Visiting Leavenworth

We went to Leavenworth, Washington last weekend to meet up with our good friends, Garrett and Rachel Hall. We used to live in the same house as them, they lived above us in Shaker Heights. So when we moved back to Washington, it was such a sweet surprise to learn that the Halls were also moving to Washington, just the complete opposite side. We thought it would be fun to meet halfway in Washington, and Leavenworth just happened to be halfway!

Nothing like seeing a horse-drawn carriage full of beer kegs.

Leavenworth is a cute little German town. All the stores (even the Safeway and McDonald's!) looked like little cottages and all the buildings had these beautiful flowers on their window sills. We met up with the Halls and I wish I had gotten a picture of Rylynn and Olivia hugging. I think Rylynn literally tackled Olivia. It was so cute. Carter and Jack ran to each other, but then stopped short and suddenly became shy. We immediately let the kids have at it with the bouncy houses. They were pretty inexpensive so we let the kids go a few times. Jack loved it and could have stayed all day. Olivia was coming down with something so she actually slept in the back of the stroller most of the day, but she did go once through the bouncy house.

We had brats for lunch, although we weren't totally impressed by them. Everything was so busy thanks to Oktoberfest, so we weren't able to go into any restaurants. We went into Kris Kringl, this awesome Christmas shop that was so full of tons of Christmas decorations. The kids loved the little villages and trains, but Jack did not like the elf statues. He just stared at the with fear in his eyes and called them "bad guys" and wouldn't go near them. We went to the cheesemonger's shop where I got some carmelized onion cheese for Adam and I and some horseradish Havarti for my dad. It was a really neat shop where they let you try any kind of cheese they have so you can sample the cheese before you buy it.

Madelynn loved the hot chocolate. She would literally cry if we took the cup away from her. We got it from a stand that said it was European. It tasted like sipping chocolate, a little rich with a hint of orange in the background. Yum!

After some walking around, we grabbed some McDonald's and headed out to a pumpkin patch to eat it. There was a little playground the kids could play on and a "cow train" that they could ride around the pumpkin patch. It was a great way to end the day, even though we were really sad to see the Halls leave. Even though Olivia wasn't feeling well, she was sad to have to say goodbye to Rylynn again.

Enjoying our burgers in the cold, cold weather.

Olivia and Rylynn snuggling with a blanket. Yeah, it was that cold.

Olivia, Adam, Jack, Carter, Garrett and Rylynn on the cow train. It was driven by this little tractor and went pretty fast. Thank goodness there were seat belts in those things!

Rachel and I warming ourselves by the fire. Needless to say, I smelled like a campfire the entire way home and the next day, I had to wash my hair twice to get the smell out!

Jack and Carter hanging out on the swings, just like good ol' times.

Saying goodbye... hopefully not for long!

Here is the video of the cow train. Adam and Garrett and the kids are at the end. And yes, I know they get precariously close to the freeway. Now that is trust!

We had such a good time with the Halls. It was like we were back in Ohio, just hanging out with them. One of the things I miss most about Ohio is living right next to Rachel and Garrett. Our kids got along so well and we loved having such great friends that were as far away as a yell up the stairwell (although we were nicer than that and still used the phone). We really miss you guys and hope we get to see you sooner than later!