Finally got the whole family on bikes!
Saturday, May 26
We were originally going to stay in Maastricht and let Pearce explore more, but with his more fluid school schedule this year and the fact WE HAVE A BENZ, we decided to take a day trip somewhere within 2 hours drive. We had heard good things about the Hoge Veluwe National Park so we decided to check it out.
As part of the park's admission price every visitor has access to a bike with a child's seat, while other specialty bikes are available at the visitors center. This included bikes that incorporate a wheel chair in the front which I thought was so cool.
We grabbed our bikes, loaded the kids up, both whom were very nervous about us dropping them, and headed off. While there are trails all over the park, there is one main bike path connecting the different museums, visitor center, and sites. While the kids had literally complained the whole ride up, (we have now entered the "STOP TOUCHING ME phase in the parent cycle because the booster seats allow for more movement), they were all smiles and excitement on the bikes.
The bikes were easy to pedal despite being single speed bikes. The braking on the other hand was the old school back-break system which wasn't intuitive and thus left to me tapping a dutch fellow on the back of his calf. He was not impressed. The Park was very different than I expected, much drier than anywhere else we have seen in the Netherlands. There were parts with large pine forests, other parts with endless heather and grasses, and one section even had sand dunes! At one point Lucille asked me if we were going to get attacked by a lion because it looked like the Savanna.
We biked right on by the Kroller-Muller museum which houses art by van Gogh, Picasso, Rodin and others. After biking 13km we made it to the visitor center and took our picnic lunch. I supplemented Hendryx's lunch with another lunch because apparently it is hard work to sit on the back of a bike.
We headed outside to play on one of the Dutch death playgrounds which the children did love.
Our return ride wasn't as smooth as we got going on the wrong path for quite some time and had a lot of kilometers to make up. Oops. More Vlaai (Limburg pie) for us then!
That night we walked over to the Trek festival that we loved so much last year. While, it wasn't the same vibe as last year being a crowded Saturday night, we did really enjoy our food.
We were originally going to stay in Maastricht and let Pearce explore more, but with his more fluid school schedule this year and the fact WE HAVE A BENZ, we decided to take a day trip somewhere within 2 hours drive. We had heard good things about the Hoge Veluwe National Park so we decided to check it out.
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| Park map which we should have studied in more detail |
As part of the park's admission price every visitor has access to a bike with a child's seat, while other specialty bikes are available at the visitors center. This included bikes that incorporate a wheel chair in the front which I thought was so cool.
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| Back racks |
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| Wheelie bike |
We grabbed our bikes, loaded the kids up, both whom were very nervous about us dropping them, and headed off. While there are trails all over the park, there is one main bike path connecting the different museums, visitor center, and sites. While the kids had literally complained the whole ride up, (we have now entered the "STOP TOUCHING ME phase in the parent cycle because the booster seats allow for more movement), they were all smiles and excitement on the bikes.
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| Lucille dealing with a cooler in her face |
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| Lots of big trees along the way |
The bikes were easy to pedal despite being single speed bikes. The braking on the other hand was the old school back-break system which wasn't intuitive and thus left to me tapping a dutch fellow on the back of his calf. He was not impressed. The Park was very different than I expected, much drier than anywhere else we have seen in the Netherlands. There were parts with large pine forests, other parts with endless heather and grasses, and one section even had sand dunes! At one point Lucille asked me if we were going to get attacked by a lion because it looked like the Savanna.
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| Looking out for Simba |
We biked right on by the Kroller-Muller museum which houses art by van Gogh, Picasso, Rodin and others. After biking 13km we made it to the visitor center and took our picnic lunch. I supplemented Hendryx's lunch with another lunch because apparently it is hard work to sit on the back of a bike.
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| chow time |
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| The classic dutch toastie |
We took some time in the underground museum which focuses on what lies beneath the forest floor including badgers, mice, rocks and magma. It was pretty cool, but the kids weren't interested.
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| Took this for you ma! |
We headed outside to play on one of the Dutch death playgrounds which the children did love.
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| Spoiler, She made it |
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| This is the first time I ever saw her swing herself |
Our return ride wasn't as smooth as we got going on the wrong path for quite some time and had a lot of kilometers to make up. Oops. More Vlaai (Limburg pie) for us then!
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| Not so bad getting lost when its pretty |
That night we walked over to the Trek festival that we loved so much last year. While, it wasn't the same vibe as last year being a crowded Saturday night, we did really enjoy our food.
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| Pulled Duck "burger" |
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| He loves some dutch fries, but mostly the ketchup |
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| Proost to another great day! |
Cool! (or should I say hot!) Thanks! Love you -- Emme
ReplyDeleteDo you have the car for the whole time now?
ReplyDelete