Last Fall, Steffen, Henry and I took a quick weekend break in Giethoorn, a picturesque village about 2.5 hours west of where we live. We brought the camper and found a super simple campground close to the centre of the village. We focused mostly on relaxing and reconnecting, trying to recover from the transition back to Germany after our amazing year of travel and the stress of the remodel. One day we rented a little boat and spent hours touring the canals, the next day we took a long walk, starting in the village and heading through the fields, and in between we had some delicious meals. It was fun to discover a new place, and Giethoorn’s charming atmosphere was just what we needed. The photos do not do it justice, but I tried!

For Easter this year we dusted off the camper and headed west again. It felt great to pack it up and make it home again, even if just for a few days. It is definitely getting a bit tight as the kids get bigger and the addition of Henry, but we make it work! For Easter weekend we went to the Holiday Park Veluwe near Voorthuizen. We mostly stayed at the campground, swimming, jumping on the trampolines, biking, playing games and relaxing. There was also a nice forest across the street where we would take Henry for walks. We were able to continue most of our Easter traditions, including dying eggs and getting a visit from the Easter Bunny.

We continued our Easter celebrations with a visit with my cousins at their house in the outskirts of Den Haag, a little over an hour from the campground. We had a wonderful time with them and are so thankful for their hospitality. We took a lovely walk along the water with Henry and one of their dogs. It was such a nice afternoon!

Our final weekend in The Netherlands during the 2022-2023 school year was for our daughter’s 11th birthday trip to Leeuwarden. My favorite family tradition is these birthday trips we take individually with the girls once they turn 10. This year we ended up in three different countries for the three trips, but that’s a story for another post. 🙂 Here I just want to share a bit about Leeuwarden. We stayed at this neat houseboat I found via airbnb which was within walking distance of town. We spent some time walking around and then (after some searching), found a boat rental place and headed out on the water. It was so fun! We got a beautiful view of the city and the nature surrounding it and even got to go under a very very low bridge. And the family running the boat rental was so kind. Highly recommend!

The next day Olivia decided she really wanted to ride a tandem bike so we set off to find one. Steffen found a bike rental place by a campground about halfway towards home (but still in The Netherlands). After a delicious breakfast at Bagels & Beans, we said goodbye to our houseboat and Leeuwarden and drove to Hoogersmilde. There we rented one adult bike and one tandem and set off into the Nationaal Park Drents-Friese Wold, one of the largest forested areas in The Netherlands. It was beautiful!

Over the past several years, we’ve explored many different towns in The Netherlands and look forward to more! I love anything to do with water (lakes, the ocean, rivers, canals), so it’s a great fit for me.