We took a mini vacation/early Christmas this weekend to Leavenworth with June, Bob, Kevin, Kathy, Marissa and Morgan. June was going crazy with all the "M" grandkids, continually either swapping one name for another, or going through the whole list. "Mason, MacKenzie, er, Morgan, I mean Marissa...."

As we were heading over the pass the kids were amazed by the snow on the hills, the trees, and piled on the side of the road. Kenzie asked us with awe, "Is this the North Pole?"

They loved the snow. Mason's cheeks were chapped, his nose runny, and finger tips frozen. Kenzie's other cheeks were so red we had to put her in the bath tub on defrost cycle. Still, they didn't want to come inside. I believe that sledding was the favorite event of the weekend. Neither kid has an ounce of fear in them when being shot down (a slight) decline.

Sleeping was perhaps a bit improved over our last outing. As a matter of fact, the first night both kids were asleep by about 8:00 and woke about 12 hours later. Last night...not quite the same. Mason climbed out of the playpen at 10:30 and didn't return until 2:30. In the meantime he crawled over his sister twice and banged heads with her once. Needless to say, they were both a little sleepy on the ride home, but neither would give up the good fight and take a nap in the car. What's up with that? Aren't kids supposed to sleep in the car?

We stayed at a cabin that Bob has done a lot of work for. It's called the Bear Mountain Lodge. If you go there, check out the hot tub cabana that Bob built.