A year ago, I was still pregnant with my third, but had started looking for a family of 5 holiday. I had asked on social media and people gave me ideas. I wanted to go on a cruise or stay at an all inclusive resort. The problem is always that with a family of 5, you need to take 2 rooms/cabins.
A friend mentioned a campsite near Gardaland, by Lake Garda. My first reaction was, no for sure, we don't camp. But then I looked it up and it looked more like a cruise ship on land. So I went ahead and booked this camping village, a car from the airport, flights, and did the program of where I thought was nice.
The Campsite.
Easier said than done. We left home with 2 car seats, a pushchair, 2 20 kilos suitcases, a hand luggage, the baby bag, Sam's seat behind the pushchair, my handbag and Frederick's bag. All these were carried by Frederick and myself. Jaimee carried her bag and helped with a hand luggage.
As soon as we got to the airport, we got rid of the bulky stuff. The 2 hour flight felt like a 10 hour flight. It was better than last year with Sam, but still it wasn't easy. Kids don't want to wear the seat belt, they start crying, annoying everyone on board, space is limited and going to the bathroom is not easy.
At last we arrived. Waited for the checked in luggage. Frederick was waiting for the luggage while I entertained the little ones. Sam found a banner which he tried to break, and Aimee started to get angry. We got the car, our Fiat Tipo Estate and what a mission to try and fit everything at the back. Driving to the camping village was a disaster. Aimee decided to make this drive hell. She screamed so much. I wanted to head back to the airport and get the first flight back home, maybe with the same plane!
Our 1 hr drive was horrible but once we got to the campsite, we were fine. We had dinner and from there we started making memories. I had stayed awake so many nights, writing everything down. Places I wanted to visit while we were there, what to see in every place, how long it took to get there...... I felt defeated when we were there, coz most of the places I searched about were left out. Our campsite was in Peschiera del Garda.
The first morning we went to the closest town, Sirmione. We got there very fast, in about half an hour. But once we were close to the centre, there was lots of traffic and we didn't move. The kids were very annoyed and started crying, screaming, making it difficult for us to concentrate and see where we could park. Some snacks in the car were handy. I got a cooler with me from home to keep the food fresh.
Once we were there it was nice, the place is beautiful and the kids had the biggest ice cream they had ever seen. Walking with kids is not easy too. Sam has a ride on extension to the push chair. The pushing, carrying, being careful, keeping the kids happy, minding the cars, queuing etc is actually very tiring.
I love doing the far away places in the first week. During our longest journey, going from Peschiera to Limone, we had an accident. While we were in traffic at a bend, a vespa hit us from the back. It was a big fright, seeing him skid towards us from the side mirrors. Luckily the kids were all sleeping. Thinking about it, I thought what a disaster it would be if the kids are awake and we have to stay there for long. They get bored, start moaning, crying, get hungry. That was over... But then I had to fill in some papers, didn't enjoy that part.
The best 2 days were when we went to Gardaland. I don't like the speed dangerous rides. But I did all the baby ones plus watched one show. We had a bit of a fright when we couldn't find the car keys. They fell on a ride, we were very lucky to find them in the lost and found.
The safari was nice too as the kids, and also myself, were so excited to see the animals so close to us.
We were lucky with the weather too, as we never had a rainy day in 2 weeks. It was a bit humid hot and the number of mosquitoes is alarming!
Unlike me, my family hates taking pictures. So all these pictures were taken candid, in movement, and most of the time in one second.
