Leavenworth

This was our second year going to Leavenworth at the end of Christmas break. This year it was us, the Redds and Lublins. We stayed in the Bavarian Lodge again. I love this cute hotel with all the lights and the outdoor pool.

The drive up highway 2 is so beautiful anytime of year but is especially beautiful with the snow and the raging river. We got into Leavenworth around two o'clock, checked in and then waited for the Redds and Lublins in the hotel lobby. Tate immediately began beating up a stuffed bear and Quinn knocked over a display of hydroflasks. The hotel staff were probably wondering who let these hooligans in. When the Redds and Lublins came down we bundled up and headed out - all 17 of us. We took those tiny shops by storm - by the time we rolled through they didn't know what hit them, haha! The shops are super cute and fun to walk through. We saw this puzzle in a toy shop with 18,000 pieces! We joked about buying it and doing it that night. I think the dads about had it by dinner time.

We went to dinner at a fun hamburger place and then walked back to the hotel for some night swimming. The pool at this hotel is so fun because they keep it super heated. It's fun to swim in an outdoor pool when there is snow on the ground. It's nice for the adults because we can sit in the hot tub and talk and the kids can burn off all their energy swimming and playing in the pool. Tate was running back and forth between the pool and hot tub and slipped on the wet ground and hit his head. He was fine but it was kind of scary right at first. It was a good lesson for all the kids to not run around pools.

After swimming we all went back to our rooms and got the kids in pajamas and headed back down to the lobby where we took over a conference room. We set up tables and we played games and ate food that we had all brought. We stayed up way too late playing Cover Your Assets and Codenames. After games we all went up to our rooms for the night. Our family barely slept - we are just too big to sleep in one room anymore. In the morning we swam some more, had breakfast then headed out for pretzels at Munchen Haus. It is a really fun tradition. I love wrapping up our Christmas break making memories with people that we love.