Leavenworth

Kayden has been wanting to play in the snow for a few months now.  He's been practicing snow angels on the carpet, in bed, outside in the grass, anywhere he can.  He's also been making snowmen with playdoh, bubbles in the bath and drawing them on paper.  So, Kyle came up with a great idea to go to Leavenworth.  It's a cute little Bavarian community where every store has to participate in the theme of the town. The shops in town are all cute and creatively decorated and there is generally snow on the ground from late fall until early spring. 

Kyle couldn't have planned a better week to go.  There was snow on the ground, but the weather was nice, not too cold, didn't rain or snow on us and we were able to get outside everyday to play in the snow.

However, though, because the weather was warming up during the day and then freezing at night the snow was a little crunchy and hard which made it difficult to make snow angels, but that doesn't mean the kids didn't try! 

We took Katie with us and she had a great time!  It was awesome to see how much fun Kayden and Katie have fun together.

I surprised myself by having a blast going down hills in a sled!  It was a lot of fun.  Kayden wasn't too fond of the sled though.  He preferred to eat and play in the snow rather than sledding in it, which was fine.  Kyle and Kayden made "dinner" in an igloo that some other kids made and left for us to enjoy. 

And here are just some fun pictures before I move onto the next topic!

 Going down without a sled!

Kate snuggling into the igloo, aka "the oven" that Kayden and Kyle cooked our "dinner" in.

The one and only snowman that was built on our trip.

Katie asked Kyle to throw a large snowball at her head.  So, then of course, Kayden did too!

Following dads footprints, literally.

We lost Kate's head for a while.

On our second day there (Monday), we went on a sleigh ride.  The kids LOVED it and Kyle and I did too.  It was really enjoyable and the sleigh driver was super nice and friendly.  He asked Katie if she wanted to drive(?) the sleigh.  I was surprised at how well Kayden did the horses.  They were huge, 2300 lbs a piece and you would have thought they were a small kitten the way Kayden acted around them.  This is the same kid who is, generally, terrified of dogs.  Will climb up your legs at the first sight of a large dog in the area, but for some reason, he accepted and connected with the horses!

The horse weren't the only friends Kayden made on our trip!  We stayed at the resort for lunch after the sleigh ride and Kayden made good friends with a dog named, Oi.  The dog had no tail and Kayden picked up on that right away.  He loved Oi and would tell you that Oi was his best friend. 

When we got back from the sleigh ride we played in the snow some more!

Leave it to Kayden to find a random white rope in the snow!  He definitely takes after Charlie with liking to tie things up!

Kayden was having a difficult time walking and climbing in the snow!

 The start of an ever popular snowball fight!



Kate thought it would be fun to take the glow sticks outside and play with them, and it was.  The kids had a lot of fun.  They hid them in the snow and made me and Kyle look for them.  Kayden said we were searching for pirate treasure.  It was way too cute.

Our vacation was a lot of fun and so enjoyable.  We were glad Katie could skip a few days of school and go with us.  It just made the trip that much more enjoyable and I think Kayden enjoyed having another kid to play with too.

(After going through the pictures I realized Kayden went in the sled more than I thought.  Huh, shows you how observant I am)