Windsor

We started the week with a much-needed relaxing day at our Windsor Airbnb. Mom completed the second of five planned loads of laundry, folded everything, put it away, and even managed to get some real estate work done. Five loads may sound excessive, but after traveling around Europe in Lightning McQueen with two small children, access to a washing machine that both washes and dries feels less like an appliance and more like a luxury resort amenity.

Nolan and Nina played well together all day, watched some TV, ate dinner, and took baths. Mom’s favorite part was simply watching them play nicely, which is one of those things that sounds very ordinary until you have a five-year-old and a three-year-old. Then it becomes a beautiful, sometimes rare event that you absolutely do not interrupt.

Nolan’s favorite things were watching TV and playing, while Nina chose sleeping with Mommy. That became especially relevant when bedtime turned into an absolute disaster and we eventually decided to make the best of it with a slumber party in Mom’s room. Sometimes you follow the bedtime routine, stay calm, and maintain boundaries. Other times everyone piles into one room and calls the collapse of the entire system a party!

The next morning was another slow one before mom and the kiddos walked into town to visit a local bookstore. We spent time looking through and reading books, then each kid picked out a children’s book. Nolan also chose a jewelry-making kit, while Nina selected a small piglet stuffy covered in pink and black spots. Nina would later summarize one of her favorite moments of the week as “buying a piggy,” which really captures the importance of this purchase.

We walked back to the Airbnb for lunch, then spent the afternoon playing, reading the new books, and making jewelry. Nolan got right to work producing pieces for the people in his life, and continued the following morning while Nina played independently. After dinner we had our weekly call with Yaya, then started winding down for bed. Thankfully, bedtime went much more smoothly than the night before. Apparently the slumber party reset worked, although we are not prepared to recommend it as a parenting strategy just yet.

After bagels and cereal the next morning, Nina announced that she was ready to go to the indoor play place. Mom got everyone organized while Nolan finished one more jewelry masterpiece, and then they walked the eight minutes to Mini Mundo. They initially had the whole place to themselves, which is basically the indoor-play-place jackpot.

The first room was an imaginative play village with a vet’s office, fire station, grocery store, and other little shops. Given all those options, Nolan and Nina decided to play van life. They took almost everything from the village and crammed it into the play van, although Mom noted that it was at least somewhat organized. It was an impressively accurate reenactment of our real lives in Lightning McQueen: take everything you own, fit it into a vehicle, and insist that you know where it all belongs. Sometimes they mixed things up by riding motorcycles and staying in an apartment, so even their pretend van life included an Airbnb break.

The second room had slides and nets and looked like a much larger version of an old-school McDonald’s play place. The kids were having so much fun that Mom ordered dinner there—pizza, chicken nuggets, and fries for the win! Nolan chose Mini Mundo as the best part of his day, and it was hard to argue with that review.

On the walk home, Mom stopped at the Japanese restaurant down the street to pick up takeout. While they waited for a delicious noodle dish, Nolan and Nina ate edamame and played with chopsticks. The noodles were Mom’s favorite part of the day, making Mini Mundo and Japanese takeout a very successful Windsor combination. Back at the Airbnb, everyone played and read until bedtime.

The next day, Coons returned from his business trip around noon. The kids were extremely excited to have Daddy back, which naturally meant lots of wrestling. We ate lunch at the Airbnb and spent the afternoon hanging out, playing, and doing some falls before ordering Thai food for dinner.

Mom’s favorite part was having the whole family together again, and Dad’s was coming home and seeing everyone. Nolan declared, “The best part of my day was having Daddy come home,” because our boy is a lover. Nina chose reading a book with Mommy. After a few quiet days in Windsor, everyone was back together and ready to move again.

Stonehenge

Leaving the Windsor Airbnb required plenty of packing, but eventually we loaded everyone and everything back into Lightning McQueen and hit the road. Our first destination was our favorite grocery store, Tesco, where we stocked up before heading toward Stonehenge to check out the rocks.

