Day 1297. Having gone to bed at 2:30, it was especially tough this morning as Emmy got up even earlier than usual, somewhere after 6 am. And of course he's loud, waking his siblings up, and keeps bothering me. Eventually Randy got up to give them new diapers and make his oatmeal and sat down to feed them. I then cleaned them up and dressed them, and then the doorbell already rang before 9 am. Grandma was finally back again after many weeks of not seeing her. All kids were excited and they went downstairs with her to play. Randy and I were getting ready to leave the house together.
It was a cold and windy day as we walked to the subway together to go on and take the 9:20 train to the main train station. When we were on the train full of people, I was just amazed at how quiet it was. It's never quiet being surrounded by three kids.
After we got off, we walked to the Hertz office, where there was one guy in it, and not the same guy we've had the past few years. However, he talked less and asked for less and so we were done faster. He gave us the car keys and told us where the car was parked, and off we went. We took the elevator to the garage and found the car. Randy had wanted a stationwagon to have plenty of room for our luggage and was disappointed that there was much less room, as it was a hybrid car. I was wondering whether we were gonna be able to get all our stuff into it, especially the wheelchair. We got into the car and started the drive back home, where we arrived at 10:10. The only parking spot we had found was a short walk away.
Back in the apartment, the kids were excited to see us again, but they stayed with Grandma, while we finally started the packing process. Randy took the car seats to the car, while I started packing our suitcases. It wasn't long until Grandma and the kids came upstairs as she had to leave. It had been great seeing her, but it's just too rare. I then continued packing, while the kids were watching videos and playing, and Randy was taking more stuff to the car. He managed to get the wheelchair in by taking one wheel off.
I noticed it was already noon, and so I went to the kitchen to cook lunch. At about 12:30 we sat down to eat. Emmy has his appetite back, thank God, but his siblings not yet. After lunch we continued packing and getting ready for our departure. I was so extremely tired that I was reaching my breaking point; I could barley keep my eyes open, but I had to power on. After everything was in the car, we all left the apartment to walk to the car together. Emmy kept asking whether the car sitting there was ours until we'd finally reached it. It was full to the brim. The boys went into their seats, then I went in before Tammy to sit between her and Emmy. However, I did not fit between the car seats. It was impossible, and I was so tired I just didn't care about anything. Thank God Randy was able to unhook the seats and mount them a different way, and then there was room for me, even though it was still tight. It all took a while, and so it was 1:30 before we finally drove off. We hadn't even reached our own apartment building yet, when Tammy already asked whether we had arrived!
We made our way to the interstate to start our 2+ hour journey. Randy then missed a very important exit, which cost us quite a bit of time, as we had to make a big detour. The kids were listening to stories on their headsets and watching videos. Sammy was close to falling asleep a few times but only did 15 minutes before our arrival. The other two never fell asleep. After 2.5 hours especially Emmy was starting to show signs of not wanting to be in the car any more. At 4:20 we finally arrived at our destination. Sammy had been pretty cranky before falling asleep, especially after having lost the song chip for his headset. We still haven't found it. And so Randy decided to stay in the car with him to let him sleep a little longer, while I took the other two kids and walked to the house with them. We took the elevator up and greeted our friends we were visiting.
It had been one year since our last visit, so it was great to see them again. Their three kids are quite a bit older than ours, but they were all having fun with our kids. At first Emmy and Tammy were extremely shy; I don't know them like that at all. But as expected it did not last long. There were lots of toys waiting for them, and they immediately started playing. But then we went to see the rabbit, and both kids gave it something to eat.
We then sat down at the table for some cake, and then Randy and Sammy joined us. The next few hours were filled with lots of fun, with playing, and with lots of instruments. They got to play the drums and the piano and the xylophone. And Tammy had them read books to her. At one point I lay down on the couch for a few minutes and closed my eyes, as I could not go on any more, and it helped. We then all sat down to eat dinner and once again it was only Emmy who ate well. They were soon up again to go play. Sammy got carried and spoiled quite a bit and enjoyed it all.
When 8 pm was approaching, we decided it was time to get going. We put their coats and shoes back on and said our goodbyes. They'd had a really fun time. We walked back to the car, put the address we were going to in, and started our 25-minute drive to Wels. Tammy and Emmy had the headsets with the stories on their heads, while Sammy was asking for the songs that were still missing, lost in the car somewhere. After a while I noticed that Tammy had fallen asleep. I directed Randy to our destination, where we parked in front of the house. It was raining a little bit. I picked up the house key in a secret location and got us all into the building, then we took the elevator to the tenth floor and walked into our Airbnb apartment for the next three nights. Randy went back downstairs to get all our luggage up, while I started getting the kids ready for bed. He then left again to find a parking spot somewhere, which wasn't that easy and took a while. By the time he returned, the kids were already in bed, though still awake. They were two bedrooms, but of course the kids wanted to sleep in the same room as us, where there was only one extra bed. After some thinking the best option was to have Sammy sleep in the single bed, and I put all the spare blankets and pillows around it in case he falls off. Tammy and Emmy both said they wanted to sleep in our bed with us, even though one of them could have slept with Sammy. All three fell asleep quickly and have been fast asleep for hours without moving. It was nearly 10 pm before they went to bed tonight. I then got my computer out to work on today's pictures and write my report. By now Randy is also asleep, and now it's my turn to join them and get some much-needed rest. It's nearly 1 am.
