2016 has been one heck of an adventure. While I had been informally blogging for a few years, I decided to step it up a notch and take it much more seriously.
Since then, we have been able to grow an amazing community here, as well on my various social media accounts. The kids have grown so much in the last year as well; the baby girl is walking and talking, munchkin has started Reception (Junior Kindergarten for my non-European readers) and they have both developed an opinion on our travel destinations.
Take a look at our year in review; where we have been and where we want to go.
January
We rang in the New Year with a last-minute trip to Frankfurt. We found an incredible hotel across the street from the train station, took a little walk around the city and had a quick nap before heading out for the fireworks.
The second picture was taken while we were walking and he was legit confused. Poor guy. The kids had a great time at the fireworks… well, the baby slept through it all, munchkin had a great time.
Later in the month, we went to Liege for the Ice Sculptures. It was Star Wars themed this year. Awesome!
February
This was crazy. We won a discounted vacation chalet in Switzerland through my hubby’s work. We got to spend 7 amazing days in a fabulous ski resort, along with a few days before and after for the travel time.
Find here our post about Touring Lake Geneva with kids.
March
We visited Rotterdam in the Netherlands for Easter. It was a last-minute trip and I expected to have an Easter market but I was mistaken. Oh well. We had a great time on the Pancake boat and looking around the area.
April
April was a big month for us during 2016. My mother visited for a week, baby girl had her first birthday as well as learning to walk, and hubby left for a 3-month work trip. Good thing the munchkin was in school full time; our routine was more important than ever at this point.
While my mother was here, we visited the Keukenhof and explored Amsterdam for a few days.
May
May was a very quiet time for a travel break. We had made plans with a friend to tour Normandy during the munchkin’s half-term break but she wasn’t able to make it at the last minute, then most of Europe flooded during a freak storm that same week so it was for the best. We had a lot of birthday parties that week as well.
June
Another quiet month before the crazy in the summer/fall. A few day trips exploring the local area led us to discover Gangelt Wildpark. It’s a cute little area about 1.5 hours from home and the kids were able to walk freely in the woods, watching animals in their semi-free habitat.
July
Having annual passes to the zoo really comes in handy when a long weekend sneaks up on you without any plans. We took the day to explore the Duisburg Zoo. It was a great day filled with shows, parks and hot dogs. The kids slept well that night, for sure.
July was also the first #sponsored activity that I had the pleasure of reviewing. The Neanderthal Museum in the town next door kindly invited my family to visit them for the day.
August
And this is when the crazy started. My in-laws came over for 2 weeks, supposedly after my hubby gets home from his work trip and has time to rest. Nope. His trip was extended and the poor guy landed a few days after his parents; it was a busy little house and no time to recoup before our planned vacation began. He made the best of it, though, and we all had a great time in Brussels.
We also went to St Tropez for the second time since arriving in Europe. We had such a great time last year that we wanted to do it again. It was less successful, only because the kids were more vocal about their wants, but it was still great.
September
School started at the end of the month and we already had plans to take him out for a week. Oktoberfest has been on my parents’ bucket list for a while now so naturally, I had to join them. We also took a day trip to the famous Neuschwanstein castles. Surprisingly, the kids had a great time exploring.
September is also the beginning of the fall festivals here in Europe. They start the harvest, celebrate with markets, bouncy castles and biergarten.
October
Oh wow, October was a big one. 1st midterm break of the year and we planned a major vacation. I wasn’t about to let all my planning go to waste so we decided to finally do my Normandy road trip. As part of the trip, we stopped in Etretat, Mont St Michel, Nantes, and Disneyland Paris.
November
Finally getting a little break. With no long weekends, breaks or special days in the month, we focused our attention on the upcoming St Martin Parade.
December
We recently took a road trip through eastern Switzerland, in an attempt to chase snow and Christmas markets. While we weren’t entirely successful, we did manage to have a great time exploring the countryside, the mountain tops, and everything in between. Be sure to sign up for my posts about those in the coming weeks.
Best of Instagram
I have been working long and hard to build a great following on Instagram. If you don’t already follow me, I suggest you head over and follow – I post exclusive images and promotions as they happen, sometimes weeks before they are posted on here.
This is the first post to break the 50-like barrier. It doesn’t sound like much but when your account is brand new and barely has 200 followers, 50 was a great achievement.
She loved to sit in the water and watch it rush at her. I was happy to have a few minutes of peace where I could tan without chasing someone. Turns out, she was eating the sand when I wasn’t watching.
My husband snapped this one as we were running to catch the bus in the rain. I am surprised how well it turned out; it really is one of my favourite shots from that trip.
What’s next for us!
We are constantly making and changing plans. Often times it is a week before vacation and we completely re-write our itinerary, but sometimes it’s on the road to the destination when we make a sudden turn and do something else instead.
2017 doesn’t look to be any different. We had a rough idea of what we wanted; have thrown it away and started again at least 3 times this week so making a final decision and actually implementing it could be challenging.
So far, my ideal year would be;
February – Tropical Islands in Berlin
April – Spain and Portugal
May – Croatia
July – Eastern Europe road trip through Prague, Budapest and Salzburg
August – Iceland
October – Italy train trip from Milan to Rome
November – Poland – try to get some snow, finally
December – Rothenberg for my birthday
– Chasing Christmas Markets on the weekends
– Northern Germany and Denmark
We will see how this year turns up and check back in December to see how my plans differed from reality.
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