We ate lunch in the parking lot and then took the bus over to the site. We walked around Stonehenge before returning to the van, and both Mom and Dad chose the visit as the best part of the day. It is nice when thousands of years of history can hold its own against Tesco.

Nolan, however, selected reading The Jungle Book as his favorite part. Stonehenge has survived for several thousand years, so we assume it can handle losing this particular contest to a children’s book. Nina’s favorite was “saying sorry to Daddy,” which leaves us with very little information about the original offense but does suggest some sort of resolution was reached. The girl gives good hugs, so we’re sure Dad’s happy.

With the ancient rocks checked off, we climbed back into Lightning McQueen and drove another hour and a half to Lyme Regis. Our next Airbnb would be home for four nights, with Yaya and Auntie Maddi scheduled to arrive the following day.

Lyme Regis

Our first full day at the River House Airbnb was mostly about waiting for Yaya and Maddi to arrive around noon. Their arrival was the unanimous family highlight: Dad loved having them there and going out to dinner with the family, Mom loved welcoming them to the River House, and Nolan’s favorite part was having Yaya come.

Nina’s assessment of the day went in a different direction. Her favorite part was “getting those poopers out.” Travel broadens the mind, brings families together, and occasionally provides constipation. Sometimes getting one out is worth a highlight.

The next day we headed to the beach, where everyone walked along the shore hunting for fossils. Nolan loved finding his fossils and going into the ocean to swim, while Mom’s favorite part was watching the kids play in the water. She also loved getting coffee with Yaya and Maddi, because a family beach day is even better with a latte.

Coons enjoyed the fossil hunt and watching everyone play in the water, but he also enjoyed the important job of defending the family from seagulls. We watched the seagulls terrorize an octogenarian’s fish and chips plate at lunch so Dad had to serve and protect. He was rewarded with beer.

Back at the center of the kids’ day was, unsurprisingly, tackling Dad. Nolan chose wrestling with Daddy as another favorite, while Nina loved tackling him and playing the horse game. Between wrestling, falls, horse rides, and seagull protection, Coons’ return from his business trip had clearly restored the family’s full range of physical activities.

After a week that began with laundry and a disastrous bedtime, we ended it together in Lyme Regis with Yaya and Auntie Maddi, surf and sun, kids in the ocean, and Daddy standing guard against airborne snack thieves. Not a bad return to family life.

This week involved an impressive number of trains, gondolas, bikes, playgrounds, and desserts. There was also a rare kid-free hike for Mom and Dad, although Nolan and Nina barely noticed our absence because they were busy living their best lives with Alpine Nanny.

Mürren & Allmendhubel

We started the week with another great day in the mountains and a slightly later departure from Camping Jungfrau. We walked into town, stopped at the bakery, and then began the day’s transportation marathon: cable car to Grütschalp, mountain train to Mürren, and eventually the funicular up to Allmendhubel. Getting anywhere around here requires at least three separate vehicles, but the views are incredible and the kids consider every transfer part of the attraction.

In Mürren, the kids played at a local playground while Mom did some window shopping. Then we headed up to the sunflower playground at Allmendhubel, where Coons ran into the same work friend and her family again. Nolan and Nina played for nearly three hours, which is basically an all-inclusive resort when there is a restaurant right beside the playground. Mom and Dad ordered drinks and a meat-and-cheese platter while the kids ran around independently and made new friends. Everyone was living well.

Nolan connected with an eight-year-old boy from England, and the two of them played so well together that the age difference didn’t seem to matter. Nina was equally happy at the playground, choosing it as the best part of her day. Mom’s favorite part was pretty much everything: all the transportation, the playground, the kids playing independently, a good dinner, and—perhaps most importantly—a hot shower by herself.

