Wow, it’s the 31st of December already… I feel like I’ve skipped a few months this year! I always get a slight feeling of melancholy towards the end of the year that just seems to have flashed by. The perfect moment to look back on our holidays with kids highlights this year.
Not going skiing in Winterberg
Our year started off great with a holiday in the German snow; Winterberg! It seemed the perfect idea at first: We would go skiing and Grandma and Grandpa would come along to look after the kids (and for the fun of course). But things did not go as planned… Both Lotte and Floris were sick all week and there was hardly any snow to go skiing. Note to self 1: Next time go to a snow-certain destination. Note to self 2: Should we really go on winter sports when the kids are too young to take lessons?
Camper roadtrip Central America
Okay, on to the next holiday: The USA! After a lot of doubt we decided to go on another camper trip to the USA. Our road trip along the West Coast in 2013 had been very much to our liking, but what would we go see this time? Yellowstone had been high on my bucket list for quite some time, but to go all the way to the USA just to see Yellowstone, wouldn’t that be a bit crazy? I would think so, but you know what, let’s get a bit crazy. As you know we did choose the USA again and had the most incredible camper road trip from Denver to Las Vegas with the absolute highlight: 4 days of Yellowstone NP. And oooooooooooh my, was that amazing!
Weekend Efteling Bosrijk
In the fall we really wanted to get away with the kids one more time. Seeing as we both didn’t have enough days leave from work left or a money tree in the backyard to plan another holiday with the kids this year, we chose to stay in Efteling Bosrijk with the family for a weekend. That was a lot of fun too! I’m a huge Efteling fan (not surprising as proud Brabander; the province where the Efteling is located) and it was lovely to see the kids enjoy themselves.
Closing the year in Disneyland Paris
In ‘the good old days’ New Years Eve was THE party of the year; as early as October I would go looking for the best party or bar. As soon as the tickets were fixed THE outfit would be a hot topic in conversations with my friends. The past few years have toned down a little… With young kids New Years Eve is a bit of a challenge. If you even stay up until 12 o’clock you know for sure you’re in for a short night, as the kids won’t take into account that you were in bed late. And then there’s always the question, where do we celebrate and what to do with the kids? Do we take them with us, will they sleep there, will they go back to sleep when we put them in their own beds back home… To sum it up: New Years Eve is a lot less wild and stress free than it used to be. We wanted to go away this year, but not too far away because we only have 4 days off. Thinking, thinking, thinking… And then Floris suddenly asked: “Mum, where does Mickey Mouse live?!” Aha! That was our New Years plan: Disneyland Paris! I can tell you all about our adventures in this beautiful park next week.
Looking back we’ve had a few wonderful holidays with kids in 2016. In 2017 we will be travelling again. We’ll start off in Cape Verde in February. After the ‘no snow and sick kids fiasco’ we’ve chosen sun and vitamin D in the winter. Loooooooooovely, I can’t wait!! What were your highlights in 2016 and what are your travel dreams in 2017?
I hope you end this year well and make next year even better!
Safe travels! X Aafje
