Leavenworth

Hello! I thought I would write today instead of leaving it until tomorrow! We have had a fun weekend that probably will take some time to tell you about!

We had a good couple of days at the end of last week. On Thursday, the girls went swimming and then we met up with our friends Lisa and the twins at a very pretty pond behind the Barnes and Noble book store. It is the site of the Costco headquarters and it is a lovely peaceful area in the middle of an otherwise very busy business park. We had a lovely time with the twins and Lisa; we saw a duck with several larger ducklings underneath her sitting by the side of the path, which the children enjoyed seeing. There was also a bridge to cross and a space to run around in; it was a great place to go to on a dull and damp day - we'll definitely go back!

On Friday, Tim was off and so he took the girls to school before he and I spent some time looking at the different types of cabinets that we could have. It was lovely for Silas to have some time just with Mummy and Daddy on his own - a rare occurrence for him, poor love!! He enjoyed sitting on Tim's knee and looking at funny things on the computer as well as me making the bus jigsaw puzzle with him! When it was time to collect the girls we then went down to North Bend to do a bit of shopping in the sales and to buy the girls new sandals, which they were very excited about!

After Silas had slept we went down to South Seattle to look at cabinets that we had been recommended to see. It was a useful trip and then we came home via Lowe's to see about appliances for the kitchen. We think we have made the decision about which appliances we would like but we are still not quite sure what to do about the cabinets. We have decided thought that we would like the kitchen redone in the first week of August so we are working toward that date.

On Friday evening Tim and I spent it making further investigations about kitchens and then we went to bed. Unfortunately, I was feeling sick and had a headache, which was unpleasant and not helped by a disturbed night's sleep.

On Saturday morning we got up and packed up to go away for a couple of nights. We went to Leavenworth with Ulrike, Leif and the children and we had a good couple of days away. We were quite busy on Saturday morning packing up, which was not helped by this persistent headache and I slept much of the second half of the journey there. I woke up in this 'false German' town which was a bit surreal! We had a wonder through the town that afternoon and went down to the river for a while before having proper German sausage for dinner!

Our first night's hotel was a bit unpleasant although it served an astonishingly good breakfast! Silas slept really badly and the girls were awake really early too so we were all tired on Sunday but we still had a lovely day. We visited a great museum in the morning that had Native American artifacts and an old town laid out with the sorts of houses and shops that you would have found a 100 + years ago. The children loved looking inside the buildings and completing the treasure hunt that the museum gave them! It was really good!

After lunch we drove to a dam, which was also really interesting although we laughed when we got there! The signs underneath the museum on the road all said "enhanced security" and so we were expecting some sort of tough questioning when we arrived. However we were met by this incredibly old man (who must have been in his 80's) whose first words to me were "Why do people always arrive when I set off to go to the bathroom?!" He was very shaky and goodness knows what he would have done if we were there with violence in our minds! The other funny thing was that we were not allowed to bring a diaper bag in, which puzzled Naomi (and us!) but Naomi was quite happy when we said that sometimes Silas nappies were a bit smelly!!

The dam was very interesting - there is a fish tunnel to allow the salmon to swim downstream and a ladder to allow them to return up river to spawn. There were also models of the hydroelectric generators and you could see the dam as well.

We returned to Leavenworth to our new hotel and dinner that evening and were most relieved to have all the children sleep well that night! Yesterday we drove over a pass called Blewitts Pass which was very pretty and then tried to stop off in Ellensburg for lunch but everywhere was closed! En-route though we had stopped off at a very unfriendly place called Liberty that had signs on the gates saying "No trespassing, Go away!!" You wouldn't want to anyway!!

However, from the road you could see a beaver dam in the river and you could see where the beavers had gnawed the trees which was interesting and certainly something I have never seen before.

We had a slow journey over the pass but eventually stopped off at a lake called Rattlesnake lake for an hour or so before coming home. It was lovely there - the children all had fun in different ways. Silas enjoyed throwing sticks and stones in the lake (and learning 2 new words in the process) and the girls enjoyed digging and climbing on the tree trunks!

Today we have had a quiet day; my headache still persists and so I went to the doctor who then sent me for a scan, which is normal, thankfully but it took all morning!! This afternoon we had swimming and then we were in the garden, which was fun!

Naomi is very excited tonight as she has lost her first tooth and it is under her pillow! She actually lost it on Saturday morning but we have saved it until now so that the fairy could find it! She has read the Charlie and Lola story about the lost tooth so she knows all about it!

Anyway, that is it for now! Hope that you have enjoyed reading such a long blog and I will write on Sunday! Love to you all!