Somehow, Mike managed to get our entire colourful little bunch to Serene Woods, and I’d like to tell you a little about the time we spent there.

A quick introduction first:
Serene Woods 2026 is a sprawling coastal landscape of wooded hills, rocky shores, small beaches and winding waterways. The Sim belongs to an SL group called SavoryGoodness and is owned by the incredibly friendly Gadget McLOVIN. We met him in person several times during our stay and always ended up having really lovely conversations with him.
Paths lead through the trees and across the hills, past secluded clearings, bridges and little places to sit by the water, while a lighthouse watches over the coast. There are only a few  buildings, leaving most of the sim to the landscape itself. From higher ground, the views open up across the woods and surrounding water, and there is plenty to discover simply by walking around.

I just took a few landscape pictures, sparing neither effort nor personal safety in the process — that teeny tiny person in the hot-air balloon is, in fact, me, bravely battling my rather severe fear of heights.

And just like that, into this beautiful, almost untouched piece of nature, came the five of us.

We started by exploring the little campground, which even had a tent waiting for us. A child-friendly holiday with children aged four, almost two, and a baby isn’t quite as straightforward as we parents might sometimes wish, so a little planning was required. First, though, we simply dropped everything — figuratively speaking, since rezzing wasn’t possible — and explored some of the sim on foot. It was already late afternoon, and when we returned, all five of us climbed up onto the lookout platform, accompanied by much giggling from the girls, and had a picnic with a view. There were sandwiches and one or two treats, and between endless chatter and laughter we happily demolished our meal.

NOTE TO SELF: Even a simple sandwich tastes soooo much better on a lookout platform.

Henry was thoroughly refuelled and eventually fell asleep, happily smacking his little lips. We played “I Spy” and Rock, Paper, Scissors with the girls, and when dusk began to settle in, Papa told us a little spooky story. Only mildly spooky, though. I’m terribly easy to scare. One by one, we all snuggled closer together and eventually reached that wonderful state where everyone is perfectly ready for bed. Since I was slightly worried that Henry and I might end up falling off the platform in our sleep, we decided that spending the night down on the ground might be the wiser option. And that is exactly what we did. The day was over, and before long, the only sound left was snoring.

After breakfast the next morning, we all put on our swimwear, grabbed the beach bag and the sand toys from our inventories, and our little caravan set off towards the beach we had discovered during our walk the day before. Against the gorgeous backdrop of Serene Woods, lighthouse included, the girls and Daddy set to work on building the perfect sandcastle while Henry and I mostly supervised.

Villie and Liv went hunting for seashells and proudly showed us the treasures they had collected, while Henry insisted that it was time for lunch. Daddy, meanwhile, surrendered completely to his eternal dream of becoming an architect and continued working on the sandcastle.

At some point, the entire family ended up in the water and promptly occupied the available swim rings. Henry was safe in my arms and seemed perfectly happy with the sunshine, the smell of the sea and having his family close by.

Liv in particular was completely fascinated by the water, while her big sister kept a curious eye on her.

Villie and I somehow managed to overcome the laws of gravity and wriggle both of ourselves onto one swim ring. Looking at the pictures now, I completely understand Henry’s sceptical expression. But as you can see, the water there was only knee-deep, so even if our rather ambitious construction had capsized, nothing serious could have happened to any of us.

And so, for a while, we simply floated happily on the water and existed.

Eventually, I stretched out on a swim ring with Henry, who had fallen asleep again, intending to let both my thoughts and myself drift for a while. Well. That was the plan…

I’m taking bets on how long it took before my swim ring was occupied by two extremely sweet little ladies who clearly had no intention whatsoever of allowing this Mama-and-Henry moment to continue undisturbed. After all, they had been here first and therefore felt they had certain claims of their own.

Naturally, Mike joined us too. Daddy couldn’t possibly be left out, could he? This finally persuaded the cat — which had apparently also materialised on the swim ring as if by magic — to abandon ship. I have absolutely no idea where it came from, but cats follow me everywhere, so I didn’t question it. And hey, this is Second Life. I’ve seen much stranger things than a cat appearing out of nowhere.

Completely exhausted, we dragged our offspring back to the tent in the early evening, where, to our delight, my lovely friend Lottie was waiting to babysit the children. Because Mike and I still had plans…
Somewhat hidden away, we had stumbled across a proper little drive-in cinema and absolutely wanted to go there. So we did.

And we had a wonderfully romantic evening together, just the two of us, with nachos and a good movie, curled up in the back of an old pickup truck.

It was our last evening at Serene Woods 2026 on this holiday, but the landmark is safely stored and we will definitely be back to see what’s new. Eventually, we crawled into the tent with our children — Lottie returned home, thank goodness for teleportation — while already going over the plans for the next day in our heads … Our journey would take us onwards to Second Norway, but before that, we wanted to visit a magical little place called Lolland that I had stumbled across not long before and which seemed absolutely perfect for families.

So make sure you come back for Part 3 of our Vacation Series!