3 years 6 months 22 days

Day 1301. It was 2 am before we fell into bed, over an hour after we had returned home from Upper Austria. This morning the alarm already went off at 7:30 am. Of course Emmy was already up at that time, even after the day yesterday. Sammy was soon up as well, while Tammy slept on a while longer. Randy got up to make his oatmeal for himself and the kids, changed their diapers and sat down with them to eat, including with Tammy. At 8:30 he had to leave to return the car to the rental agency at the main train station. I was a little nervous as Randy does not know the streets of Vienna and is not good at following the GPS on his own. The plan was to meet up with him at the train station, where we'd get off coming from home and where he'd get off coming from the train station, and then to go on to the swimming pool together. Their swim class this morning was the reason we had already returned last night instead of today.

After Randy had left, I started dressing them and getting them ready for us to leave, which we did just after 9 am. It was the first time I had all three with the wheelchair all by myself for an extended trip on public transportation, and it worked very well. We walked through the subway platform to go to the train platform. While at the subway, Tammy suddenly threw a fit because Daddy wasn't with us. There was nothing I could do to calm her down. It was clear that she was still very tired after the trip, the short night and the early morning get-up this morning, and she was like that all day long, i.e. easy to be set off.

When the train arrived, I was unpleasantly surprised that it was an old one. This line usually has new trains. I guess not all day on Sunday. Of all days that had to open today, the only time I was on my own with all three kids. Thankfully people are very helpful, so I had more than one person offering to help to get on as well as to get off. It's a good thing Sammy (and the chair) are still light.

While on the train I called Randy to find out whether he was gonna be there, when we got off the train. He told me that he was still circling the train station to find a way to fill up the car with gas. He had been to three and it just wouldn't work. The gas was not going in. He had just given up and was gonna return the car without it being full. That meant we had to go on to the swimming pool without him, and he was gonna join us there later. It was a good thing that I had taken some money with me in case I had to go there without him.

We took the elevator to street level and walked to the tram stop right there and got on. It was only two stops to the pool Tammy and Emmy were playing with the ticket machine, while Sammy was pushing the door button. After we got off, we crossed the street and walked to the pool. The kids were behaving great the whole time, there were no issues at all. We walked into the building, I paid my entry fee and we got locker keys. The guy then told me that they had special wheelchairs to use inside the pool area if I was interested. Even though it was our second time there with the wheelchair, they had not told us that last time, so it was a good thing to know even though we didn't need it. We walked to the changing room, where there were quite a few other people. It was quite the job to undress and dress all three to get them ready to swim. After Sammy was ready, I put him on the floor at first, which got me some negative remarks from a mother. After I had put his swim trunks over the swim diaper, I put him into his chair to wait until we were ready to go inside. I was sure glad we had gotten there plenty early. By the time we went inside, most everybody else was there and in the water.

We went into the water as well, and I was really hoping for Randy to get there very soon. I had called him in the changing room, and he had told me that he was already on the tram. Here I was in the water with all three kids who did not have swim rings on and were dependent on me in the deep water. A dad next to me must have had pity on me because he offered me help in case I needed it. The teacher then took Tammy for the greeting song but surprised me, when she handed her back after the first kid, then continued her rounds with me having all three kids. Then she gave us the swim rings right away to put on. While we were doing that, Randy arrived, which was a great relief. At that point they all had swim rings anyway, which meant they were (mostly) independent in the water.

They did some swimming on their backs today, as well as simply moving around on their own in the water, and jumping off the side of the pool. They were all having great fun. Sammy was saying the whole time that he was cold. We still went to the other half of the pool open to the public after the class to have a few more minutes of fun in the water all on our own.

