Skip to main content

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.065 that’s where we came from.

066 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!

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

004 (2) 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!

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

it actually wasn’t that bad!

072 dave had a brat as well.

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

075 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.

079 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:080 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.005 (2) this is a gift for someone ‘special’.

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

and then there were the hats:083085 086087088090

after the hat shop, we went in a nutcracker shop. 092 we were really excited about the star wars nutcrackers.093 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.006 (2) micah, reenacting the “I can’t put my arms down” scene from a christmas story.

094 this was still in the parking lot.

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

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

107120 seriously. ice.

as it got darker, and all the christmas lights were coming on, it was so beautiful. 115095117 and then…

wait for it…

it started to snow!126 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.

Comments

  1. Leavenworth is our favorite place. We were there over Christmas.

    We put together a website and blog for other tourists to Leavenworth with information about what we like and don't like, where to stay, what to do, etc.

    Next time before you go stop by our site to see what's happening:
    http://www.accidentalbavarian.com

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

all comments are moderated. unkind comments will be deleted.

you may like...

for my not-so-american friends

i didn't have an actual roll w/ the green plaid on it, but i found a refill and an empty roll in my junk drawer (yeah, i know, that should tell me something).  but even the empty one says 'scotch' on it.  there you go!  SCOTCH TAPE!

i have "done something"

about shane's room. if you notice over there on my BIG FAT TO DO LIST, for ages now, i've had "do something about shane's room" on the list. and it has sat there on the list, doing nothing.  well yesterday, we "did something". i couldn't put "clean shane's room".  that wouldn't really cover it.  i wasn't sure exactly how to phrase what is was that needed to be done in there, mainly because i don't really know the proper grammatical term for "set off 4 sticks of dynamite followed by much jackhammering and industrial vacuuming".  needless to say, it was a pit! every saturday, one of his chores is to clean his room.  but at this point, that was just putting clothes in the basket, books on the shelf, toys in bins, etc.  anything else was WAY too big of an undertaking for a 9 year old boy on his way out the door. sadly, i didn't think to take a 'before' picture, so i didn't bother with an '

adjusting my attitude

this is something i tell shane to do all the time and i really needed to tell it to myself this morning.  although i go through phases where i'm diligent and consistent about getting up early and taking care of pertinent chores, getting dressed, etc. i've been REALLY bad lately.  and it's not just the christmas break thing because i've been throwing myself and the little kids into the car in our jammies to take shane to school for a while now.  it's something that's really been bugging me, but it's just so easy to sleep as long as possible and then turn on the tv for the kids while i drink coffee and surf the internet wake up for 3 hours a little while.  i am aware that i really need to have some sort of a schedule and i need to adhere to it. so after staying up past midnight reading a book about scheduling getting motivated, i vowed to get up early - before the kids - this morning and be all dressed and have some time to myself to take care of mornin

bacon-potato chowder recipe

dave found this recipe at some point when we were living in ohio. he apparently had a hankering for some chowder of some kind. so I have no idea where the credit goes in this case. but we’ve been making it ever since, so it was definitely a winner! 1 lb. bacon cut in small pieces 1 cup chopped onions 4 cups diced potatoes 2 cups water 1 tsp salt (and some pepper) 2 cans cream of something soup (chicken or celery) 2 cups sour cream 3 cups milk **edited to add: apparently, dave says he adds a clove or two of garlic as well. chop them up with them up and add them with the onions.** in a big pot, cook bacon over medium heat. add onion and cook until tender. drain off grease. add water, potatoes, salt and pepper. cook 15 minutes. stir in soup, sour cream, and milk. cook until heated through. easy, but best to do all you’re chopping, dicing, and measuring ahead of time. if you like it thick, simmer a little longer… don’t make this if you are dairy intolerant or on a diet! lol. a

first day of school

so, we started school today. this is a big deal because it is OUR first day of official homeschooling. you know, here. at home. most everyone reading this is already aware of the fact that shane has been homeschooled since first grade, but that he has spent the majority of that ‘school’ time, with my mother as his ‘teacher’. this was a fine arrangement, she was willing and more than qualified, and he was learning. but for a variety of reasons, not the least of which being my mother’s current cancer issues, it had become clear that it was time for me to take over. AND,with layla being 4 now, i really wanted to do a little bit more preschool stuff with her. being a little bit of a chicken flake, i (with much urging from my loving husband) decided the best route to go would be with a packaged curriculum. i figured it would be the most time-effective way to cover what we needed to cover, and be somewhat dummy-proof, but at the same time, having the option to supplement with as much