Cascades, Thrift Store Shopping, and a German Town, Does it get much better than that? Part 2

In reality my family does not do weekend getaways very well. The amount of time it takes me to even get my family packed and ready for just a weekend getaway is ridiculous. Then there is the clean up after the getaway that still makes me scratch my head. Pack a kids travel (toy bag) clean out a kids travel (toy bag, which to this day has never had quite enough in it. Somebody always ends in tears because something was left at home). Pack a snack bag, clean out a snack bag. By snack bag I mean a large bag that is filled with mommy approved kid snacks, and of course the usual mommy and daddy treats (jerky, Funyuns, Jo Jo's). Pack every ones clothes, get home and have 2 full days of laundry ahead of me. Factor in that it usually takes my hubby two days to relax which means right about the time the weekend is over my hubby is starting to have a good time, leads to not great weekend getaways. We must have really needed it this time because we had a great time.

We were staying at the base of the Cascades on the North side. There was a large fire that went through here about two years ago and unfortunately took out a lot of trees. I still think its beautiful.

We like to stay in a town called Leavenworth which is a (very touristy) German town. We don't do crowds well so we like to stay on the outskirts of town. Most people don't ever see these amazing homes because they are doing just the typical tourist thing.

Hubby being Swiss German felt like he was right at home. Can you believe these homes are here, not in Germany or Switzerland? I could post way more pictures of European style homes but I will save you!

Fall was falling while we were there, so my kids spent a lot of time playing in leaf piles. To be fair mom and dad played in them also.

I almost wished I was a kid again. Doesn't that look like such great fun? I had to bribe them with candy to get them to leave.

There is a candy store just inside the National Park. It is 2 full floors of candy! If there is one thing worse than a kid in a candy store, it is two big kids in a candy store. 

This was a hard picture to take! Every time my family would fly past me I would start laughing and it is hard to take a picture when you are laughing! LeiLei looks scared to death, Ademan looks bored, and JayJay and daddy look like they are having a contest to see who will blink first..

My JayJay was holding my iPhone and surprised me with a quick snap. I think I was loading up the car when I heard "Mommy say cheese" I did a quick swing around and said cheese just to humor her. Not realizing she was smart enough to use the camera in my phone. Oh well, at least it proves I was there. mommy is usually the one snapping the pictures.

 

 I took 200 pictures over the coarse of the weekend, so it was hard to narrow these posts down to a handful. We are home now getting ready for Halloween and continuing our Foster Parent conversations. Stay tuned I think we have almost come to a decision on whether or not stay Licensed Foster Parents.