Fun in the Sun and Snow

After missing Winterfest over in Chelan last year we were all ready to get out and enjoy some sun and snow this year.  We went over for the first weekend of the festival this year which was Manson's' weekend and while it wasn't quite as much fun as the Chelan weekend it was just perfect.  We all were ready for some fun in the snow and the sunshine was an added bonus.  One other highlight of the weekend was on Saturday night when we went to see paper lanterns being lit down in Manson - they sold over 500 lanterns and it was amazing to see them go up into the sky just like in Tangled.  We had some but didn't do them with the crowd we had decided it was too cold to get out so we did just two of the ones Grandma C bought for us after dinner and decided to save the others for another visit.  

Grandma and Grandpa C had their usual snow fort in the front yard, perfect for sledding, climbing, shoveling and any other snow related activity.  We arrived late on Friday night but the kids insisted on bundling up and going out to play in the snow.  The 12 degree temperatures quickly drove them back inside to get warm.  

Grandma and Ben taking a ride down the side of the snow fort.  

We ate breakfast at our favorite place, Blueberry Hill. Ben ate all his waffle and then most of  McKenzie's.  She discovered Daddy's eggs benedict and abandoned her waffle for that until she tried my blueberry / peach topped blintz.  So good, we were all stuffed when we left as usual.

McKenzie and Grandma C out in the yard getting ready to sled down the big hill.

Beautiful view from the hillside behind the house.  Truly one of my favorite places any time of year.

Nathan and Ben on a wild ride down the side of the snow fort.

Kayla and McKenzie following them down, laughing all the way.

Ben climbed all the way through the snow fort - he was the only one small enough to still fit through.

The whole crew, downtown Manson waiting for the parade.  There were dogs and lots of candy.  One of the parade participants gave McKenzie an entire gallon ziplock of candy and told her she won the lottery.

After the parade we headed down to check out more of the Winterfest activities and the kids had fun throwing ice and snow into the lake.  Such a beautiful day with the sun shining off the lake  

While we were in town we celebrated Ben and my birthdays so that Grandma and Grandpa didn't have to make the trip over the mountains at the end of the month.  Earlier in the week Ben and hold me he wanted a wallet like mine but for him.  He said "I want a wallet for my birthday and I want it to have all the cards that I would need."  It was so funny how matter of factually he told me that, like he was a big shot business man and I was his assistant.  Just make it happen, get all the cards I will need.  Lucky for him he has a very nice Grandma who did get him his own wallet and filled it with all the cards he would need including some gift cards for Disneyland.

We all had a great time and are looking forward to next years Winterfest in Chelan to enjoy fun in the sun and snow.