This week had medieval battles, giant chess, big cats, Belgian waffles, brave trips down water slides, and an extremely important 33-foot extension cord for Lightning McQueen. In other words, a little something for everyone.
La Roche-en-Ardenne
We woke up at the campground in La Roche-en-Ardenne with one very sleepy Nina and eventually rallied everyone for an adventure into town. We loaded both kids into the wagon and made our first thrilling stop of the day for a 33-foot—or 10-meter, because Europe—extension cord so we could plug in Lightning McQueen. Van life is nothing if not glamorous.
The town itself was beautiful, with cobblestone streets, small buildings, and colorful balloons hanging overhead. On our way to the château, we passed a tank from the World War II Museum and then began the climb up to the castle. We left the wagon behind and went in on foot, which always sounds like a reasonable decision until someone’s three-year-old legs stop working.
There was an archery range near the entrance, so Coons tried his hand at it and hit the target every time. Daddy’s still got it! We explored the castle while workers dressed in medieval garb practiced battles with swords, pikes, and a musket.
Nina later summed up her highlight very clearly: “My big part of my day was going into the castle.” Fair enough. It is hard for a normal Tuesday to compete with an actual castle.
After climbing around, we headed back down for pizza and scampi pasta in red sauce, followed by ice cream, of course. The kids also did a little shopping. After carefully assessing the available wares, they decided to pool their money, buy some candy, and save the rest for another day. This may have been their most financially responsible decision to date, despite the candy.
Back at the campground, we had a great pool session and Nina started jumping into the water for the first time. We celebrated with poolside drinks until she fell asleep in the wagon. Then we made dinner, met some neighbors, and called it a night.
We spent the following day right where we were. Dad had a big headache and was not feeling well, so Mom took the kids to the playground, where they played independently, shared all of their sand toys with friends, and made Mommy very proud per usual. We also played cards and soccer, and Dad managed a game of Uno with Nolan. The weather was warm but a little rainy, which made hanging around Lightning McQueen feel like the right move.
That evening we ate at the campground restaurant. Dad had fish, Mom had a great meat-and-cheese board, Nolan had pasta, and Nina had cheese croquettes.
That’s kind of like grilled cheese, right? Nolan declared the restaurant the best part of his day, while Nina chose eating dinner. Once again, Nina would like everyone to know that the food here is divine.
After dinner the kids played in the sandbox, we went down to the river to skip rocks. Dad and Nolan waded across to the other side and back, which ended up being Coons’ favorite part of the day. It was a very nice ending to a slow campground day—especially considering that the morning began with Dad barely leaving the van.
Park Attractive Reine Fabiola & Nemur
On Monday we packed up camp but squeezed in one more stop before leaving La Roche-en-Ardenne: Park Attractive Reine Fabiola, up on the hill near the castle. We ate lunch, played on the swings, and Dad and Nolan faced off over a giant chessboard.
Dad chose giant chess as his favorite part of the day, although there is no official record of who won. We will assume the result was controversial.
From there we drove to our Airbnb just outside Nemur, Belgium. Dad set up his office, the kids discovered the television, and Mom tackled the laundry. We ordered food, got everyone bathed, and spent the evening resetting for another week on the road.
Mom’s favorite part was taking a long, hot shower, which is the kind of luxury you fully appreciate after several days at a campground with only cold water. Nolan said his favorite part was happening right then as he played with Play-Doh, and Nina voted for the toys. The Airbnb was not a castle or a pool, but it had hot water, television, Play-Doh, and laundry facilities. Five stars from the whole family.
Pairi Daiza & Jabbeke
The next morning we packed up the Airbnb and drove about an hour and a half to Pairi Daiza, one of the largest zoos in Europe.
It was spectacular, with different sections built around different parts of the world. We saw pandas, snow leopards, lions, tigers, polar bears, and walruses.
There were a lot of big cats, which made Dad very happy, while Mom especially loved the tigers, polar bear, and walruses. Her official review was “spectacular, exquisite,” so the zoo did pretty well.
