Leavenworth (part 1)

Natalie enjoying some S'mores.
Lar cooking his famous campancakes.

Brady on Bruce's Boulder. He started to panic on the ledge right above his head.
All the pictures that were taken on our nice Nikon D40x were taken in RAW format, so I must enlist the help of my husband to download those (you have to convert them to Jpeg).
We arrived in Leavenworth Saturday around 9 am, and immediately went looking for a campsite (they are first come - first served). We knew we were at a disadvantage for not getting there earlier in the week, but Larry worked until 10:30PM the night before.
We drove 13 miles down Icicle Rd to the very last campsite (there were also 4 campsites closed due to flooding). Upper Johnny Creek campground was our last hope for a site, and the sign said "Campground Full". I pleaded with Larry to drive through anyway and look. There was ONE spot that opened up just an hour before we arrived. And it was the biggest site available too. Needless to say, Larry and I sighed a huge sigh of relief and happily plunked down our $13 and energetically unpacked the van.
Our site was great too, because we were next door to the campground hosts (who gave us free firewood our last night) and they had bird and squirrel feeders set up, so we had a huge population of beautiful birds and squirrels to watch (and squirrel babies!! so cute!)
We wandered into Leavenworth for coffee, since I had a moment of moron and bought cheap coffee for the trip (we only use whole bean for our home use, so I needed just a little bit of ground coffee for camping. Long story short... I bought Folgers Gourmet that was on sale. Not gourmet. Still Folgers.) We saw the Bavarian Starbucks sign and beelined it. I even bought the kids each a Frappachino, I was so grateful.
The boys got some rock climbing done, and Brady completed his first real-life climb on Bruce's Boulder. He panicked about halfway up, so Larry "encouraged" him and they climbed to the top together. What I didn't know until later (since I was at the bottom of the boulder belaying them) was that when they summited, the fellow climbers across the way stood up and applauded Brady.
Natalie had lots of make-believe games going on, and the kids played great together (doesn't happen at home). Even Brady at dinner with us (not without a fight, but he did participate in every meat) which for those who know Brady, know that this is a huge victory for us. He had hamburger and veggies the first night (I made tin foil pocket meals) and had pancakes for breakfast, and Hot Dogs for dinner the next night. It sounds ridiculous, but that is huge progress for us.
The bugs weren't a problem at all either, which is what really makes or breaks a trip for me. That is, until we stopped at SwiftWater picnic area on the way home (for more bouldering). We all walked around and I had the camera to take photos of the boys climbing. But I (and really only me, I must be really sweet and juicy) got attacked. I'm still itchy today. I got at least 10 mosquito bites and when I get bit, I welt up. I had a welt the size of a 50 cent piece on my knee. So my mood drastically changed. I'm not too fun to be around when I've been bitten and itching (and the bite relief and Off! is packed away).
Home and now we unpack. Larry has to work today. The kids are going to my MIL's house for two days though. I have a doctors appointment this afternoon, and I play Bunco tomorrow night, so Sue just suggested that she keep the kids until Thursday. I couldn't say "yes!" fast enough!