

Freddie quickly wrote a note to Santa and left it in the box.

And off we went with out beauty of a tree.  

The tree fell twice in the first 24 hours it was home.  Thankfully it had yet to be decorated.  

It seemed as though it was going to be a long month with that tree taking up half the apartment and falling if you looked at it wrong.  Charlie to the rescue.  He secured the tree to the wall and the boys got a long lecture about touching the tree.

So far, so good.  No more falls.  It still takes up half the apartment though.  And is completely dark on the backside since I couldn't reach it to get lights up and there was no way I was moving it around!  It's perfect.  And we're admiring it every single night.