Parc Broekhuizen

It doesn't get much more beautiful than this in the Netherlands

The older I get, the less I can do without my mother. You would think that as an adult I would know it all, but no.

Even now that I'm almost 29, I miss my mom when we're not together. Yes, that's cheesy, but I don't care. I would love to call my mother to ask whether I should buy the best green or red apples when I'm baking an apple pie, which compartment the fabric softener goes in again, and whether early May is a good time to go to the south of France with a friend. And usually, I do that. I prefer to do something with my mother every weekend. Shopping, having lunch, or just chatting on the couch. I would also prefer to have dinner at home every evening of the week. Just because it feels so comforting at the kitchen table with dad and mom. That kitchen table where we all grew older, where my sisters and I grew up, where eating together as five was once so ordinary and taken for granted.

But as it goes with growing up: you get busier with your own life. When you're almost 29, you already have so much to do. Working, working even more, a relationship, friends... You live in another city, so you don't sit at that kitchen table every evening anymore. Days, weeks, schedules fill up with all kinds of obligations and activities. And then sometimes I think... If only I were just a day twenty years younger.

As I write this, I wonder how I can thank my mother for everything she does for me and my sisters every day. Now it's May 13th, Mother's Day, and that calls for a fitting and heartfelt outing. The woman who is always there for you, how can you thank her in style? They know how to handle that at Parc Broekhuizen. They are organizing a delightful lunch this year, which means you can taste the most delicious bites in the most beautiful place in the Netherlands. With a view over flower gardens and green meadows, a pond with swans, and a building that makes you drool with charm, this is the place to settle down with mom. Or, if you don't care, with the whole family. The interior is so incredibly cool; with large flowers, lots of pink and gold, and a fun detail at every corner of the table. You can also stay overnight, as Parc Broekhuizen has 22 hotel rooms. The best food and a chance to completely escape – as if you were in the south of France. But then nice and close to the Utrechtse Heuvelrug. Saves you a plane ticket.

Mothers. We can't live without them, even when it's later and we are grown up.