After finally pulling everyone away, we hiked downhill for about an hour. Nolan chose hiking with the family as his favorite part of the day, while Dad loved watching the kids play and then hiking down toward Mürren. We made our way through town, caught the train and cable car, and walked back to camp. Coons cooked dinner and took the kids to yet another playground while Mom showered and cleaned up. Then we packed early because checkout was at 10 a.m. and everything gets wet overnight. Nothing says relaxing mountain holiday like strategically packing your entire house before the dew arrives.

Blausee & Naters

The next morning we packed up Camping Jungfrau, which was genuinely sad, and drove Lightning McQueen to Blausee. We ate lunch, hiked to the lake, took a glass-bottom boat ride, and—naturally—found a playground. The kids also discovered a very cool slide that required hiking up before sliding down, giving them the perfect combination of physical exertion and repeated opportunities to launch themselves toward the ground.

The lake and boat ride were big hits. Nina loved seeing the fish and hiking, while Nolan put the boat ride on his list of favorite things. Mom loved watching both kids tackle the big slide. It was a beautiful stop and a good way to fill the gap between our 10 a.m. campground checkout and 2 p.m. Airbnb check-in.

Then came the transportation event of the day: Coons drove Lightning McQueen onto a train. The entire van. On a train. Through a mountain. Dad and Nolan both picked this as one of the best parts of the day, and honestly, it is hard to compete with putting your camper van on railway tracks and letting someone else drive it through the Alps.

We continued to our Airbnb in Naters, where the adults immediately began doing Airbnb things. Dad worked, Mom worked and did laundry, and the kids watched television and called Yaya. We ordered takeout and went to bed. Not every night can involve a mountain playground and a meat-and-cheese board; sometimes clean clothes and Wi-Fi are the adventure.

Camping Attermenzen

Our 11 a.m. checkout in Naters gave us a gloriously lazy morning. What a difference an hour makes. After packing, we went grocery shopping and drove about 40 minutes to Camping Attermenzen, our base for visiting Zermatt. There were no designated sites, so we picked a spot and set up Lightning McQueen wherever it seemed to make sense. This is both freeing and slightly stressful when your house has wheels and you have to decide where the front yard goes.

The kids headed to the playground while Mom and Dad got some work done, and then Mom taught school for the day. After dinner, Coons went back to work while Nolan and Nina played with our neighbor, a two-and-a-half-year-old from the Czech Republic. The evenings were getting darker and colder, so eventually everyone retreated into the van.

We also packed everything that night for an early start the next morning. And by “early,” we mean 8 a.m., which currently feels like the crack of dawn for our family. Mom and Dad from three or four years ago would be screaming at us right now…

Zermatt & Gornergrat

We were up at the very early hour of 8 a.m. and on the bikes by 8:30. Since everything had been packed the night before, we rode to the station, took the train into Zermatt, and met Berney, our Alpine nanny for the day. She arrived with a very cool double stroller, and Nolan and Nina immediately climbed aboard with absolutely no concern about being left with a stranger in the Swiss Alps. It’s nice to see how deeply attached they are to us.

The kids happily rolled away with Berney while we went to a bakery for breakfast. We ordered a quiche and what the woman described as chicken sausage. It was a hot dog in pastry. Still good, just a slightly aggressive rebranding.

From there, Mom and Dad boarded the Gornergrat Railway and rode to the summit. The views of the Matterhorn and glaciers were incredible, and the weather was perfect. We spent some time walking around at the top and then began hiking down, taking our time and exploring side trails because, for once, no one was asking to be carried, announcing an urgent potty need, or wondering when we would reach a playground.

At Rotenboden, we stopped for a snack and waited for the wind to clear the water. We continued downhill, saw what we think was a marmot, and watched the crowds slowly disappear. The landscape kept changing as flowers and trees began appearing, and eventually we reached Alphitta for lunch.

Lunch was wheat beer, a delicious white wine, a meat-and-cheese board, and pork belly. The owner, Dave from Ireland, was a great host, and the whole thing was exactly as wonderful as it sounds. Both Mom and Dad chose the hike, Matterhorn views, glaciers, food, and time together as their favorite part of the day.

