Pushed to the edge...

Had a great first evening in Leavenworth last night...it IS a very pretty place.  We swung by our hotel in Wenatchee first(about a 20 minute drive, and orders of magnitude cheaper than staying in Leavenworth itself), and made it Leavenworth about 4:30.  With the temperature hovering in the mid-20's once the sun went down, you can't do much drifting around looking at pretty lights before you start thinking about ducking into someplace warm.  For us, this meant trying to beat the rush and ducking in someplace for an early dinner.

Since it feels contrary to visit a 'Bavarian Village' without eating somewhat ethnic food, we didn't fight the trend(well, the kids did...one had fish sticks, the other had grilled cheese).  We stopped at a place called The Baren Haus.(Daddy..they spelt the name wrong!)  I had their Sauer Braten, and my wife had the Wiener Schnitzel.  I'm not an expert on german food, but things tasted good to me.  I thought the Schnitzel was better than the Sauer Braten(it tasted like a pot roast with gravy) but the sauerkraut and cabbage were both good.  Grumble, grumble, grumble about tourist town prices.

A little more wandering through the lights, and then it was back to our hotel.

I love my children, I really do(it's the only reason they are still around)...but I can't believe how I always forgot how badly they sleep in a hotel room.  It's one of those things we only do every 4-6 months, and every time I hope that that extra 4-6 months of maturity will have kicked in, and allowed them to co-exisit in the same bed, and every time daddy is disappointed.

Last night was one of the worst.  We turned the TV on in the hotel room, and let the girls watch The Santa Clause.  Halfway through, they were fading, but when the movie ended at 10, our younger one just refused to GO TO SLEEP!!!!!!  At 10:45, my wife and I split up, and I got to share a bed with the younger one.  45 minutes later, we did the unthinkable...we piled 6 pillows on the floor, stripped each bed of a blanket, and told the youngest one she was voted off the island and had to sleep on the floor.

5 minutes later, she was asleep. 

And this morning, she is brighteyed and bushy-tailed.

I think next time I just rent two hotel rooms, and let the girls play Lord of the Flies in theirs...