Leavenworth Lights

The first weekend of December, we took a fun family trip over the mountains to a little town called Leavenworth. The whole place was transformed into a Bavarian Village a few decades ago, and it is the perfect setting for a Christmas celebration. Each weekend in December, they have a tree lighting ceremony where they light up not only the trees, but all the little shops in the downtown plaza. Jas and I had gone 6 years ago, before we had kids, but it was fun to go back this year.

Our great friends, the Kleins, came with us to see the festivities. We love getting together with their family, and we don't get to see each other as much as we would like. It was a very quick trip during a busy time of year, but we're so glad that we had the chance to go.

We spent Friday night at a hotel in Wenatchee, the next town over. Jason had to work all day, so we didn't even get over there until 8 PM. The kids were so excited to sleep in the big beds and stare at the trains out the window. Then, in the morning, we went out to breakfast and headed to Leavenworth.

We walked through shops, got a bite to eat, and people watched. It was very busy with at least a couple thousand people milling around this tiny town square. We had bundled ourselves up really well, but it was surprisingly not too cold. Until the sun went down, and then all of a sudden the freezing set in. As we were waiting for the tree lighting ceremony to start, poor Owen begin to feel the drain of the no-nap-day. With his mittens dangling from his little hands and his hat pulled down tight on his head, he kept saying to me, "I so cold, Momma. Go car. I so cold."

It really was a beautiful sight when they lit all the trees and buildings. People were singing and it certainly felt like Christmastime. With our heater turned on full blast and a little peppermint hot chocolate from McDonald's, we headed home in a very comfortable fashion. It was a fun weekend that the kids are still talking about! We love this time of year!

Gettin' ready for bed

Checking out the train tracks in the morning

Coming into the town of Leavenworth

Owen meeting Santa for the first time this year...
last year he screamed, this year he was brave.

Meeting Rudolph (and the Grinch behind Monique)

Owen found this tractor puzzle that he was in LOVE with,
unfortunately it was too expensive to take home.

He just had to go inside to check it out.

All of us meeting Santa later in the day (Avery had to work up her courage).

These boys are so cute! Parker and Collin loved to hang with Addie.

Addie was such a great baby as we wandered through town.

The main square getting ready to be lit.

The shops

Our family, waiting for the lights

Our whole group

The largest tree all decked out... just waiting for the lights!

The Lights!

Downtown