Leavenworth anniversary trip

We celebrated our 14th anniversary with a trip to the town of Leavenworth, WA. It is a Bavarian themed town in the Cascades, and the week we were there it was COLD!!! It happened to be the Ice Festival (aptly named, I must say), and the town was lit up and decorated.

One of the days, in the main park in town, ice sculpters were carving their creations. It was impressive to watch!

 

One of the other funny things we watched was people sledding on the little hill in the main park. It wasn't a long hill, but there were lots of people sledding on it. Most were using cheap plastic disks that we assume were purchased from one of the stores across the street. It was so cold, and the snow was so hard that those sleds were getting destroyed - cracked into lots of pieces! And it sure didn't look like a comfortable ride. We chose to pass on a sled ride.

We chose, instead, to go skiing at Steven's Pass, about 45 minute out of Leavenworth. Again, it was COLD, but cold was good for the snow. We loved being able to ski wherever we wanted and exploring the mountain. There were beautiful views and fun terrain as we zipped down the trails.

One of our favorite places to eat was the Munchen Haus - we ate there a few times! The sausages were really good, and Jared absolutely loved the apple cider saurkraut (yum!) and enormous collection of various mustards. As good as the sausages were, it was the hot pretzels with Beecher's Cheese dip that stole the show! We talked about those pretzels for weeks afterwards (okay, longer than that).

 

We enjoyed walking around town and exploring the shops. Our favorite was the hat shop. Dani decided to try to fit the part.

We went for a Sunday stroll out by the river. The river was partly frozen, and it was cold!

This was an amazing trip! It was a time that we re-connected, talked about our relationship and family, and set goals. This year, we worked especially on our family mission statement and making a family focus for the year. We settled on "Do Something Good Today." It's going to be a great year!