Meanwhile, Nolan and Nina were having an even more indulgent day with Berney. Thankfully for mom, Berney was a fantastic communicator, and sent multiple pictures of the kids smiling, laughing, and singing. They visited Wolli Wonderland adventure park and a playground in town, went into stores, and consumed a steady supply of treats, ice cream, hot chocolate, and other desserts. Nolan’s recap involved meeting Berney, desserts (before lunch), a “bug crawler,” umbrellas, sheep, and the list goes on and on…

We took the train back into Zermatt, did a little window shopping, and found the kids drinking hot chocolate with Berney at pick-up. They had been perfectly happy all day and were sad to see her go. We returned to camp, cooked dinner, and did some school while Coons worked. Nina still chose playing on the playground in the dark as her favorite part of the day. Matterhorns and Alpine adventure parks are nice, but apparently darkness really elevates a playground.

Furi

The next morning we slept a little later, ate breakfast, and biked to the train station. We juuust missed the train, caught the next one into Zermatt, bought more clementines, and then juuust missed the bus. Our timing was impeccable.

Eventually we made it to the Furi gondola and headed up for a short hike to the Hängebrücke Furi suspension bridge. The kids crossed it without any fear, which was Mom’s favorite part of the day. Nolan loved the hike and watching Nina be awesome. We also found a wooded playground, which Nina selected as her highlight because Nina remains extremely consistent in her travel priorities.

We had planned a more ambitious day, but it simply wasn’t in the cards. Instead, we hiked back to the gondola and stopped for lunch at Restaurant Furi, where we finally got our fondue. Coons picked fondue as the best part of his day, no additional explanation needed. The kids liked it too, although they also had spaghetti in case melted cheese and bread somehow failed them.

Then it was gondola, bus, train, and bikes back to Camping Attermenzen. We cooked dinner, the kids played, Dad worked, and everyone packed up for bed. It was our final night near Zermatt and our last full day in Switzerland, which none of us were especially ready to leave.

Switzerland to Camping Les Bords de Loue

We packed up Lightning McQueen, ate breakfast, and reluctantly started driving out of Switzerland. Our first stop was Domaine des Iles park in Sion, where every parking lot appeared to have a height barrier. This is one of the less glamorous parts of camper van life: finding a lovely family stop and then discovering your vehicle is simply too tall to participate.

Coons dropped Mom and the kids off at the park and went to get groceries and gas. They played on the playground and ate lunch before we reunited for the three-hour drive into France. Parts of the drive around Lake Geneva were beautiful, and the French side included some windy roads, but otherwise it was an uneventful travel day—which is always the preferred kind when Lightning McQueen is carrying our entire family and most of our belongings.

We stopped for the night at Camping Les Bords de Loue, ate dinner, did school, and then Dad worked while everyone else handled dishes and bedtime packing. We were officially back in France and beginning the long push toward Calais.

Châlons-en-Champagne

We had another lazy start while Coons spent an hour sorting out our UK visas. Then we drove about three hours, with one stop for gas and snacks, and arrived at Camping de Châlons en Champagne for a single night. We unpacked, Mom taught school, and then we loaded everyone onto the bikes and rode into Châlons-en-Champagne for dinner.

Our first restaurant was not serving food yet, even though it was 7 p.m., so we kept looking and ended up at Tresor du Liban, a Lebanese restaurant. It was fantastic. We ordered appetizers and mains, and Nolan and Nina tried all kinds of new foods and ate incredibly well. Both kids chose dinner as the best part of their day, with Nolan specifically highlighting that he tried new foods. Mom’s favorite part was watching them crush the meal, and Dad’s was simply going out for an awesome dinner with the family.

The waiter was incredibly kind and even bought lollipops for Nolan and Nina. With everyone full and sugared up, we biked back to camp, showered, and went to bed. The next day we would continue to Calais and get ready to cross into the UK, but for one night, a surprise Lebanese feast in Châlons-en-Champagne was a very good way to finish the week.