We went to a friend's wedding in Leavenworth and decided instead of making a quick trip of it, that we would make it a nice little overnight getaway to celebrate our 7th wedding anniversary and also fully enjoy being at the wedding!

We left during Hayden's nap (1:30pm) on Saturday afternoon. We had prepped him that Mallory was coming over, so that he wasn't scared when he woke up and we weren't there and she was. Apparently, he didn't care. Let me back up....

I had Mallory (our wonderful babysitter, who also happens to be the 19 year old who just graduated HS and is going to nursing school and lives with her parents just kitty corner across the street from us- we love her) come over the Thursday before we were going to leave. It had been a while since we had used her and I wanted Hayden to see her before being left with her. As soon as she walked in the door, Hayden was all over her (and so was Porter...literally). Hayden was getting really close to her face and telling her about his trains and trucks and about his work bench. He wrapped his arms around her neck (in a loving way) and said to me..."Bye, bye Mom, see you Sunday!" WHAT?!?! See you Sunday?!?! Evidently, he was looking forward to a little vacation of his own, away from Mom and Dad and with "she-can-do-no-wrong" Mallory. Needless to say, seeing him act that way with her, immediately put me at ease. He really does adore her.

So...we left Saturday afternoon and took the 2 hour ride over Steven's Pass into Leavenworth. The pass was gorgeous. Beautiful sunny day and nice and warm but still with a crispness to the air. The leaves were changing so the ride was great! We arrived at around 3:30 and got checked in. The cabin we were staying in was so quaint. It had a queen bed, a twin bed and then a loft with a twin bed! It was perfect and would have easily slept many more people, and even seemed like a great place to take kids.

The wedding started at 5pm. It was a nice ceremony and it was fun to see some people who we hadn't seen in a long time. Dinner and the normal festivities lasted until 10pm. After that, most people left, but the younger crowd headed to the bar (called the Grotto since it was made to look like it was carved into a rock wall and had a nice round fire pit in the middle). We stayed there until 1am.

We (well, I) did call Mallory twice during that time. The first time was at 6pm. I expected to call and find the two of them having a leisurely dinner at home. OH NO...she said that they were on their way to her brother's football game. She and Hayden were in her parents Suburban with about 1/2 of the football team! Hayden was yelling YELLOW BUS and some teenage boy says...NO IT'S A PURPLE BUS, NO A GREEN BUS...to which Hayden responded...YELLOW! It was hysterical. When we got home we asked how the football game went. She said he LOVED it and sat there mezmerized by all the lights and noise...he was just eating fistfulls of popcorn and having a good ole time...WHAT? POPCORN?!?!? He has never even SEEN popcorn let alone been allowed to put such a choking hazard near his mouth! LOL! When the parents are away the kids will play! He didn't get to bed until after 8:30 (evidently she threw my "schedule" right out the window!). The second time we called, it was about 9:30 and he was fast asleep. Luckily, he did sleep through the night (thank God).

The next morning at the wedding, we had a great breakfast and then packed up to check out. We took a drive up the Icicle to take some pictures, but it was pretty rainy, so we decided to just head home. We arrived while home at 1pm, while Hayden was napping. So, in reverse order, we did another changing of the guard and all was back to normal.

I am SO happy we decided to go. I was fully prepared to take an emergency 2 hour ride home if we needed to (hence the reason I was not drinking at the bar). But, we were so proud of him that he did well and survived without us! Thrived it more like it!

When's our next getaway!!??!? -- mam