A special day on Warbington Farms in Cumming, GA

A beautiful Fall day on Warbington Farms, Cumming, GA

To cap off our wonderful Thanksgiving weekend, we visited Warbington Farms in Cumming, GA, in order to pick out our first “real” Christmas tree.  Ever since we got married 3 years ago, Johnny kept begging me to have a real tree, instead of the plastic one we got on sale at a local drugstore.  He missed the fragrance of a fresh cut Fraser Fir, and the wonderful childhood memories of Christmas time.

Of course I couldn’t be happier when I stumbled upon a Groupon deal that offered a Christmas-tree outing near Johnny’s parents’ house in Cumming.  This looked like a great holiday season experience that we had been looking for all these years.  Although originally Johnny’s parents were only going to meet up with us to lend their Christmas tree stand, they ended up coming along for the ride.  And what a ride it was!

As soon as we entered the farm, we couldn’t help but rush to look at all the farm animals.  They are just plain adorable, and waiting to be loved.

Gentle goats

How cute am I?  Pet me, pet me…

We are family

Oink, oink!

And the chickens were busy eating

Then we moved on to see the horses:

No siree, I am NOT camera shy. I’ll pose for you!

Back to business: eating.

Now that our hearts were content after playing with all these lovely creatures, it’s time to exchange our Groupon voucher with tickets that we would need for the rest of our activities on the farm.  Aside from getting the Christmas tree itself, Johnny and I were very much looking forward to being on the hayride.  And let me tell you, this experience surpassed any expectation we had of what we thought was going to be a simple ride.

Johnny’s parents and I were ready to enjoy the hayride

The ride took us through the pastures where cattle grazed.  At first, we only saw a cow here and there.  That in itself was pretty fun, since we city people rarely got a chance to have a cow “moo” right at us.  However, the driver suddenly stopped, and announced that we would be allowed to feed the animals with food that could be found under our seats (granted that we had to stay inside the trailer).  So all of us started to move about, dumping food outside in order to attract the cattle to come closer.  We were rather impatient, since the first couple of seconds only a few cows noticed what we were doing.

Here they come!

But then, seemingly out of nowhere, we were surrounded buy a herd!

Finally, they all came to eat

We had never been surrounded by so many cows!

A city couple who just had to get a picture taken with all the cows

And the most memorable time of all was when we got to see these tender moments between mothers and their calves:

A mother’s love

So sweet

Although the hayride only lasted about 20 minutes, it was an extremely fun and exciting time.  Soon after we got off the trailer, we headed over to the Christmas trees to find the one we would like to take home.  While Johnny was busy finding the perfect tree, I played hide and seek with a chicken.

Three, two, one… Come find me!

Silly chicken.  Of course I would find you!

Before long, Johnny, Mom, and Dad agreed on the tree we should have for Christmas 2011.  Here it is:

Drum roll……. Proudly showing our 2011 Christmas Tree

After Johnny and Dad loaded the tree into our car, all that’s left for us to do was sit back and relax.  Also included in the Christmas-tree outing package was four hot chocolates and s’mores.  Mom and Johnny actually ended up getting us 2 cups of apple cider and 2 hot chocolates.  Delicious!

Santa greeting people who were waiting in line to get apple cider and hot chocolates

And finally, what could be more synonymous with the holiday season than roasting s’mores on open fire?

Johnny, Mom, and Dad roasting s’mores

Freshly prepared.  Yum!

Spending an afternoon on Warbington Farms was the perfect way to start our holiday season.  After all, Christmas time is about family and creating new memories.  Thank you, Warbington Farms, for giving us memories that will last a life-time!

Ho, Ho, Ho! Merry Christmas to all of you!

Our Christmas tree all decorated