Leavenworth Germany, no wait Washington!

So Leavenworth is this quaint little town in Washington that is modeled after Germany/Austria. it is about two and a half hours from where my sister lives. So one day Paul and i drove up there with the girls so we could experience this little town. It is a pretty drive up there and the views in the town are amazing!!The girls enjoyed walking around the town and going into the little shops they had. one of their favorite shops was this little hat shop that we went into. the girls loved trying on different hats, glasses, and masks. This is one of the ones that Lily found that when she walked around to show her dad and me we just started cracking up laughing. it was a lot of fun. We also got to see an organ grinder with his little stuffed monkey. He was dressed authentically and this little organ was authentic and very cool. Lily and Brooklyn were dancing to the music! It was a fun and nice day though all of us were definitely exhausted by the time we made it back. Here are some pictures as well as video!

Washington!!

So Paul and I have finally made it to vacation time this year! which if you can guess from the title of this post our vacation is in Washington this year to visit my sister and her family. We made it just fine and the girls actually did really well for it being a ten hour car drive. the only thing that Paul and I forgot to back of course was our camera! :( Luckily my sister let us use hers for part of the time and Paul and I went and bought a video camera as well. One of the first things that we did when we got here was take the girls to the playground of dreams at the Columbia trail park. This park is beautiful it is large and follows the river so you get beautiful views of the water and there are several open areas of grass, a public golf course, and several smaller playgrounds as well as a memorial for veterans! Whew! that is alot to list but even more to try and see or do in a park in one day!

The second day we went to church which was a regional broadcast from Salt lake. the chapel is right next to the temple though. So we took the girls for a walk around the grounds. Lily's favorite part was the waterfall that is in front of the temple. it was a beautiful day though Paul and I only got to watch half of the broadcast as both of our girls became very crabby and very loud! Who can really blame them since they were recovering from the car ride the day before!:)

Though my favorite part so far is just getting to relax and enjoy visiting with my sister and her family and seeing the sites of Washington. Lily's favorite part has been playing with her cousin Duncan. While Brooklyn's favorite thing has been to chase my sisters cats around the house and pointing at them going "OOH" or "AHH" It has been quite amusing to watch her excitement about the cats! I Have to say that I think Paul's favorite thing has been all of the naps that he has taken :)