Oktoberfest in Leavenworth

For years, my Mom and her friends have gone to this little vacation town in Washington called Leavenworth.  If you remember, our family stayed there for a few nights in the summer of 2009 and it was a fantastic experience!  Leavenworth is just about two and half hours away from Seattle and is really a sweet little town.  The town and all of it's splendor is themed Bavarian.  Little German touches surround you and transport you to a place unlike any other!  This little town is settled amongst the Cascade mountains and the views are breathtaking!  Although I have been to Leavenworth many times- I have never been with my Mom and her friends for Oktoberfest!  All it took was a phone call from my Mom, who offered to fly me up for the weekend, and I was on my way!  Willkommen!

I got things prepared at home and ready for Damien to be Mr. Mom for the weekend. At 8:15 a.m. (after dropping off the older two kids at school) I was at the airport and ready to fly north!  The flight was a breeze.  I kept thinking I had forgotten something because it felt so odd to be only carrying one bag through the airport.  My Dad picked me up and we went to our favorite haunt in downtown Bellevue (The Pumphouse) for a nice lunch.  I loved this.  I don't get many opportunities to be with my Dad one on one, so I breathed in every wonderful second of it.  After lunch, we went back to my parents house where everyone was doing their best 'last minute packing' for a weekend of fun!

I offered to drive because, well, um, it was the best choice. (Natalie can back me up here.)   We followed my sister Gina with a car full of her friends so she could set the pace.  I drove my Mom, Natalie, and my Aunt Carol over the gorgeous mountain passes which were so colorful and Fall-ish.  We had a great time!  Thankfully, we were able to avoid any songs by John Denver (Carol loves him) and we had some time to catch up and tell some hilarious stories.  I knew just by the car ride over that this weekend was going to be awesome. 

My Mom and her friends have been coming up to Leavenworth for years and have made a great Girl's Weekend out of it.  They always stay in the same hotel (which they book a full year in advance) and have their little schedule of events down to the last detail.  One of the best parts of Leavenworth is the shopping.  There are so many great shops nestled into these little Bavarian streets.  To be there without the kids and be able to focus and look at little itty bitty details in these shops was a dream.  Double dream was experiencing it with my Mom. I love her so much! To echo Claire in my last post, I am lucky to have her as my Mom.  We ate at great restaurants (note to self: never order what Aunt Carol orders) and laughed until our stomachs hurt.  And that was just Day #1!

We spent the majority of Day #2 shopping and taking in the crazy energy that was in this little town.  A lot of people come to Leavenworth on Oktoberfest so the people watching was awesome!  One of the traditions there is to wear a crazy hat/costume.  My Mom and her friends donned hysterical head pieces but most of the younger crowd didn't come so prepared.  Another fun element of the day was that we all wore matching shirts that Gina had made for us!  They said, 'What happens in Laderlapen, stays in Laderlapen'.  Basically- her friend Melissa, who flew up for the weekend festivities, never pronounced Leavenworth correctly- hence the Laderlapen name.  It stuck and as luck would have it, her coined phrase was printed on a shirt and worn by about twenty-five women!   She also talked many of us into wearing her bright red lipstick which I wouldn't normally do but had fun doing it there!

On Day #2, my cousin Julie (Carol's daughter) came up to spend the day and night.  It was so awesome to be able to hang out with her and talk about our lives!  She has three kids so you can imagine how hard it is for us to have time to talk when all of our kids keep interrupting us!  I loved seeing Carol and Julie in this environment and realized again how awesome they are! 

I had so much fun with my Mom and sisters, too.  Many, many laughs and memories to look back on when I resume my 'normal' life!  I will never forget the Panda, Cougartown, Stop in the Name of Love, Karaoke at the Post Office, Aunt Carol's glasses, and so much more.  Oh, thinking about all of this make me laugh! 

We left Leavenworth on Sunday afternoon and made it to my parent's house with enough time to spend time with Jill, Laura, Kyle, and my Dad.  I was able to give my nephew/godson/awesome cousin Kyle his birthday present before I left.  (He's turning four!  Can you believe it?)  There was the best hat store in Leavenworth and Kyle is really into pretending he is a robot these days.  Isn't this hat adorable!  It was great to relax for a few hours before heading for the airport and my 7:50 p.m. flight home to San Jose.  Thanks again to my Mom for flying me up there and being so amazing.  Natalie and Gina- I had such a ridiculously fun time with you both.  Can't wait to do it again!  And Damien- a BIG thanks to you for keeping life together back at home.  I am one lucky girl to be surrounded by such supportive and loving family.