Linnaeushof

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I am not going to name the blogs by the day number anymore since it makes the end of the vacation seem to be too soon! So, today we went to Linnaeushof which is a kids amusement park. Similar to England, the park was very much a self-propelled event. By this I mean, the kids have to cycle to get the rides to go, or push or pull or climb. Nothing is motorized and the kids had a blast! This is the first overcast day we've had and it looked like it would rain all day but we got lucky and it held off. It was probably a good day to go to the park as a hot sunny day would have drawn much bigger crowds I'm sure.

Lori (our GPS navigator that is) led us a little astray on the way home (and we are considering firing her) but we managed to find another pannekoeken house. After we got home, a friend of the exchange family's stopped by for a few beers and to give us some tips and translate some things for us.

He taught us some more Dutch and (what Koffiehauses really sell -- hint: it's not coffee). Turns out when the Belgians roll their Rs for 10 minutes, the Dutch equivalent is to hack the heck out of their Gs. When pronouncing Grolsch, we struggled for a few minutes with the proper pronunciation of the G. He said to us that if you want to say Grolsch properly and you don't cough up phlegm, you haven't been trying hard enough! That may or may not have been a slight exaggeration....

When we asked our young recently-married visitor if they have children yet he replied "no, but we're practising a lot" (wink implied). Later when Russell came in and asked him again if he had kids, he said, "No, but we're practising on our two cats." We didn't have the courage to tell him that this one doesn't translate so well in English.

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Photos

Hansl und Gritjl
This day was all about the kids.

Up, up and away!
This ride was a zip line with a chair suspended underneath. It was one of only two automated rides in the entire park.

Ahhhhhhh!
The ride lifts them so high and then gravity zips them across the small lake to the other side.

Bumper cars
This was the only other automated ride. Everything else in the park required the kids (and parents) be very active.

Pedal power
Lori and Rachel are racing around the track suspended 14 feet above the ground. Lori was terrified but had to loop around again to push Rachel when her gondola broke down.

Can't beat him? Join him.
Later, Rachel actually got kicked off for being one year too old for the ride. How do you say "but she just turned 9 last week" in Dutch?

Pull yourself up
Just like the Tower of Terror at Canada's Wonderland only you have to pull yourself up to the top. Very cool and a great workout.

Swings on crack
This was a blast. It rotates around and you bounce in and out at the same time. All under your own power of course.

Zip line
Rachel's favourite ride, the zip line.

Pedal boat ride
We tricked the kids into powering us around a tour of the lake. They tried their best (but failed) to run over a duck.

Funny bikes
Notice that the axles are off-centre and the front tire is deliberately offset at a 10 degree angle. This all causes you to weeble and wobble. Hlarious.

Not for you big guy
I could get into the arm bikes. Getting out was more challenging. A dutch guy yelled ("Let op Mr. USA, dij kass di wiertraminer der kinderen!" which means get out you fat american - that's for kids. (I just made up the Dutch there, it's not real).

Hamster wheel
Want your kids to sleep well tonight? Send them to this amusement park and put 'em to work.

Ouch let me out
We spun him all the way around, but it turns out Russ was a little too small for this one. He held on though and made it around unharmed. Honestly!

Fast, faster
I think Lori was doing all the work.

Zip
Zoooom