The journey starts

August 11, 2023 (Friday)

Arrival day number 1 done, two more to go.
We started very early today. Michel reported for dinner at half past three and by the time everything was packed, including bed linen (insider) and child, it was just before five.

The journey went well with little traffic and (mostly) a sleeping baby.
At around 11:30 we arrived in Bad Nenndorf with Sven's father, who gave us shelter for one night. We were both quite tired, but we set out for a long walk with the child in a carrier and Grandpa as our tour guide.
In the afternoon, a big visit to great-grandpa and a large part of the Stiller family was on the agenda. Michel slowly became restless despite regular naps and we shortened the visit a bit. But we still got the reward for a very tight program: Michel took a long time to get to sleep. Finally sunk into the land of dreams, he didn't let anything wake him up (except hunger, which still comes very regularly and tends to shorten the nights).
Sven and I had thought about whether all the driving with a baby would be so much fun.
We won't change campsites too often and will rather forego one or two items on the program. We have written RELAXATION on the agenda for this holiday.
Sven in particular needs rest and relaxation after many exhausting weeks on the ward. Although the night shifts with Michel are currently assigned to me, Sven sleeps restlessly and definitely not enough.

If you have a baby of that age, you have to adapt to the rhythm of the child. This means watching bedtimes in order to be able to drive relaxed for 1-2 hours. In Norway, the journey is definitely the reward and driving on Norway's roads is a pleasure.
Michel can sleep well in the car, which is a blessing. But nature wouldn't have given us a baby that didn't feel like going on a camper trip. I am convinced of that.

We're almost ready for bed and it's 8:19 p.m. Tomorrow it's supposed to start that early again, because we hope to be able to cover a large part of the remaining 650 km.
Michel has been sleeping blissfully since half past six and doesn't yet know what we're going to ask of him tomorrow.
But as my mother once said: I took my children with me everywhere like a handbag and it (obviously) didn't do you any harm.