Mt. Ranier and Paradise

This is the sign we passed last weekend as we made our way out of town:

Why did we head out of the city? Well, Brad didn't have school last Thursday and Friday. It was awesome. We needed a break. All of us.

I left the planning up to Brad and he found us a cute little cabin in the woods near Mt. Ranier. (It even had a hot tub.)

Lainy was so excited that she chattered non-stop the whole 2 hour drive there. After an hour and a half of it, Brad turned to me and asked, "Does she do this all the time?"

"What? Talk all the time? Yes, she does." I replied. What can I say? The girl loves to talk. I happen to think it's adorable.

We found the cabin in a nice secluded piece of forest near the entrance to Mt. Ranier National Park. Lainy and Brad wasted no time in exploring the lofts, bunk beds, and wooded back yard. We were a little dissappointed there wasn't snow (we'd packed all our stuff) but it was a wonderful getaway nonetheless.

We spent a lovely evening relaxing in the hot tub, having a pajama-rama (which is wearing your pajamas, making yummy snacks, and watching a movie together on the floor), and turning off all the lights to look at the sky and listen to the quiet.

Our lovely vacation was interrupted briefly around 2 a.m. when Lainy fell out of her bed and was not at all happy to wake up in a strange place on the cold floor, and when Leah awoke not much later with a very stuffy nose. We spent the next two hours soothing each child and putting them back to sleep. That's life with two kids. I guess.

In the morning we made stuffed french toast, jumped in the hot tub one more time, packed up, and left to explore the park.

We made our way to Paradise (a destination spot on the top of a mountain), driving slowly so we could take in the beautiful scenery. The higher up we drove, the more snow appeared on the ground until we arrived in Paradise, which was laden in about 6 feet of fresh snow.

Unfortunately, the lodge was closed, so Leah and I had to sit in the car while Brad and Lainy went out to play. We all had fun though. Leah sleeping. Me holding my baby and watching my cute girl play with her cute dad. Lainy re-discovering snowballs and snowmen. And Brad getting to be a little kid again. It even snowed softly while they played.

Paradise really was paradise for us!