Leavenworth, WA

For Memorial weekend we decided to take a mini-family-vacay to Leavenworth, WA.  It is an adorable, Bavarian style town nestled in the Cascade Mountains.  Since Chris's mission to Germany and Austria, we get extra excited for all things German/Bavarian.  And Leavenworth did not disappoint... the schnitzel, brats, lederhosen, mountains, live music, Bavarian-esque atmosphere, were all on point.  We spent the weekend exploring the little shops downtown, eating our fill of sausages, taking in the gorgeous views, and almost dying on a mountain.  Haha... true story.  Since Leavenworth is in the Cascade mountains, there are trails and hikes everywhere.  And we wanted to enjoy the outdoors, but we needed a trail or hike that was stroller and kid friendly.  Haha, good luck to us, right?!  We asked around, and someone suggested a mountain where we could drive up most of the way; so it would leave little left to hike with the kids.  Um... but this person failed to mention that the road was rocky the whole way up (and I don't mean it was just a gravel road... I mean, gravel, plus giant rocks all of over it), with giant potholes and rocks everywhere, even with some parts of the road washed away from rain, and it was extremely narrow (several times we did not have all four wheels on the road because there wasn't enough room) with just a sharp drop off of a cliff on one side.  There is NO WAY we would have made it up most of the way if we didn't have four-wheel-drive (which our suggestion person never even asked us about... I guess she didn't feel it would be that important... WRONG).  Let's just say we took turns praying out loud as we made our way up the mountain.  We never actually reached the top.  The road was so narrow and rocky, that there was no where to turn around.  We got about 3/4ths the way up when we finally spotted one wider spot in the road that we decided to use it to shimmy our car around and head back down the mountain.  No exaggerations... it was scary!  I mean, in our suggestion chick's defense, the views we did see were beautiful.  Haha!  But we were too petrified to fully enjoy them.

The first leg of the trip was a ferry to Seattle.

Arriving to Leavenworth.  It's so pretty!!

Watch out for cars, motorcycles, and horses:)

It's the cutest little town.

Every restaurant, shop, brewery, music hall, etc. was on point.

Enjoying a little stroll just outside of town.

Duncan has been hating the stroller lately.  He's a free spirit that doesn't like being contained.  Lol!  But he was happy to push Colin in the stroller:)

Yes please!!

Waiting in line to get our sausages!  They were delicious!

Enjoying his brat.

Enjoying his freedom out of the stroller.  Lol!

He was just along for the ride:)

Mitchell actually likes the stroller (even though he is too big for it).  And he also likes trying to control his brother.  Haha!  Duncan, on the other hand, does not like the stroller or being control:)

The beautiful view from our drive of death up a mountain.  Haha! (Funny now, terrifying then)

Our views has we "safely" went back down the mountain.  Lol!

Haha, I love this picture!!  It looks like Mitchell is just so deep in thought, contemplating the meaning of the universe or something.  Or maybe the song from the accordion player was just so thought provoking.  Haha!
P.S. the schnitzel at this place was amazing!

Loving the park on our last day in Leavenworth.

The gorgeous views continued on our drive home.

We decided to stop at a couple of trails on the way home.  We just didn't want the gorgeousness to end.

And it wouldn't be a Mitchell photo without a silly pose:)

Waterfall selfie.

We 💗 waterfalls.

He saw this fallen tree and just had to sit on it.

This is Mitchell in a picture... running (always running) free, loving childhood.

I guess we finally tired him out enough so he agreed to a stroller ride.

😎

Once again, happy and along for the ride.

Awe, a hug from big brother before we finally headed home.  Thank you for the great visit Leavenworth.

Well, if he refuses to ride, at least he can help push.

We loved all the food, music, and atmosphere of our Little Bavaria.  And the story telling was the best... bonus points for anyone who can hear what he is saying.  All I got was something about a tall tower and Jupiter.  Haha!

Enjoying the Memorial Day celebration in town.  Awe, to be a kid again and enjoy the simple things in life, like rolling down a hill.

We found this gem on a trail on our way home.  We love us some waterfalls.