Crocus Break Staycation

We still had the rest of the week of our staycation. We were very fortunate that the sun and unseasonably warm weather continued. We joined a few of Maeve's classmates at the beach one afternoon and stayed to watch the sunset, what I would have been doing every night if we'd been in Spain as planned. 

Maeve had her passport renewal appointment that week at the Consulate so we hired a babysitter to play with Jude who was not allowed to come in. We kept her a little longer when we were done and continued by bike into the Jordaan to get some to-go apple pie from Winkel 43. 

Maeve, ready to zoom to the moon at a friend's house

I think he's read all of the Roald Dahl books now

We explored another nature area that had a nice outdoor playground and cafe with some friends: Bezoekercentrum Goor en Vechtstreek.

Realizing how close we were to Naarden we headed that way for some more playground action. Found the great one outside the city moat and then the one behind the church. Made even better with some to-go hot chocolate. 

And the crocuses made their appearance, right on time!

Sand Dunes and Den Bosch: A sunny day in North Brabant

For the second day of our mini-getaway in February, we visited National Park De Loonse en Drunense Duinen, what I read was supposed to be the "Sahara of the Netherlands." Well, it did not live up to its name, but it was a nice place to take a walk in the warm sunshine. 

We found these little painted rocks along the trail and on the back was a website link where we learned you can paint your own rocks and leave them along trails for others to find! 

Rock inspecting

The woods opened up into sand dunes

After the walk we drove to 's-Hertogenbosch, colloquially known as Den Bosch, which is the capital of North Brabant. Confession: I'd wanted to visit this city ever since learning that bachelor Arie L. was born here ;) We talked the kids into a city tour with the promise of playground time. We found a very cute one in the sun. 

With only take away available, we hit up McDonalds for the kids (hello bathrooms) and a cafe on the town square for us and found a bit of pavement. Really missing cafes being open! 

We wandered the city center, finding the historic core, which is centered around the Binnendieze river, a small waterway that runs under the old city. In normal times you could take a boat trip. Alas. It was the season of Carnival and North Brabant is usually a spectacle of merriment. It was here where COVID first took off a year ago following the Carnival celebrations and the area was hit hard. The town center was busy, but sadly no proper parties. 

Sint-Janskathedraal