We spent half of Dane’s birthday week at vacation park Beekse Bergen. He has two weeks of Pfingstferien (Pentacost holidays? Whitsun holidays? This one is a little bit of a mystery to me.), and we were in Holland anyway (Pimp your Clog), why not have some fun? Why not go see my giraffes (Me & the Giraffe)?
Beekse Bergen is amazing. It is a little oasis outside of the big cities. We stay in the vacation park, in a jungalow (a giraffe one this year!), on the edge of a lake. In the mornings Dane & I feed the ducks, take the big boat across the lake to Speelland, a big, fantabulous playground with waterslides and rides to boot, to get out some of his boundless energy. The safari park, zoo, playground, a pool and much more are all included with the jungalow rental. This is seriously a paradise for familes and giraffe lovers. For me it’s an added bonus because it is just outside of ‘s-Hertogenbosch and family.
My family is dwindling a little, falling away really as our glue, my Oma, is no longer here (Goodbye Oma). It has been a year. One year, one day. I can’t believe that time has gone so fast. My heart still hurts. I still miss her every day. And yet, not a day goes by without a good memory. I had a lifetime to build those memories. I am especially blessed to have had six bonus years thanks to Dave and the army. Not many people are as lucky as I am to have their Oma so long. I will be forever grateful. I will forever remember her with a smile. I will forever miss her.
But there is still enough family to visit. There is still reason to go to ‘s-Hertogenbosch and stay in our beloved jungalow and make time for family & giraffes alike! Of course the first thing we did when we got there was not unpack, not visit family, but drop everything and race to the park for the drive-your-own-car safari tour! Why? Because. Not only do you see all the animals, at the very end are the giraffes. My giraffes. My happy place.
The king of the jungle!
…and suddenly, a cheetah ran b y the car!
Hello friend!
Duden reminds me of Eeyore. Poor guy.
He wanted my mid-zoo french fries! Nope.
“Look! He has the same silly face as our pony” ~ Dane
Guess what kind of babies these are?
Punda en Madiba, born 04 May 2016
Punda en Madiba taking a stroll
Photo by Dane, I have another budding photographer!
That telephoto lens works beautifully. One of many storks.
Look! Giraffe kisses!
Awwww she’s shy. Peekaboo!
SMOOCH!
love the pics of the zoo!!!!
Are those meerkats? Really? Or not? I tink the eyes are so strange to me so I doubt if it’s some other species… You know I did two meerkat books. Illustrations and text 🙂 Still… I don’t know… meerkats have darker noses and their eyes are kind of strange 🙂
[…] had an AMAZING 9th birthday (The Animals of Beekse Bergen; Pimp your Clog), filled with lots of family, cake & fun. We were blessed to be in Holland for […]