Grubbs n Critters

April 28, 2011

Holland 2011 Day 5-8: Landal De Lommerbergen and beyond

Landal De Lommerbergen is nothing but a recreational venue for family to come together and relax for several days. Its concept is that of a holiday bungalow, surrounded by nature and complete with living room (lounge & dining area), kitchen, a balcony, 2 bedrooms and toilet facilities. The entire park is a car-free zone (double-yay!)

Other ammenities in the park can be found here.

Hanging out with Papa

Going with the flow remained was our agenda, and with the cool weather, it was nice to just also take it easy. We also ensured that Spud gets lots of floor time, and she is always just too happy when given the chance to do so, anytime, anywhere.

Since this place is a stone’s throw away not only from the main town area, from several cities as well as Belgium and Germany, we varied our days with some activities here and there.

We sashayed to town (15 minutes away) for a little shopping and sightseeing.

Getting lost in Dusseldorf

We went through the border to Dusseldorf, Germany (half and hour away from De Lommerbergen)

We visited a couple of Silver Bullet’s friends who are living in Reumond.

We went strolling in the woods.

We even had real fresh bread every day and I tell you, bread never tasted so good like the ones they have in Holland. Authentic!

Strolling in the park amidst the cool air was nice. Just being able to feel so close to nature feels so…serene and cozy! And what’s nicer about it is also, for the first time ever, we managed to get Spud to finally fall asleep in the stroller! Not once, mind you, but at least twice and without much effort, too. I have every reason to believe that it must have been the cold air that knocked her out cold!

Despite being a little small (by small, it was quite a tight fit for Silver Bullet to maneuver himself in the other bedroom where Spud slept the moment he walked through the door!), the bungalow we stayed in at De Lommerbergen is really quite a cozy place to be. I truly enjoyed being there.

I reckon Spud did too, judging by the way she went bouncing off the walls (and the cushiony sofa as well as the mattress as a matter of fact).

The 3-hour trip drive back to where we came from however, was not so nice, partly attributed to bad traffic, and, mainly Spud wailing her guts out for almost 2 hours on the way back home. She became very irritable within the hour into the journey home, and basically cried her guts out almost non-stop for almost 2 hours until we drove up to our parents’ driveway. She did not like being confined in the car seat for too long and it was her way of letting us know that she has had enough and we certainly had to make a few pit-stops as, unless we took her out of the car, there was nothing I could do to sooth her crying. I am certain I have gone deaf from it.

It helped that I could tune out from her by looking out at the windows and started staring at the beautiful landscape of colourful blossoming tulips to distract me for a bit while Spud went on full-blast.

By the time we got to the parents’ place, we three looked completely dishevelled and almost out of whacked as Spud went on her crying fits!Then, almost immediately, all was fine and dandy as the little imp got her freedom back and went bonkers during floor time right before her bedtime.

Sights @ Dusseldorf:

Spud mucking about @ De Lommerbergen:

Spud falling asleep in the stroller!!!!

Holland 2011 Day 4: Driving South

Category: Baby Milestones

Spud surprised us by sleeping through for a solid 13 hours or so despite having a rough time the day before. It certainly suited us fine!

In the morning, we went about preparing for our great adventure of a 3-hour drive to some holiday bungalow in Limburg, completely forgetting for the 3rd year running that it was actually our 3rd year wedding anniversary! (I told you I was not big on celebrating our own birthdays and anniversaries). Only when Silver Bullet’s mom gave us her wishes, did we realise the significance of the day.

It was special alright! Not only was it our anniversary, but it also was the day where we became stupid and literally tempt fate in attempting a 3-hour drive with a cranky, but an energetic infant who will not sit still for 2 minutes on her own, let alone in a car seat for a 3 hour drive!

While we both were apprehensive, we just still had to try!

And so we did.

And we are proud to say that no major melt-downs happened. In fact, Spud managed some good nap time in the car. When we did a rest-stop, she was all happy, cheery and excited! It was only right at the end when she started losing her steam and started to whinged a bit.

But by then, we had managed to unload her and everything else into this bungalow which we were to stay as a base for the next 4 nights. It was also already after 5pm when we settled up everything and only less than 2 hours away from her bedtime! (Yayyy!)

We thought about how special our anniversary should be and made sure that we planned it all so well that we essentially had only these for dinner on the day we celebrated our 3rd wedding anniversary.

From left: 2 Paos quartered, 1 bag of Keropok, 2 cup noodles!

Ain’t that just epic!

Holland 2011 Day 3: The Melt-Down

Category: Baby Milestones

It was supposed to be yet another easy day for us, but little did we know that the little Spud has something else on her mind. While she did have a good night since we arrived and sleeping through a good 12-13 hours, I think she must have woken up at the wrong side of the bed that day.

She showed signs of crankiness the moment she woke up. Apparently when Silver Bullet minded her when I was showering, I was told that she “was not quite herself”. When we tried to put her down for her morning nap in the cot that was in the bedroom, she brought the house down. The 10-minute rule did not work. We eventually released her from her misery and she was all smiles again. But only for a little while.

She was quite off that day. Every nap was a tough and exhaustive battle. Every diaper change became a war zone, complete with its sound effects. (She hates to be on her back and every nappy change means that people in China might be able to hear her voice). While we did expect Spud to have some sort of fits, we weren’t completely prepared to handle her melt-down; especially not on the day when we need to attend a gathering of family and friends to celebrate my father-in-law’s birthday party!

Just as Spud would have it, she threw her biggest tantrum when we were getting ready to go; and just before we walked out of the door, she decided to honour us with the biggest poo she could muster. It was also one of the most carcassed, foul smelling poos she ever made! It was so bad that I was gagging and almost throwing up.

So, there we both were — all frenzied, stressed, about to be fashionable late already and yet, another poo had also meant another change, another battle with an extremely loud bawling baby who did not want to be on her back and refused to cooperate.

When we were finally done, I felt so dizzy from the ordeal that I swear the world was spinning around me. By the time we got to the party, I felt like a zombie . But somehow, I managed to run on autopilot and despite feeling a little overwhelmed, I was glad that I managed a decent conversation without biting their heads off to whoever who came my way (Spud was attached to me in a wrap) and to those who were kind enough to tolerate my spaced-out antics. I figured, they were polite enough to humour me.

The good thing though, Spud did behave a little better at the party. I remember she even fell asleep for a little while. We speculated that perhaps she has had an upset stomach earlier on.

It was quite a day, and by the time the evening was almost over, I simply cannot wait to put Spud to bed so we could crash on the couch, wind down for the day and be mentally and physically prepared for a rather long drive to the south of Holland the following day!