I wrote it before, about my walk in the forest: Sunday walks are definitely NOT the favorite things to do for most children. At least not for Mia, who likes to sleep at age 11, till 11.. And when the moment is there she finally wakes up, the only things that matter are food and her iPhone.

As a parent I ofcourse know what’s best. But I had to be creative on this one, I really wanted to go out with her. I first arranged a nice come-together with our favorite family members Jacqueline, Arjen, Nico and Jet. Then I suggested a nice long walk out in the open with all of us. And guess what, they fell for it!

There was no doubt about our destination, we choose The Pier. You wanna know why? Here are 5 reasons:

– The Pier is really exciting, especially when it’s very stormy. You can get completely wet by the waves crashing to the edges (and over the edges!) of The Pier. But that’s exactly the fun part: running away from the waves, not sure to know where they’re coming from.

waves at the pier IJmuiden  Mia getting wet
– The view is so amazing. You can look up very far and when the sky is clear (as it was last Sunday), you easily get to see Zandvoort. Or The Hoogovens, which I happen to love also very much (the contrary that may be).

Mia at the pier  hoogovens at the pier
– Along with the view and the fun there is the exercise. We came by car, from the parking lot to The Pier is about 1 km. The Pier itself is 3.2 km, so to there and back I count 8.4 km!! And what about getting up at The Pier. You first have to fight some serious rocks… Looks like we have got a winner here (ofcourse we let Arjen win, we might need his scarve or coat later on).

rocks at the pier

 – And then you walk and suddenly you spot a dolphin (/porpoise)! And then you walk again and you get to see a sea dog!!

dolphin at the pier

And then you walk and voila, there is a mermaid!!!  mermaid Jet

– Finally, getting of The Pier, you feel so much like a nice drink and snack. And you deserved it!! We took dark brown beers and split pea soup. The girls got cokes and fries. (At that time my phone got completely wet and salty and fell temporary death… so no beer-soup-fastfood pictures. We took ours at beachclub Noordzee. Not the most sexy place but it was cozy and warm).

Of course there are many more good reasons to think about visiting The Pier… (fresh salty air, good conversations (when it is not too windy), showing of your new shoes (no high-heels ofcourse), testing your new waterproof jacket, a little musing, learn more about (a certain handsome) fisherman, and his catch of the day…).

fisherman at the pier

Walking back to the parking lot you pass some inviting pales… We had some energy left so we “took them”! (or was it perhaps under the influence of the beer/cokes?)

bonnie jumps    jet jumps

So if I may suggest… put on your water-repellent winter-sheet and go visit The Pier at IJmuiden. Have fun!