Leavenworth 2017

A few weeks ago, Ashlee and I planned a trip to meet up in Leavenworth, WA for a lighting ceremony that someone had told me about the year we moved here.  I'd never even been to Leavenworth, and we all had never gone to see the lights, so we decided to give it a try this year.  We were unprepared for just how big this event really is.  It was packed.  But, oh, so beautiful!

Since we didn't know the exact time the lights would come on, but we did know it gets dark around 4:30, we decided to meet up at 4:00.  We would have made it right on time, but 5.6 miles from Leavenworth found us waiting 10 minutes on an on-ramp onto the "parking lot" Highway 2.  Everyone, it seems, wanted to go to Leavenworth to see the lights.  Ashlee and Russ got there at 3:40, sending us pictures of just how packed the town already was.  We kept up constant communications, with her sending me directions to the parking space they were saving for us, and me telling her that we hadn't moved an inch in five minutes.  During all of our glacial moving, someone tried to convince Ashlee that they needed to park in the spot that Ashlee was saving for us-- she was standing outside, waving people away.  She loves me that much.  We finally made it at 4:20, got all bundled up, and headed for Main Street.

We made it to Main Street at the perfect time.  As we approached the massive crowd, someone over a PA system welcomed us all and started the countdown.  We had enough time to pick up the younger kids that were too short to see by the time we had all counted to one, and the lights on the whole street lit up at once.  The German-style shops for as far as the eye could see were lit up.  The trees from top to bottom were filled will all colors.  The gazeebo in the center of the street was lit up with a large choir singing.  It looked like an antique Christmas scene, Santa Hats, scarves, and playbooks in hand, with a choir director waving his conducting stick in time.

It was cold.  It was chaos.  It was packed with people and pets and strollers and groups needing to stay together in every blink of the eye.  But it was fun.  It was festive.  It was intoxicating, this feeling of love and joy in the air.  It was exactly what we needed this Christmas Season.

Waiting during potty breaks doesn't mean it has to be boring-- we can always capture a few pictures.  Even if it didn't smell pleasant where we were standing.  My kids and their peace signs.  Last year it was Tyson, this year it is Shelby.  Guess they all have to have their year...

Everyone that traveled in- including those that made it hours before we did- all traveled home together.  We even saw school buses from Kennewick and Pasco!  It took us exactly one hour to make it one mile from where we parked.  It took us 1.5 hours to travel two.  It was about this time that we all felt a smidge warmer.  But the talk in the car about how much fun we'd had made it all worth it.

 12/16/16- Gentri concert in Richland, Washington.  12/16/17- Leavenworth, Washington.  Looks like December 16th is our day!