Living it up in Leavenworth!

We went to Leavenworth to kick off Papa's week off, and it was a blast! Not only did we seem to time it perfectly with the long lost sun appearing on Saturday, but Mama got to have a river rafting adventure, we fully enjoyed our lovely experience at the Enzian Inn, and the town was adorable. I somehow have never been to Leavenworth before, or not at least that I can remember, and of course neither had Todd or the kids, so this was a perfect mini vacation for us. We headed up there first thing on Saturday morning so that I could meet up with my college pal Ashleigh and a whole group of fun river rafters. 

 H, trying on Ash's life jacket pre raft trip

They've been doing this trip for years, so there was lots of experienced rafters for me to join. 

Last year many of my boat's rafters had been flipped, so they were a little nervous, but they were great rafters and back for more adventure, so that's what we had! I wish I had a thousand pictures to share with you, it was SUCH a gorgeous day, but alas river rafting is not exactly something you want to bring your camera to. Though you can see a set a riverside photographer took here. There are 5 sets of rapids on this trip, and just enough river floating to relax and chat in between. Though admittedly during one of those leisurely moments I decided to try "rodeo", which is a trick where you climb on the front of the boat and hang onto the rope without falling in, well I tried, stood, fell into the boat, tried again stood, tried again and feel right off the front! That river is COLD! So glad lunch wasn't far off cause I was shivering even in my wetsuit. After lunch though I added layers and was much warmer for the second and more exciting half of our adventure. We are definitely going back next year, I can't wait!

Some of the crew after our trip, and before the yummy BBQ we had for dinner. 

Papa and the kiddos had a fun day picnicking at the park, swimming back at the hotel pool, and at the toy store and ice cream shop in Leavenworth. 

 We felt pretty lucky to have had such an incredible weather day on Saturday, as the clouds rolled back in on Sunday. Didn't slow us down much though, we enjoyed our warm beverages while playing board games in the hotel's lobby and balcony, said hi to the hotel's mountain goats, filled our tummies to the brim with the big delicious breakfast the Enzian served, had a river side stroll and stick "fishing" walk, played more at the toy store, and listened to the alphorn serenade at the hotel all before we packed up to head home right at nap time.

It was a wonderful trip!