Day 1433. Tammy and Emmy both joined us in bed last night, but Emmy returned to his bed at some point. Sammy was the first one up this morning, just after 7 am, and Emmy was soon up as well. I lay down by them as Sammy wasn't happy, and soon we all got up and went upstairs to have breakfast.
Our host family was also slowly starting their day, and while I ate what I always eat for breakfast, Randy and the kids ate what they were having. As it still took some time until they could eat, I returned downstairs once I was done to make good use of the time and catch up on much-needed office work. I really needed that time, but have ways to go. Randy and the kids were upstairs for most of the time, playing with the toys there and with the other kids.
At 11:30 we left the house to drive to Lee's Summit for our lunch appointment. My friend had chosen an all-you-can-eat pizza place. It was so great to see her and my other friend again, and for them to meet the kids. Tammy had been looking forward to the pasta, and Emmy to the pizza, and they were hungry, so we went straight for the buffet. After they'd been taken care off, I got some for Sammy who Randy fed, then I got something for myself.
I enjoyed catching up with my friends, and soon the kids were done eating and left to play with the machines standing around. They had two "snow mobiles" that they really liked; they looked like motorbikes. All three really enjoyed them, and Sammy wanted to play there too, rather than sit with us at the table or have more food. Randy took him over there for some of the time. Some of the time he had to keep whining, and one time I took him over there. One time he was crying hard, and I tried to comfort him. He was cranky and tired. And as it had worked before, I decided to hand him to one of my friends to cheer him up, and it worked again. He stopped crying and smiled.
Then my other friend also started playing with the kids and having fun with them. It was great. And all the while we were able to have a good conversation, which was really precious. Once we were all done, we took a group picture, then we headed out. There were dark clouds in the sky, and even lightning was visible. The kids stood there for a few minutes hoping to catch some lightning, and one of them did. We said our good-byes and left to drive home.
By 2:45 pm we were back home, and it was high time for their nap. We lay down right away, and it was Sammy who had a hard time falling asleep, but I finally did get him to sleep. Then I lay down myself. I'm not sure how long I'd slept, but it was 4:30 pm, when I looked at the clock because the boys had woken up. They were all pretty cranky and getting up slowly. They went upstairs and played a little, while I worked a little. But then it was time to leave the house again.
At 5:30 we left to drive back to Lee's Summit, to the restaurant across the street from where we had been for lunch. We went to Applebee's, one of my favorite restaurants. Our friends were already there and waiting for us. We sat down at the big table and looked over the menu, while starting to talk. There were TV screens everywhere, which got the kids' attention, especially the wrestling. They were watching it with fascination. We ordered and continued talking with our friends. Sammy was sitting next to one of them and decided to love on him, taking his head and putting his head on it. It was really cute!
The kids were hungry, and it was taking a very long time for the food to come out, but it finally did come, and all three ate really well tonight. And we were all having a great time together. After having eaten, the kids eventually got their tablets out which kept them quiet and busy. After two hours it was time to leave. We took a group picture outside, then said our good-byes. I rarely get to socialize with people while in Austria, so I'm really enjoying this.
By 8:30 we were back home, and it was bedtime. I took them to the shower, then we got them ready for bed, and Emmy picked a book for me to read to them. After having read it, I prayed for them and put them to bed. Sammy was again the most awake one, and I even had to return one time to encourage him to sleep. I stayed until he was nearly asleep, then returned to my computer to start working on today's pictures and report. Now it's approaching 1 am, and I'm once again so extremely tired that my eyes keep falling shut while I write.
