A vacation like this one is so hard for me to Blog because I took hundreds of pictures and we did so many fun things, that I want to Blog them all! This post is really long, but believe it or not, I only picked a few of the many pictures that I had. I tried to choose 3 or 4 pics of each of the fun things that we did while we were in beautiful Leavenworth.
I love this time each year so much, because it is such a special time with family.
We always start our Leavenworth vacay with sledding. In fact the kids are usually jumping out of the car and running across the street from our hotel to sled before we have even checked into our room.
Mom and Dad came across the street to watch the kids sled too!
This picture doesn't really show it, but Lucy was not feeling very well while we were there. In fact she didn't end up going sledding much or skiing, but she still had a great time.
Sam, tearing up the sledding hill.
My boys can literally sled for hours. The adults would just take shifts watching them.
Max was in true engineer form, and he spent a lot of the time building jumps.
Sam often flew upside down at the end of the jumps. He LOVED it!
Sean and Will took quite a few sledding runs too, in fact we all did!
I do not have pictures to prove it, but Pancho and I even hit the hill a few times. We kept our "old bodies" away from the any runs that might give us permanent tailbone damage.
They figured out that if they went together, they went even faster!
A family pic in the lobby
(minus Kev, Kate and Finn who couldn't come with us this year)
The lobby of our hotel is very cozy and even has a HUGE rock fireplace with a warm fire and beautiful Christmas tree. We would often hang out and warm up there and meet up with the family. They also have a coffee/hot chocolate bar with cookies ready and waiting at all times. I love heading in from the cold to warm up there.
Francine and I outside of our Hotel
The Bavarian Lodge is always lit up so beautifully!
We went to dinner at Gustav's on the first night.
It started snowing outside while we were eating, the kids were so excited looking out the window at the falling snow.
I think this picture is out of order, but we spent a lot of time watching the boys sled, shopping, and walking to Starbucks.
One of the kids favorite things is the outdoor swimming pool. They love swimming in the snow. There are also two hot tubs. Luckily the Dad's like the hot tubs, so they would usually take the kids swimming so the moms could go shopping or take a quick nap. Ahhhhh!
It is hard to believe that they like the outdoor pool so much, luckily the hotel keeps the water pretty warm.
Sean was the only brave Dad to get in the pool with the kids, the rest stuck to the hot tub.
What could be better than having a snowball fight in a swimming pool?
Seriously?
This does not look fun to me . . . but they couldn't get enough.
My cousin Jody's kids Kyla and Kacey.
Even though our kids are not first cousins, you would never know it. The think and act like they are!
Lucy and Annie
Next up . . . . skiing!
Sam and I spent most of the morning skiing together. He did such a great job. By our 3rd run, he was doing it all on his own.
A very cute family picture of "The Murrays"
Max has been begging us to snowboard for quite a while now. We kept warning him how hard it is, and telling him that maybe he wouldn't like it. Ummmm, boy were we wrong! He picked it up right away, He didn't even have a lesson, he just taught himself and he was up and down the mountain, no problem! Sometimes this kid amazes me with his determination and natural athletic ability (2 things that I don't have).
The kids were all doing so well skiing, that Francine and I got to hang out and watch them. We even took a few runs together.
Sam and Will ended up skiing together for most of the day. It was so much fun to watch them ski together, and they were having a ball!
In the evenings, we all meet down in a big room next to the lobby, that we reserve for our family. My mom and my aunt put out appetizers and we have "Happy Hour" together. The kids usually put on a play for us. This year's play was so funny. Hunter was the announcer and the kids sang songs, did a dance and told jokes. The kids putting on a play is a tradition in our family that dates back to me and my cousins when we were our kids age, so it is so much fun to watch.
Each hotel room has a little Christmas tree in it complete with decorations in a baggie. Lucy always decorates our tree for us and we leave it on all night, it makes our room so cozy.
We spent most nights cuddled up in bed as a family watching movies.
Sometimes a few cousins would come cuddle up with us too!
One of the days we walked to another sledding hill (there are many of them scattered throughout the town). We all had a blast sledding at this one because there were lots of choices of runs, big, small, bumpy, smooth etc.
The girls built a snow fort while we were there.
I took a picture of Sam and Pancho sledding away.
We took a beautiful walk along a creek and through a forest to get to the sledding hill.
I had my Starbucks which made the walk even better.
. . . another picture of the walk through the wood in the snow. It was so pretty!
. . . some adorable cousins on Main Street in Leavenworth
The kids took a horse and carriage ride through town.
They even sang some Christmas Carols along the way!
Jody, Pancho and Sean
The Dad's and I hung out and had a coffee while we were waiting for the carriage to get back.
The carriage riding away, with beautiful Leavenworth in the background.
The Mommies and the girls . . .
Lucy wanted this zebra hat so badly for Christmas this year.
She wore it everywhere we went!
I absolutely love how our hotel looks when it is all lit up at night.
My Dad & my Mom, with Aunt Michelle (mom's sister) and Uncle Jack
Our Hotel
The sisters, walking to dinner.
Our "adults night out" was so much fun.
We left the kids back at the Hotel with a bunch of movies and Hunter as the babysitter.
This picture is meant to try and show how beautiful and magical this town is.
We went to dinner at this hotel/restaurant
There is a beautiful gazebo in the middle of town that is lit up so beautifully at night.
The words and pictures that I have put into this post do not do justice to how much I love our family time in Leavenworth. This vacation is something that I look forward to all year long. Luckily, we have already booked our rooms for next year! I can't wait!
LOVE IT! Great post!
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