Leavenworth

The weekend before Christmas, we went for the first time as a family to Leavenworth.  It is a cute little Bavarian village, except that it is in Washington.  All of the shops (even buildings like the post office and gas stations) have adopted the Bavarian theme and they sell German food and souvenirs.  It feels like you have made a wrong turn and ended up in Europe.  The best part is that during Christmastime, they go all out with lights and music and snow activities.

Our girls took a little while to get reacquainted with the snow, but once they did, they were literally diving into it with delight.

Gabby preferred going sledding with Mommy because my feet did not kick snow in her face like when she went with Daddy.  At least until our fourth time down when she really got some snow in her face:

 We spent the evenings on the main walking street, enjoying the lights, window shopping, and picking the best restaurant to eat dinner.

When it was time to warm up, we would play games, watch Christmas movies and cuddle in the toasty condo that we rented for the weekend.

It was a perfect way to prepare for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day with our family.  We were also blessed to make it safely there.  On our way up the mountain pass, there was a road closure.  A tree had fallen and caused a fatality.  After being stopped for 30 minutes and not knowing what was going on, we almost turned around to add 4 hours to a 2-hour drive.  But they opened the pass back up just in time.  Then the snow hit hard and the pass was closed the rest of the weekend.  We came back the longer way, but we all enjoyed the family time in the car.