Let’s get this party started again.
Last month, already, we made our 4th Annual pilgrimage to Leavenworth with a set of friends (and family) we have known for, well, longer than we haven’t known ’em.
The most interesting thing is that Leavenworth this year was on the slopes of Mt. Rainier, in Ashford.
You might ask how we managed that and you would be, if you know the area, a wee bit confused.
Well confuse ya no longer ye map headed varmint!
Know this; When you are speaking of an event that has taken on epic proportions with 11 kids and 10, uh, heavier and older kids, the place becomes less relevant and the memories it evokes, the laughter that ensues (and mostly the fact that the kids don’t know one place from the other cause the snow is the same all around) means we call it by it’s name, the whole weekend is just known as Leavenworth.
This Leavenworth cabin was the best facility for size, variety, and proximity so far. The kids had the run of the place, no fearful spiral staircases, steep dropoffs into frozen rivers, or lackluster flatlands. There was plenty of good runs for a tube save one problem. Snow.
There wasn’t any.
In an El Niño world even the foothills of the great mountain fail to produce and this was that year. Not to be dissuaded, the bigger, heavier kids packed the smaller ones into their respective vehicles and braved car-sickness all the way to Paradise.
See here, a progression of sledding that landed three snow-sailors on their un-muffled ears.
Upon closer inspection, you can see that the Leading Seaman has her eyes closed which doesn’t bode well for any ship.
Further, you will notice that the Coxswain is distracted by events amidships and has no hand on the tiller. Speaking of amidships, you may recognize those boots as belonging to the Midshipman who might rightly be referred to as “dragging anchor”.
After some effort the ship was set to rights and the team set off once again…blind to the front.
Here we see the Captain, and her first mate, in their luxury quarters with proper attire.
Frankly, few hats and gloves were required. Paradise nearly lived up to it’s tropical name despite the snow.
Back at the ranch, later that night, we corralled the restless natives for a moment on the red carpet with the paparazzi.
blief 
Glad you had a good time, but too bad about the snow. Even the actual Leavenworth would not have produced any better most likely. They had snow there three weeks ago when Julie and I went there, but only a little and it was slushy.
Tom.
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Wow, the kids aren’t babies anymore!
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And yikes, the girls are in the minority!
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What a fun, fun event! The more “kids” the merrier!!
Reminds Grumpy of days of “yore” when he used to lead the gang in a downhill event called “belly-ing”. First, find a steep drift at least 10-20 feet high. You had to be wearing a smooth-fronted upper covering, such as a long-waisted sweatshirt which you pull down over your hips so your “front” is fairly streamlined. Then you dive head-first down the steep side of the drift like an otter.
WARNING!! The “pull-out” at the bottom of the drift can produce “g’s” that can cause regurgitation of the breakfast contents.
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Incidentally, how did you get that crew all asleep at the same time?
Or did you!? [Been there; know how it is, or can be!]
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Getting them to sleep is / and isn’t easy.
Put on a movie and you can get about 2/3rds of them to lay down – didn’t have those in your day I guess.
But there is always one or two that stay up and/or cause the others to stay up. Usually they just drift off one by one – and they can all pretty easily get up with whichever kid is the biggest.
Two small kids were able to sleep in their own beds in another room – that helped.
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There were movies in the day when I was a kid. We watched Howdie Doodey, Hopalong Cassidy, and Simba the Lion. Then we watched family movies or slides for a long time. The last slide was usually morning…meaning I fell asleep in the middle somewhere and when I woke up it was morning.
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