Seeing the Avenue of Trees

 As part of Light it Up Appleton, downtown businesses sponsored and decorated a Christmas tree. These trees were displayed along College Avenue. All the trees were donated by Grandpa Dan's Christmas Tree Farm. As we collected our treats from various businesses, we also checked out the trees.

Each tree was unique. Some went all out and others kept it simple.

You could vote for your vote by scan the QR code. Heather and I voted for the Charlie Brown Tree.

I also voted for the Oscar the Grouch Tree.

Victoria's Tree, which I didn't think was that spectacular was the winner so I don't have a picture of it but you can see on the Appleton Downtown Facebook Post about Light It Up Appleton.

Hopefully next year they will do this again and have more trees.

7808. Throw an axe

 I have always said I will never go to one of those Axe Throwing places that have been quite popular. It would not be safe for me or others. Once, in Germany, in a boot throwing contest, I threw the rubber boot backwards. I probably would do the same thing with the axe and someone would get injured.

However when I saw that during Light It Up Appleton you could do axe throwing, I decided I wanted to at least try. It was free and really if they were doing it at Light It Up, how dangerous could it really be. 

Appleton Axe had a trailer outfitted with two throwing lanes. They gave you safety instructions and pretty much got out the way. They really only allowed 1 person to go at a time and only one of the two workers was in the trailer with you. I still had my fears of beheading someone.

The safety instructions were 

1. Keep Your Body facing forward
2. Bend your arm at a 90 angle, elbow in
3. Keep the blade away from your face
4. Swing back with the 90 degree angle as you step forward
5. Release

I heard the instructions three times and I was still confused on how to throw the axe but I didn't let that stop me.

All three attempts went forward. All three attempts failed to stick to the wood. They all had the distance but apparently I rotate my wrist when throwing and the axe hit the wood sideways.

I can say that I have crossed it off the bucket list and I don't need to do it again. I think it was great that Appleton Axe was able for people to try axe throwing without paying for an entire session. 

Partaking in some Holiday Fun

Last year Appleton did a holiday event called Light it Up Appleton. It involved a treat crawl, lights, music, and other holiday fun. It was chilly last year and I wasn't up to dealing with the cold. This year, they were doing it again. The weather looked good I asked Tara if she wanted to join me. She did and we celebrated our birthdays while roaming downtown collecting treats.

Light It Up went from 3-7 and was a very family friendly event. I was mostly interested in the treat crawl. Picking up a map at Houdini Plaza, we wandered College Avenue collecting treats from a dozen different businesses. Every business had a different treat. Some were pre-packaged such as a Rice Krispie Treat or a piece of candy. Others were homemade including truffles and cookies. Doughlicious was giving out cookie dough samples. Crazy Sweet had candy corn for adults and build your own treat for kids. 

At D2 Sports Bar, they had a smores bar set up on the patio with individual smore making kits including individual wrapped graham crackers. By far this was my favorite stop. We happened to save the best for last. 

There was also an ornament scavenger hunt in the windows of businesses downtown. We tried to do this but quickly abandoned it. The ornaments were small and there were a lot of people roaming downtown to scour windows. It was a good idea but we forgot to check many windows. We did find a few of them.

At Copper Rock Coffee Company, besides getting a cookie, you could write a letter to Santa. You could also take a picture with Mrs. Claus.

There was a magic show at Hypnosis Institute. We were on a mission and didn't stick around.

In Houdini Plaza, there were inflatables, food trucks, live music, and a craft. 

You could do carrot toss. It was cornhole with carrots on a snowman instead of bean bags. I wasn't very good.

You could also get your picture taken on a sleigh or inside an igloo with a penguin. Of course being me, I went with the picture with the penguin in an igloo. When else can you say you got a picture with a penguin in an igloo. 

We left as it started getting busy and too peoply. It was a fun afternoon. We joked that Appleton put on a treat walk just for our birthdays. It is the perfect event to kick off the holiday season. It gets people downtown and gives them opportunities to shop for gifts. I hope this event continues.