De Efteling

25 years ago, when I was really really really really young (yes, I'm old now), my parents took us to De Efteling when I was 6 years old. I vaguely remember certain parts of it, so when we decided to go to Holland, I thought it would be amazing to take my kids somewhere that I was when I was a kid. The most memorable moment I had was in front of the guy with the really long neck, so it was very special for me to stand in front of him carrying my own children so many years later.
De Efteling is one of the oldest theme parks in Europe, and is known as the Happiest Place in the Netherlands. To date, it has received over 100 million visitors.
Of course it was a spectacular day! The skies were very cloudy that morning, so luckily everybody was too scared and stayed home, it was not busy and we didn't get wet at all! Maddy adored all of the rides, but in particular she enjoyed the indoor rides which are sort of like a tour through a themed village. You sit in a car and it tours you through all these different rooms which are all decorated in immaculate ways. Her favourite was the fairy ride, where each new room was filled with fairies and forests and wood animals. I think she did that ride three times (and asked for more....).
We enjoyed some oliebollen (a Dutch delicacy from my childhood), a steam engine train ride through the whole park (where we had a picnic lunch), and Maddy loved the Paper Gobblers, which sucked your garbage out of your hands!
In addition to the rides, de Efteling has a 15-acre Fairy Tale Forest with scenes representing different fairy tales, and the most famous Sprookjesboom (Fairy Tale Tree) which was amazingly realistic and talked.
It was a very magical and memorable day for all of us, and Maddy is already asking when we can go back!
Very very lucky to have these wonderful memories from my own childhood and then be able to share them with my own children. I am truly blessed.