Leavenworth-y

Dwayne took the week off between the holidays, and after I reread this post aloud, we decided to plan a family adventure that might actually be fun or relaxing (I’ve gleaned enough wisdom not to expect both!).

We headed first to Ellensburg to visit Papa Jim, and the excitement of seeing him was completely overshadowed by the fact he had 2 feet of snow in his yard.  We barely saw Piper and Wesley our entire visit. 

Then off to Leavenworth.  See how excited they are? 

Our room was shabby, but that is the only semi-negative thing I can say about a place with a living area, kitchen, king bedroom for the kids and a queen bedroom for us, situated half-block from the heart of town for less than the cost of a Superbowl ticket (for Leavenworth innkeepers, December really pays the bills and the bonuses).

The kids were most excited about getting the sleds out.  A local told us to skip the downtown parks and head up to Enchantment Park.  Great advice that we’ll pass along to you!  Powder (not ice) with long hills and less crowds.

After a while, Penguin Piper decided she didn’t even need a sled.

You can’t have Dwayne around and not expect a snowball fight to break out.

With commercial break over, we went back to sledding.

Wesley is truly our Abominable Snowman.  He could play out in the white stuff longer than the rest of us, and when we returned from sledding, he played in the snowbank rather than go inside to warm up and have lunch.

I think his most oft-uttered phrase in 2015 was “I’m okay!”

Two lucky kids got rides back to the car.  We had to get back to go on our 1pm sleigh ride outside of town.

Draft horses with jingle bells?  A family favorite.  Piper even brought her wombat with her, as Buttercup wanted to see horses for the first time. 

With snow on the ground, and our bellies full from dinner, gelato sounded like a good idea…to the kids.  But even the biggest doubter, often known as “Mama”, succumbed to two scoops.

 

One of my favorite things to do was drag the family on walks through the park, or better yet, leave them all behind and enjoy the cold beauty on my own.

One of the reasons to go to Leavenworth is the Christmas lights.  We also found out from a local that the lights go through February, and costs and crowds drop dramtically in January, so I think we’ll keep that in mind for next year. 

One our last morning, the kids wanted to go downtown to buy cheaply-made, way overpriced, useless playthings, or what they called “souvineers”.  So I took a few last pictures with the mountain goats.

The first two pictures are mostly portraits of a Piper not getting her way—Kyla is sitting on the goat Piper wanted.  She’s vaguely happier when they switch goats.  Sigh. 

Aufedersein, Leavenworth!  We have enjoyed you!