1000hoursoutside – Page 3 – Expat Mom Journal

Mainau Island

Christmas Garden at Insel Mainau was a super experience overall. We started off the new year with a morning walk around our village. Then in the evening we booked tickets to see the Christmas Garden at Mainau island. I feel like this could easily become a New Year’s Day tradition for our family.

Lit up flower statue at the entrance to the island.

The show starts at 5 pm and runs between late November until the first week of January. The trail leads you through the park with numerous lit up hedges and statues. Expect ups and downs and if you are with a buggy, there are some alternative routes to avoid stairs. Our eldest is not keen on any activity in the dark, but we know that about him. So a head and hand-held torch is a must in our backpack. Being 38 weeks pregnant has definitely put a stamp on the experience, however there were plenty of benches to take a rest. Half way through, at the castle we found little huts serving mulled wine and kinder punch. The mugs are beautifully designed and for 2 euro, you are more than welcome to take them home with you.

Duck hedge statues lit up with Christmas lights.

Photo prop shaped like a heart with two hands and lit up with Christmas lights.

Today is the last day of event. See you next year Christmas Garden at Insel Mainau.

Rocking horse lit up next to a Christmas tree.

Wish tree with many messages hanging from the branches lit up in blue.

Home

Living in the countryside provides tremendous amount of space to roam around fields and grounds. Having two completely different kiddies, makes play time interesting. One is happy to follow instructions, while the other will have a ‘drop-on-the-ground-meltdown’ when she hears her name. I always wonder if she thinks she is told off by her reaction.

New Years Eve carrot cake designed as a blue clock approaching midnight.

Gardening toddler with a pot of soil and tiny shovel

Kreuzlingen Seeburgpark

One of our favourite spot it the Seeburgpark playground at Kreuzlingen. Parking is reasonable, but on the hind side it is busy most of the time. The playground is only a short walk away pass the restaurant and the harbour. There are many different constructions for the kids and grow ups: swings, slides, paddling pool, sandpit, pirate ship and train climbing frame, seesaws and spring animals. Opposite the playground there is a minigolf park with reasonable catering available on site. There is an open field frisbee park between the minigolf and the lookout point.

We like to take the kids bikes and scooters as the terrain is made up of both gravel and concrete.

Great way to extend the hours spent outdoors is to visit the Tierpark, which is right by the side of the playground. In exchange for a small donation (honesty box), animal nibbles can be picked up to feed the zoo animals. Should you wish to go further, the Seeburg castle and the lake trail has plenty to offer.

Week ahead

Next week Kindergarten is back for 3 weeks before it breaks up again for winter sport week. It is also a week when we finally meet the newest member of our family. We couldn’t be more excited about our growing family. I have a planned C section on Tuesday, which will probably knock me off my feet for a couple of weeks. However I am so lucky to have a great supportive family, so I know our kiddies will be in good hands, while their Mummy is being taken care of in the hospital.

Working a bit backwards, I am finally setting us up for a great year ahead. Due date is in 5 days, I cannot think of a better way to set some goals and directions for the new year.

Winter walk in the dark; three generations of girls are shining under a street light.

Siblings are roaming on small road in the country side.

W H Y ?

Unintentionally, I started to focus on the importance of being outdoors with the kids at the beginning of December.

This was due to several factors. The nights got longer, and with the limited daylight hours, I felt the urge to schedule some free outdoor time for when both kids can roam around.

Moving into the winter months the temperature dropped, so we had less fresh air indoors which was another motivational factor.

But most importantly, ever since my daughter turned 17 months old, she started to have intense meltdowns. I am talking about going from zero to hero ugly, banging herself to the ground, in 2.5 seconds. It was scary for me to experience this, especially since my son, who is now 5 years old, never had such challenges.

A month later she started to walk pretty much from one day to another as she turned 18 months old. She clearly needed more space to master these new skills she gained.

H O W

What can be more secure than a huge grass field. So I invested some warm wool overalls and a pair of sturdy shoes. We took a short walk to accompany her older brother to the bus stop each morning. Then we went outside to wait for Daddy to come home in the afternoon – just before dinner time.

These two little commitments become part of our daily routine. And with that the kids temper became more regulated. Tantrums haven’t gone away, but they became more manageable. I became more level headed and patient as well.

W H A T

What do we do? What ever the kids feel like. We are lucky to have a small climbing frame with couple of slides right at our doorsteps. We keep a football outside as an invitation for play – it works like magic with the kids in the neighbourhood. While we are waiting for the school bus to turn up the kids kick the ball around and burn some energy right before they head into Kindergarten / School.

W H E N

Started to record our time spent outdoors on 8th December 2023. The challenge stretches over a year, hence total hours will be announced on 7th December 2024.

Pregnant belly in a winter jacket and a toddler reaching out to pick up some stones.

Christmas tree with an artificial lit up snowman.

R E S O U R C E S

I got inspired by the many many instagram posts that you can check out by searching the #1000hoursoutside. Of course I headed over to their website https://www.1000hoursoutside.com/ where I found numerous resources and links. I then hooked up to their podcast channel, which I regularly listen while the kids are playing.

One of the most informative episodes – in my opinion – is one of their oldest ones. In fact I found a lot of useful info in their second episode from 2019. It is titled IKHO 2: Tips for Spending Time Outside During the Winter https://podcasts.apple.com/ch/podcast/the-1000-hours-outside-podcast/id1448210728?i=1000427546677

Tag: 1000hoursoutside

Happy New Year

Mainau Island

Home

Kreuzlingen Seeburgpark

Week ahead

1000 Hours Outside Challenge