leavenworth

while dave’s parents were in town, we decided to take a day trip over (or into) the mountains to leavenworth. none of us had ever been there before. well, I found out later that I’d been with my parents when I was really little, but I don’t remember having ever been there, so I guess that doesn’t count. after a couple hours of very scenic driving through stevens pass, we arrived in time for a late lunch. that’s where we came from.

loved this sign on the restaurant. there wasn’t a ton of snow on the ground while we were there, but apparently this is a legitimate hazard!

shane and papa waiting for lunch, with the mountain behind them.

we were told that we must go to gustav’s for bratwursts. I was even brave and got it with the sauerkraut, although I have a history (childhood) of not liking it. I did, however, order it without the bun. when it came, I was a little overwhelmed by how much sauerkraut! it was hard to find the brat!

but I was a good sport and tried the sauerkraut. see mom?

it actually wasn’t that bad!

dave had a brat as well.

micah and layla, not so much. mac&cheese for them.

micah was showing off his grinch shirt. this year he was OBSESSED with watching the grinch, and when I found this shirt for him on a clearance rack at target, I HAD to buy it for him! it’s got max, the grinch’s dog, on the back.

the restaurant had these awesome antique skates hanging on the wall, so I made dave take my picture with them.

this cracked me up to no end: first of all, when I trek into the mountains to a touristy bavarian village, the first thing I think of is NOT wasabi.

but then, again, as soon as I saw the sign, I had pretty much only one thought:

“do not eat the free pistachio ice cream! it has turned!”

and then we went poking around in the shops. this is a gift for someone ‘special’.

in the bag shop for about 5 seconds and layla hones in on these dog purses.

and then there were the hats: 

after the hat shop, we went in a nutcracker shop. we were really excited about the star wars nutcrackers. and they had more than just nutcrackers. micah was impressed by the wall of cuckoo clocks and insisted on having his picture taken with them.

after shopping, it was time to get ready to go sledding, so we headed to the car to get snow gear on. micah, reenacting the “I can’t put my arms down” scene from a christmas story.

this was still in the parking lot.

wait! POTD op! “go stand by the sign!”

gramma and papa, waiting ‘safely’ at the top of the sledding hill. it was a sheet of solid ice, with bumps in it.

seriously. ice.

as it got darker, and all the christmas lights were coming on, it was so beautiful. and then…

wait for it…

it started to snow! yup, it was pretty much perfect.

until we realized that it was really snowing, and we still really had to drive home through the mountains.

that was a little bit scary, but we made it safe and sound.