Eifelpark Gondorf

Our last day together of our 4 day weekend, we all went to Eifelpark Gondorf.  When we lived here 12 years ago, we went to Eifelpark Gondorf & it was a tiny little petting zoo with maybe one ride & some fun playgrounds for the kids to play on.  Now it's a full fledged amusement park & it's a complete blast for young kids, teens, & adults.  Everyone had a blast.

The same slides that were there 12 years ago are still there & they're still as fun as they always were.  Germany really knows how to scare you to death on simple kid slides.  They are SO fast & SO fun.  The silver one has a freefall at the beginning that literally takes your breath away, & the colorful one makes you go so fast that you have to literally crash into a wall to stop.

They have a rodelbahn too which we LOVE.  The kids always love the rodelbahns.

At the very top of the park, they have several "grown up" rides.  There was a drop ride that drops you so far & so fast that you think you left your stomach 300 feet in the air.  There's a roller coaster that turns SO quickly that you get off needing to see a chiropractor.  But the best of the best were the swings.  300+ feet high, 30 feet from the center base, & flying at speeds of almost 40 miles per hour.  It's TERRIFYING & yet, SO FUN.  Trek wanted off the minute he got on, but I loved it.  He was worried the chains on the swings were too small to hold us, but I loved the thrill of it all.

The kids found a "kiddie" boat ride that they ended up riding SEVERAL times because they knew they could shoot each other & get each other wet.  Trek had way too much fun shooting them from the water guns outside the ride.

There was also a fun alligator ride that zipped you through water.  Canyon especially loved this one.

Everywhere you went, there was something to do or look at.  The men raced each other on wheelbarrows, the kids milked cows, & the teens played with the goats.  They had a blast.

(Here's more pics from the water ride, I can't get them to move up with the other pics for some reason)

We ended the day on flying trampoline trapeeze things & the kids loved it.

It was such a wonderful weekend relaxing away from everything & then playing hard before school started again.

 We love Eifelpark Gondorf & will definitely be back.

A weekend in the middle of nowhere

Sometimes the best of vacations are the ones that nothing happens.  We get so caught up in the craziness around us that sometimes it's nice to go out to the middle of nowhere & just relax.

We found an amazing airbnb near Trier, Germany with a bazillion rooms & 20 beds in it & invited 2 other family friends to join us for 4 days of fun & relaxation.  We had the time of our lives.

The grounds & house were beautiful.  It was a huge house with a massive kitchen & a dining room with table to seat over 20 people.  There were fields to play in & even a small church on the property grounds.  It was SO MUCH FUN just exploring inside & outside.

The kids were in heaven.  Trek is a member of the Stake Presidency in our church here (leadership over 9 congregations in our area in Germany).  The two families that came with us were also members of the stake presidency & it was perfect because all 3 of us have kids the same ages.  Our kids had a blast playing with each other for 4 days straight.

The kitchen was perfect for 20 people & we all took turns making meals for everyone.  It was a huge assembly line to eat each meal, but it was SO fun.

The majority of our time was spent playing board games.  We spent hours & hours & hours playing all sorts of games with each other.  The house didn't have working internet or TV so it was a great way for all of us to "unplug" & be present with each other.

Even the boys got in on the face masks & beauty routines.  These kiddos stayed up until midnight every single night chatting, laughing, telling stories, etc.  They are the best of friends.

And with all the free time & no internet, it was a great way to relax & NAP if we wanted to.

The sink was too small to fill up our 5 gallon water jugs so we would make assembly lines with the kids to pass the water from the kitchen to the dining room to fill up the water jug every morning.

There was also a little park & playground on the property which my boys LOVED.

The highlight for the teens was the "live clue" game they made up.  They literally played this for HOURS each day.  I'd be cleaning or cooking & I'd trip over "dead bodies" where I least expected it.  The game was a cross between mafia & the clue board game & it was SO FUN to play.

We also had several games of kickball out in the fields.

Four whole days we enjoyed this time in nature with each other.  It was a beautiful way to spend the last 4 days of summer vacation.