Leavenworth Vacation with Culbersons and Hutchisons

The Culberson's invited us up to their home to spend the weekend for some quality time in the sun. It was desperately needed as the cold and rain of the week began to get on our nerves. It's unbelievable that the weather is already both a focus and a source of bitterness, so we eagerly hit the road to find the sun and heat.
Fred and Connie Culberson could not have been more welcoming to us, and it was such a beautiful relief to have our own space in their amazing garage apartment/loft. I had been worried about the space issue, having both Thomas and Cooper sick throughout the week. At one point John and I were trying to figure out whether we would be able to go or not, as we had not slept much in 11 straight nights. Both boys continued to be really sick throughout the week and both needed a trip to the doctor, but we agreed that Thursday night would lead to our decision. If Cooper could make it through the night, we would head out. Of course, he pulled it off, the first night in many, many nights that he wasn't up fussing, crying, throwing up and coughing, and we only hoped that the space we would have would work out with sickly children.
It couldn't have worked out better. We had a beautiful place to ourselves, and both Fred and Connie and Scott and Michelle were so wonderful to us. We met up with Erica, Brad and the girls for some time down on the river, and quickly determined that with the potential for weather issues to creep up on Sunday, we should take full advantage of the hot weather for our tubing adventures down the river. I kept Cooper back with me, as we weren't sure that a 15 month old should attempt tubing down a river, and we'd let John scout it out for us. Turns out that we decided to take him on Sunday anyway. Friday night we had a wonderful dinner with the Culbersons and then headed out for the Leavenworth fire station. Erica's sister and husband had arranged for us to tour the fire station. How amazing it was to not only tour the station and clamor all over the fire trucks, but we were all invited on two separate rides through the town. You can imagine how amazing it was for both the kids and us adults to get to ride in the engine through town. Cooper slept okay with only one crying episode to deal with, but John had it rough with Thomas, who cried repeatedly throughout the night, and when not crying he was snoring like mad. John was exhausted Saturday morning but pulled through. He was also suffering from a sore throat, and lost another four pounds on this trip. Today I got to join in on the tubing fun. It was a blast to sit back and cruise along the river. Thomas had his own tube, but spent the majority of the ride snuggled up with me enjoying the hot sun. It was so beautiful to float along the river, so relaxing and refreshing. The kids played so well together, and the giant "hot bucket" (the hot tub) was a huge hit with all the kids after playing in the freezing waters of the Wenatchee River. This evening we had Erica and Brad pick up food and bring it over, and after a bit, the kids went down and the adults were able to enjoy some adult time chatting and enjoying each other's company for the evening. Sunday morning was beautiful and hot again, so we headed out to a farm to ride the cow train and play in the hot sun. By mid afternoon, though, the clouds broke over the mountains and the rain came in. We wanted to stretch it out as long as we could, having the report from up in Bellingham that it had been pouring rain all day. It was with sad hearts and a bit of depression that we packed up the car for home. It truly poured and stormed for the entire ride home. We were so very thankful for the wonderful opportunity to spend time with great friends in a truly spectacular home.