Leavenworth 2011

We enjoyed yet another wondeful year in Leavenworth for their beautiful town lighting celebration. We stayed at a hotel in town next to the hotel we stayed in the first year we visited for the lighting festival. Being close is always a treat and makes it very easy with young kids to move back and forth to the hotel as needed!

The weekend was filled with sledding on the town hill, some snow play, good company, yummy food and brew, beautiful holiday lights, Santa, a living nativity, a little lantern parade and holiday shopping. Something for everyone!

Ice Skating Fun

A fun seasonal treat for Holly was trying out Ice Skating this year. Our town hosted a small, kid friendly 'ice' rink that was actually waxed matts - perfect for a child who has never done this before. We let her watch a bit to decide, she was all for it so Bryan took her out and taught her what to do. After a few laps around with Daddy she went on her own and just took off! Holly loved doing this! We might take her to a neighboring town soon to try out a real ice rink!

While Holly skated Hudson & I enjoyed some park time just outside!

Leavenworth - Part 2

More Leavenworth photos coming up... sorry for the long break, we have been busy having fun in the snow - and a lot of snow it has been! We'll share those photos later!

Holly & I being 'Rudolph'.

Gosh she is cute!

Just me!

Everyone gathering in town for the lighting ceremony.

The town is soooo pretty!!!

A sample of all the various art around town.

Leavenworth 2008 - #1

We enjoyed our third year in Leavenworth, WA. It is a small bavarian style town that hosts many fesvtivals throughout the year - the tree/town lighting being one of their largest ones. I am in love with this little town. You can't help but get in the holiday mood while visiting this town.

We all had a very fun time, spent hours and hours in the cold snow. We visited our favorite little outdoor bar called the Munchin Haus - enjoyed lunch and brews around a toasty fireplace. Enjoyed many of the local gift shops, decor and of course the lighting ceremony itself.

The weather was *perfect* which is good... because up until the day before, even hours before - there was no snow! I personally, can't imagine Leavenworth in December without snow. So, I was overjoyed we ended up wtih snow and a good amount. In fact it snowed pretty much all weekend!

Heading over Blewitt Pass.

View of the park behind town, so beautiful!!!

Bryan & I... Gosh I love him!!!

Holly & Uncle Don made this snowman - so cute!

Catching snowflakes!

The park in town starts lighting, beautiful!

The town lit up during festival.

Gingerbread Night

We purchased a Gingerbread House kit about 2 weeks ago with very good intention to make it soon after. Well, things came up and we had a full schedule which pretty much left no night time or weekend time to make the house as a family. So, we promised Holly that we would make it the night after we came back from Leavenworth.

We held our promise and Tuesday night we set up the counter to make our gingerbread house. She had a great time desiginging it, we all added our own bits to it and with the mishmash style we all have... it didn't turn out too badly. Most of all, we had a nice family night - and that is what matters!

Heading to Leavenworth

Just a note that we'll be off line for a bit... we are headed to the beautiful town of Leavenworth for their annual town & tree lighting! We began this tradition a couple of years ago. Should be a fun weekend of snow, fun and festivities!

I'll be back to share photos soon...

Jingle the Elf

This is our second year that Jingle the Elf has visited Holly over the holidays! Jingle is a sweet elf who seems to visit from the North Pole when we are not watching, sleeping or least expect it. He is of course keeping an eye on Holly and reporting back to Santa on how good she is being. Sometimes Jingle leaves Holly little notes, treats or gifts. Like yesterday Holly awoke to find a brand new Tinkerbell puzzle all assembled in the living room... how cool is that! We love to take peeks around the house for evidence of Jingle swinging by. We have yet to see him or catch him in his transits - he is quick to get back to the North Pole, after all this is Santa's time of year that is filled with hustle & bustle of getting ready for Christmas!

Zoo Lights

Thursday night we headed on down to Zoo Lights at the local zoo - it was sooo nice! There was *nobody* there, honestly it was empty. Most likely not good for the zoo at all, but it was really nice for us as there were no crowds for anything at all, Woo Hoo!

We started out the night with a 'hot picnic' out or our car - which was fun! We arrived early after Bryan got off of work. I made a pasta dinner in our crock pot, some other goodies and packed our camping chairs. We parked on an end spot and set up shop - holiday music, christmas lights for enjoying, hot food on a chilly night - in the dark! It was fun and I think it will make for a neat tradition each year - a fun, unique way to go out.

Point Defiance Zoo does a wonderful job with designing the various light displays and the flow through their zoo. They eve have some animal displays still open for enjoyment, including the aquarium areas... one of Holly's favorites! Overall, we had a very nice night!

Christmas Art

Last night I stripped down our 'art wall' and cleaned it up, keeping the most recent art projects or some that I just love and am not ready to pass on yet. Holly was really worried at first, but then proceeded to help me choose which projects would stay and which would go. We now have a clean slate and are ready to start the onslaught of Christmas & Winter art... should be fun!

After cleaning our wall up Holly immediately was ready to start creating new pieces - so, we got out our supplies and set up camp at moms craft area. She made Rudolph the red nose reindeer, who we learned from our friend Maggie last year. Holly remembered this art project like it was yesterday... amazing! Anyhow, here is the first installment of Christmas Art from Holly this season!