Tree Lighting Festival

This was our first trip over to Leavenworth for their annual Tree Lighting Festival.

Brian and I both grew up here and neither of us had been to this event before.  The picture above is from the city's website... when I showed it to the kids, they thought we were going to the North Pole!

The whole town was all decked out with Christmas trimmings.  There were choirs singing and bands playing every half hour all day long.  The aroma from roasting chestnuts filled the air as holiday music echoed throughout the town.

We just happened to see St. Nicholas as he arrived in a carriage...  they told us that in Europe it is traditional for St. Nicholas to bring oranges, representing gold, to all the children.

This little bakery was so great!  How could something called the Gingerbread Factory, not be fabulous?

The next day was more mingling around town, shopping, visiting with Santa Claus, Saint Nick and Father Christmas.  We also saw the Nutcracker, Frosty the Snowman, Scrooge and the Grinch.

The kids discovered all the leaves that had fallen from the trees and made their own leaf pile to toss in the air, then jump in.

Finally, the moment we'd been waiting for all day!  By this time, there was about 20,000 people standing shoulder to shoulder in the street.  Right before they lit the town up, the mayor came out and made a speech, then everyone sang Silent Night.  So peaceful.

Of course, once the kids went to bed, it started to snow.  They woke us up at 6am screaming "Snow! Snow!"  So we threw on our boots and jackets and did what any parents would do... we had a snowball fight at 6am in our pajamas!  Kids really don't care if they are dressed properly or not.  Snow is snow.  We had a great time pelting each other while the neighborhood was still asleep.

We were on the road two hours later... Brian couldn't miss the kickoff of the Seahawks game...  All in all a great weekend and a fun way to start the season!  Merry Chistmas!