Friday, November 8, 2013

Our Babymoon at Sleeping Lady in Leavenworth

Have you ever heard of a "babymoon"?

Babymoons are becoming the latest craze in the expectant parenting world. It's a time where you and your co-parent whisk yourselves away for a period of reflection, preparation and dare I say .. a last hurrah .. before your little one arrives.

Our first babymoon, while I was pregnant with Penelope, was pretty over the top and extravagant. We took a 7 day cruise from Barcelona, Spain along the western coast of Italy. Yea. Back then we were "DINKYs" (for you non-demographics majors, that's "double income no kids yet") and had a bunch of airmiles to burn.

This time around our wants have changed. Traveling to Europe with an almost 2 year old isn't really our cup of tea, and leaving her in the States when we've yet to take a night away from her just wasn't going to happen. Instead we took a look at our options locally, because hey - Washington State is where people come for vacation too!

One of the top vacation destination spots in Washington is the quaint town of Leavenworth. It hosts a number of festivals throughout the year and is best known for its Bavarian flair with some seriously legit eateries. We headed to Sleeping Lady Mountain Resort , which is right outside of town on Icicle Road.

I immediately knew this was the retreat I was looking for. I wanted a weekend getaway with the hubs to relax, reconnect and simply pretend like we were those globetrotting DINKYs again. I got exactly what I was looking for!











 

Before dinner we took a walk around their 70 acre resort; not the whole thing of course! Throughout the trails that meander the property you can find sculptures, walk through some of the lodges (some of which are original from the barracks and buildings when the area was "Camp Icicle" in the 1930's and 1940's), read in their library or have a drink at The Grotto. 

What we were really excited about was dinner.


Breakfast and dinner are served at the Kingfisher Restaurant and Magpie Wine Bar. Food is served buffet style - which I wasn't really quite sure what to expect, but ... you guys. You guys. Listen to me. The. Most. Delicious. Food. Ever. #preggyhappy. This isn't your typical buffet bar. Each and every bite of food, from the leaves in your salad to the halibut or beef loin for your entree is hand picked with care. The greens come from their own 2 acre organic garden. Everything else is locally sourced and also mostly organic. Dining out has become a luxury to me, not only as a parent of a toddler but also as a smart-with-our-money single income family. So getting the opportunity to eat this truly handcrafted meal got high marks from me!


Our sweet server even brought us a special dessert plate when she heard we were celebrating our 2nd babymoon - she thought it was really cute! :)


But I'm not going to lie to you guys - it was a buffet, and yes - I went back for more dessert.During my first pregnancy, I earned the nickname "Two Dessert Bianca." This time around I graduated to "Three Dessert Bianca."  Does that mean for the 3rd baby I get to have four desserts??! Can I opt for twins? The best part was simply getting to sit for two hours with my best friend and talk about whatever. 


The next morning, when we woke up at our leisure because it was Daylight Savings Time and our toddler was someone else's problem (thanks Grandma and Grandpa!), we sauntered back to KingFisher for breakfast. Again, every morsel was delicious and I wished that I could just sit there all day.

But I couldn't sit there all day, nor would I want to, because I had an appointment at the Aspen Leaf Spa for an Earth Mother Pregnancy Massage. Using a special blend of essential oils that smelled like orange blossom and lavender, my therapist relaxed me into a pile of bliss. Even Ruby, who had spent the last 12 hours bouncing around in happiness from the delicious food at KingFisher, quieted down and relaxed with mama.


We ended up with a few extra hours and walked around downtown Leavenworth. We treated ourselves to a cheese plate and beer from Icicle Brewing Company and 1 1/2 pounds of fudge..

But the best part.. coming home to our sweet miss. We picked up a stuffed kangaroo from the famous Australian store, as her favorite book lately has been Pouch! by David Ezra Stein. She was named "Hop Hop" as soon as we walked in the door.



Did you take a babymoon? 

Check out 
Sleeping Lady Mountain Resort in Leavenworth, WA // 
keep in touch on Facebook 

Disclosure: Thank you, Sleeping Lady, for hosting my babymoon through accommodation, meals and
 massage. All opinions are my own, though I wouldn't recommend this amazing resort if I didn't wholeheartedly believe you would love it too!

19 comments:

  1. I wish I had when my children were younger...I was too busy trying to be supermom, and kept brushing off people when they said to take care of myself. Good on you for doing that!!!

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  2. I didn't have the option to take a baby moon with any of my pregnancies because my husband couldn't get off work, we have never been anywhere with out at least 1 of our children with us!

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  3. Oh I wish I had the sense to take a Baby Moon. No one informed me that it might be the last chance I had to go anywhere without kids attached haha. Beautiful pictures!

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  4. Never did the Baby Moon thing, I hadn't really ever heard of it til this past year....

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  5. I could totally use a lavender massage right about now! The I've heard of people doing a babymoon before and I think it's great that you went on a second one and included your firstborn. I would do the same thing :)

    I'm 37 weeks...think it's too late for me to take one?? LOL!

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  6. Oh man, that looks divine. I'm a teensy bit jealous. We never did a babymoon, but we've celebrated our anniversary when I've been pregnant by staying a couple nights at a nearby hotel (does that count??). I love the little kangaroo you got your daughter - so sweet :)

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    1. That's totally a babymoon! We have stayed home for our anniversary for the last 2 years (4th of July) so our babymoon in 2011 and this year have sort of been our getaways as a couple too.

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  7. I would love to take a babymoon. What a wonderful trip, thanks for sharing :)

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  8. I would've loved to take a babymoon, but my baby came early, so that might've thrown a wrench in our travel plans.

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    1. Yes it would have! We have taken both of our babymoons when I'm in my second trimester, so that I can take full advantage of delicious food and still have energy to sight see.

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  9. Oh, how gorgeously rustic! When I saw Leavenworth, I thought Kansas... and couldn't think of a place I'd less like to go for a romantic getaway. Washington State, however, is much more to my liking. :-)

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    1. haha I'm sure there area some pretty places in Kansas too ;) But no, we weren't going to fly to the midwest for a babymoon! If you do make it down to the Seattle area for any extended period of time, Leavenworth is definitely a place to visit. In the 1960's they remodeled the entire town to look like a Bavarian village and they host a ton of festivals throughout the year.

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  10. We did a babymoon to ocean shores, the best choice we ever made.

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    1. Oooh, Ocean Shores - that's a great idea! I hope you visited during the summer!

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  11. Looks like a lovely time B! Leavenworth is pretty special...

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    1. Thanks Jenna! We did have a great time. There wasn't a whole lot of time for us to walk around downtown, but we of course hit the chocolate shop and laughed at how ridiculously expensive (albeit beautiful) some of the ornaments and decorations were at the Christmas store!

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  12. We got married at Sleeping Lady. I have such amazing memories from there. It was in mid January right after a huge snow storm. It was 3 degrees out and the most beautiful place on earth with what looked like glitter in the air from the extreme freeze.

    We took a baby moon out on Camano Island before our first was born. Sadly I forgot my antacid and laid awake all night thanks to the Mexican food and dancing baby boy doing leg stretches into my stomach. It had the potential to be good. ;)

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    1. Julie, that is so wonderful! My husband and I were marveling over the chapel while we were there. We dreamed about our 10 (ok, maybe 20) year anniversary being held there.

      And I think it's time for a babymoon re-do for you!

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