Day 1406. Every day the kids wake up a little later, and it has been Sammy who is our alarm clock. I had set my alarm for 8:30, but the kids were up at 6:30 am. After breakfast, we got ready and left the house early. We were going to Randy's daughter's church, and as we needed to go to a store and had plenty of time, we decided to go before church. It was the first time that they had a longer ride in the car since coming from the airport, when they were asleep, and so they kept asking whether we were there yet. It was a 45 minute ride.
It was their first time at Walmart. We put Sammy into the baby seat of the cart and went inside the huge store. We had a few items on our list and went from aisle to aisle to locate them. We were conscious of the time as we did not want to be late for church. The kids had fun looking at everything. We checked out, loaded up the cart, buckled them back in, and continued on our way to church. It was just five minutes away, but we were still later than we had planned.
By the time we had Sammy in the wheelchair and walked through the church doors, the service had started, and Randy's daughter was leading worship. The usher was showing us to the rooms for the kids' program, and we had to walk through the whole sanctuary and to the front to go up the side next to the platform to get to the back of the church. We walked down the hallway and reached the check-in for the kids. Everyone was excited once they found out who we were. I stayed with the kids there, while Randy returned to the sanctuary.
There was no program for the kids, just play time. Tammy wanted to do playdoh, so she sat down at the table and made some masterpieces. Emmy started, but there were more interesting things to do. He explored different things in the room. Sammy got excited, when he saw the toy kitchen, and I helped him stand there so he could play. Then Sammy found a cart with a baby in it and enjoyed pushing it around the room with me holding up.
When the service had ended, I walked back to the sanctuary with the kids. We met a few people and took a family picture. Then we left to go have lunch together. Wendy's was our choice, and it was not far away. We ordered our food and sat down with Randy's daughter and family and a friend. We had a good time eating and fellowshipping, then we got back into the car to make the 40-minute drive back to the house so they could take their nap. They were all three playing or watching with their tablets or our phones. I preferred them staying awake in the car, so they could then sleep in their beds.
By the time they were going to bed it was about an hour later than usual, about 2:30 pm. Tammy was so very tired that she threw one of her fits before she finally lay down, and it's always over something really little. She scratches and hits you, and there is nothing you can do to calm her down, just wait it out. By the time she calmed down, she was so tired she fell asleep immediately.
It was close to 4 pm by the time they were all up, and we went downstairs as people were coming to see us and the kids. The kids were playing and having fun, and we also prayed for one person together with the kids. Sammy really likes playing with his younger niece, as she's not walking yet and is therefore on his level. He likes hugging her, but sometimes it gets too much for her.
After a while they were getting hungry, and as it was 6 pm and dinner time, we said our good-byes, got in the car and drove the half-kilometer down to Randy's Mom's house. We had dinner together, then the kids went back to playing, and they have lots of fun with their niece who is a year younger than them. We had some more visitors, then it was high time to get back to the house and put them to bed. They went into the bathtub, then we got them ready, and even though it was after 8:30, they still wanted to hear a bedtime story, which took some more time. I prayed for them and put them to bed and sang to them, as Sammy won't let me get away with not singing. Emmy was the one not asleep yet, when I got up and sat down on our bed to do some work on the computer. Emmy wanted to join me, but there was no room. He was soon asleep.
I started working, but got more and more tired until I was falling asleep. Randy went to bed early and was already sleeping. I tried to push myself to go on, but finally gave up fighting. By midnight I was in bed without having finished.