Then we showered off and got dressed, which takes a while. We then left, walked to the tram, and rode it for four stops, which is where McDonald's is located, which is where we go after swimming. The kids were already hungry and asking for food. I went to the touch screen to start the ordering process. I had some coupons I scanned in. But then the screen would barely work, which was getting pretty frustrated. I finally had to give up and went to an employee, as I did not want to lose the coupons. She saw that it truly was not working and tried to cancel my order so that I'd get the coupon back. All that just took forever. In the meantime Sammy had started crying on the top of his lungs because he was hungry, and he was not to be consoled. The other touchscreen didn't work perfectly either but I was finally able to finish placing my order. I then went to the table to try to comfort Sammy. An African guy working there who already knows us gave the kids some Happy Meal gifts to try to appease them. Emmy had a dirty diaper, so Randy left with him to change it. In the meantime they brought us our order, and Sammy immediately started devouring the fries and meat. When Emmy returned, he started crying because he wanted to sit with Mommy and Tammy was sitting with me. And so he ended up sitting on my other side, which was a little tight, while Randy had no one sitting on the bench with him. 

After we were all done eating, we left to go back to the train station. As there had been no milkshake at McDonald's and Tammy wanted chestnuts, we bought some there. The chestnut stands are about to disappear with the beginning of spring. Then we also stopped at the bakery there that is open on Sundays and got some bread, as we had hardly any food at home. And then we had about 28 minutes to wait for our train, just having missed one. Oh well, what can you do. We had to wait for the 1 pm train. Tammy and Emmy were running around having fun, while Sammy was doing his favorite thing of pushing around the ticket machine touchscreen causing it to make noise and speak. A few minutes before the train was to come we went to the platform and then rolled onto a new, level train. I had been carrying Emmy on my shoulders for the past 10 minutes as he had lost the sole of one of his shoes, and I then carried him home from the train station because of that. Tammy was jealous as she also wanted to be on my shoulders.

We got home at 1:15, which was nap time. Everyone was exhaused, and that included two very exhausted parents. I put them to bed right away, and they were asleep fast. Then I went to bed myself at around 2 pm. I could not go on any longer. Randy was tired too, but he had arranged for a pickup of drum parts just after 4 pm. He fell asleep in his chair and woke up just in time to leave for his pickup. So it was he and Emmy who walked into my room at 3 pm who woke me up way too early. Sammy then was awake too, but now I was the only adult, so there was no more rest for me. I got up and got him out of bed. He was playing on the floor a little, while Emmy wanted to go downstairs already. Tammy was still asleep. I was about to take the boys downstairs, when Tammy woke up as well, and so we all went downstairs together just before 4 pm.

We hadn't had play time like that together in a while, even though it meant I could not do the work I would have liked to do so that I'm still writing my report at 1:30 am, when I already have to get up 6 hours from now. Tammy and Emmy were doing a new puzzle that I ended up having to help with, while Sammy ended up at his beloved piano, checking out all the different songs it can play. We were having lots of fun together. At about 5:30 pm Randy returned. He joined us downstairs, where I took the pictures of him and Sammy. Sammy also likes the rings that have replaced the swing and can hold on to them, and he loves playing the drums and showed me what he can do.

They were all saying hungry, so I went upstairs before 6 pm to get them some of the fresh bread and then to start making their dinner. We did not have as much as usual, but there was plenty. They ate some at the table, then went into the bathtub, where they all finished their food. They hadn't had a bath in days, so they all enjoyed it. After they were ready for bed, we sat down to read Bible stories, and as always, they wanted me to go on and on until I wouldn't. I prayed for them and put them to bed. It was exactly 8 pm, their regular bed time. I sat down by them, and then Emmy suddenly started asking for food, after he had said earlier he didn't want any. After a few minutes of him throwing his fit, Randy took my place. I comforted them all one more time and left to make myself something to eat. It did not take them long to fall asleep tonight. Emmy's nap had been short, so he was pretty tired and soon fell asleep. I sat down to eat, then started working on yesterday's and today's pictures. And I have yet to write yesterday's report. But now it's high time I make it to bed. Thank God that the dishwasher is already running.