Bunkers, Bikes & New Friends
We started the week with the sort of low-key campground day that somehow still involved a bike ride, World War II bunkers, two playgrounds, an indoor pool, and several new friends. Relaxing looks a little different with a five and three-year-old.
After grabbing some bakery items from the store for breakfast, we loaded everyone onto the bikes and followed a loop of marked trails through some very pretty purple-flowered fields . Along the way we passed several old World War II bunkers that people used to hide in, so naturally we stopped to explore.
Coons chose the bike ride and bunkers as the best part of his day, because apparently old concrete structures in the middle of a family bike ride are exactly his love language.
The trail eventually brought us to a small town whose name we never figured out, but it had a playground, which is really the only important detail anyway. We let the kids play for a while and then biked back to camp for swimming at the indoor pool.
Nina’s review was concise: “That’s the fun of my day with swimming in a pool.”
After dinner, Nolan and Nina met some new friends at the indoor playground and then continued the party outside. Nolan was particularly excited about meeting his new friend, although swimming and biking also made his very full list of highlights. We ended the day hanging around camp, enjoying our last night before packing up Lightning McQueen again.
Gietelo
The next morning we took our time packing up. The kids got in one more round of playing with their new friends while Mom and Dad had a nice breakfast and a few quiet minutes together. Then we went grocery shopping and drove about 30 minutes to an Airbnb outside Gietelo for Dad’s work day.
A very nice Dutch couple met us at the house, which came stocked with Legos. This was excellent news for Nolan and Nina and also excellent news for the adults who needed to unload, do laundry, clean the van, shower, and generally put our lives back together. Mommy’s favorite part of the entire day was taking a nice hot shower, which tells you everything you need to know about camper van life.
The kids played with Legos, watched some TV, and had a video call with their Yaya. Nolan was still thinking about the friends from the campground—especially one older girl with orange shorts, a golden-and-silver dress, a rainbow, and a rainbow crown. “She was really pretty, oh my god,” he explained, with the full sincerity of a five-year-old who had clearly been struck by true love… again.
We ordered pizza and chicken nuggets for dinner while Coons worked and Kourtney handled the kids, laundry, bills, and bedtime prep. It was not our wildest day in Europe, but everyone was fed, the laundry was done, and Mom got a hot shower. Huge success!
Camping De Waay
The kids squeezed in a little more Lego time the next morning before we packed up and hit the road. About 30 minutes into the drive, we stopped at a grocery store and received a text from our Airbnb host: Nina’s polar bear—and another stuffy—had been left behind.
There are forgotten items, and then there are forgotten stuffed animals belonging to a three-year-old. We turned Lightning McQueen around, drove back to the Airbnb, rescued polar beary and its companion, and started the journey again. Crisis averted.
Our next stop was basically the Dutch equivalent of Best Buy, where Dad bought a new travel monitor and more adapters for work. Again, van life: one minute you are conducting an emergency polar bear retrieval, and the next you are shopping for a second screen that miraculously was crushed.
We eventually made it to Camping De Waay outside Doornenburg, where we would stay for three nights. Our spot had a playground right in the center, and the campground had a big lake, water slides, and a pool. The kids went straight to the lake, first in their Ninja Turtle suits and then in their birthday suits, which was Mommy’s favorite transformation of the day. After dinner they headed to the pool while Dad worked.
Nolan was excited about building his new car, Nina was delighted to sit in her chair, and we were all happy to stop driving in circles.
The following morning we set off on another family bike ride, stopping at Spar for bread before heading to Doornenburg Castle. We climbed around the castle, saw some very cool armor, and walked along the walls.
Nolan loved exploring “the castle of the very old things,” which is honestly a fairly accurate description of most castles.
From there we biked to Fort Pannerden. We did not go all the way to the top, but we explored the first floor, which had a collection of random games including a marble run, stacking a nail, and getting a loop onto a hook. The kids also got poffertjes at the restaurant, so they were perfectly happy with our chosen level of fort exploration.
Back at the campground, we moved on to the playground, the pool, and the lake. Mom and Dad both went down the lake water slides, which were fast and awesome.
Nolan got back on the trampoline after hurting himself, Nina happily bounced, and we had a long pool session before Dad cooked dinner and took some work calls while the kids played. Castles, forts, poffertjes, trampolines, and water slides: not bad for a Wednesday.
We kept the next day intentionally simple. We biked into town for bread and groceries, spent plenty of time in the pool, went down the lake slides, and made the rounds of the playgrounds. Nina made new friends on the seesaw and eventually fell asleep on Mommy, giving Kourtney a rare campground nap snuggle.
While Nina slept, Dad and Nolan went to the campground restaurant for dinner together and brought food back for her. Having dinner with Nolan was Coons’ favorite part of the day, and Nolan agreed that dinner with Daddy deserved a spot alongside swimming and the bike ride. Dad still had work calls, the kids went back to the lake, and we settled in for one final night before crossing into Germany.
Xanten
We woke up to rain on our final morning at Camping De Waay, packed everything into Lightning McQueen, and went to Bistro Bar Proof for brunch. The kids got poffertjes, Mom and Dad had a very nice brunch, and Coons managed to get a work document printed and squeeze in a haircut. Nothing says international family adventure like urgently locating both a printer and a barber. Nolan has declined any hair cuts this trip so stayed tuned for his boy-bun.
Across the street, we wandered through an open-air market and bought some delicious goat cheese, plus chocolate-covered nuts and raisins for the kids. We made one more grocery stop and then crossed into Germany, heading for Camping Kerstgenshof outside Xanten.
It rained a little more that evening, and the campground restaurant was full, so we waited for the weather to clear and made dinner at camp. Nina spent part of the meal pretending to be a vulture, circling Mommy and eating most of her dinner. It was both cute and strange, and –from Nina’s perspective– highly effective.
Then our neighbors returned, and the evening took a major turn. They were a group of actual and volunteer firefighters, along with kids ages 11 to 17 who were interested and training in becoming firefighters. The chief told us they simulate smoke by using dry ice to rescue individuals, let them use the rescue ladder to save someone from a two story building, and let them put out fires that the veterans make themselves (all safe they assured us). The volunteers showed Nolan and Nina around their cars and trucks and let them try on helmets, vests, radios, and other gear.
Later, they played a little volleyball and soccer with the kids.
Nolan was especially excited about “the girl firefighter,” while Mom and Dad both chose meeting the firefighters and watching the kids try everything on as the best part of the day. Nina selected going to bed, which feels a little unfair to the firefighters but is also extremely Nina. She loves a good snuggle with mom. We were very happy to learn that our new neighbors would be camping there for the next few nights.
The next day we biked into town and made a full day of hanging out together. We ate two restaurant meals, and Nolan and Nina were such good eaters and “restauranteurs” that Mommy chose watching them at the restaurants as her highlight.
Dad enjoyed the family bike ride, the meals, and a few good German beers.
The kids, naturally, had their own priorities. Nina loved going to the playground, while Nolan’s favorite parts were playing with his new friends and getting ice cream and candy. Between the firefighters next door, the playground, and dessert, Germany had made a very strong first impression.
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