The kids also did pretty well, especially considering that we did not have the stroller or wagon. They walked a lot. We carried them a lot. Everyone got through it. This is basically the family-travel version of an endurance event, except the course has pandas and the participants regularly ask for snacks.
At the end, Nolan and Nina spent time in the gift shop choosing new stuffies with their own money. Nolan’s favorite part of the entire zoo day was buying his stuffy and getting candy, which feels about right after the adults spent hours admiring the carefully designed exhibits and rare animals.
Then we hopped back into Lightning McQueen and drove toward the coast. We set up at Klein Strand in Jabbeke, just outside Bruges, where we planned to spend a few days slowing down at the campground. Nina wasted no time identifying the day’s true highlight: swimming at the campground. Pandas, snow leopards, polar bears, walruses…and the pool still won. Tough crowd.
Bruges
We started our Bruges day with breakfast, then walked to the bus stop and caught the number 30 into town. Our first stop was a canal boat tour, which lasted about 30 minutes and took us past many of the historical buildings.
Mom loved seeing the city from the water, and the boat ride was one of Dad’s favorite parts too.
Afterward we found an outdoor table and ordered pizza and pasta. The kids got ice cream for dessert while Mommy did a little window shopping. This was only the first dessert stop of the day, because we were in Belgium and apparently had a responsibility to conduct thorough research.
Next came the Fry Museum, where we learned about the history of french fries, played interactive games, and shot potatoes at giant bugs. The giant green bug was a particular favorite.
We also watched a movie and, naturally, ate fries before leaving. It would have been irresponsible not to. Did you know that people from Belgium consume the most amount of french fries in a year? 16kg!
Then we went to a dessert shop for more ice cream and a real Belgian waffle. Nolan’s recap enthusiastically included the Fry Museum, ice cream, and Belgian waffles, so our educational goals and his dessert goals were both successfully met.
We took an Uber back to the campground so Dad could get on a call. Nolan and Nina spent plenty of time in the pool and playground, made new friends, and then played with our neighbors Daisy and Lily. They stayed up much later than bedtime, but after a full day of boats, fries, waffles, swimming, and friends, there was not much chance of a calm or punctual bedtime anyway. Nina chose the playground as her favorite part of the day, because Nina remains loyal to her brand.
Jabbeke to Zeeland
Before leaving Klein Strand, we packed up and crossed the street to spend the morning at the lake. The beach was great, and there were a couple of big water slides. Nolan was incredibly brave, going down by himself as well as with Mom and Dad. Nina was busy showing off her own new water skills, swimming independently and going under the water.
Watching both kids grow more confident in the water was the highlight for Mom and Dad. After a couple of hours, we packed up, ate lunch, filled up Lightning McQueen, and hit the road. Two hours later we crossed into the Netherlands for the first time and arrived in Zeeland. Our new campground, De Molenhoek, was in the little town of Kamperland, and our site was right next to the playground and pools. We could not have designed a more dangerous location for bedtime negotiations.
We set up camp around 4:00, and the kids immediately went swimming, played on the playground, and made more friends. We cooked dinner, after which they went straight back into the pool. It was a very good first evening in the Netherlands and an excellent start to our three-night stay.
De Molenhoek
After a week of castles, zoos, cities, borders, and long walking days, we were ready to stay put. Saturday was a full campground day with repeated trips to the playground, jumping pads, and swimming pools.
We got lunch and soft-serve ice cream at the restaurant, then cooked dinner back at camp.
The kids spent the day with their new friends, playing soccer and swimming. Nolan especially loved swimming with his “big friends” (more tall tween boys) and throwing each other into the water. Nina’s favorite part was—you already know this—the playground.
Dad caught up on some work and enjoyed watching Nolan and Nina play soccer with their friends. Mom’s favorite part was simply having a low-key day at the campsite with the family. Nobody visited a museum, climbed a castle, or walked through an enormous zoo. Lightning McQueen did not even have to cross a border. Sometimes the best travel days are the ones when the kids make friends, everyone gets an ice cream, and we barely go anywhere at all.
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