Day 1321. Tammy once again crawled into bed with us at some time during the night, while Emmy came early in the morning. Just after 7 am he asked for the headset telling stories, so I got up to give it to him, then he lay back down with it right next to me. Sammy then was up as well, and soon Tammy also woke up. Randy got up somewhere around 8 am; I lay in bed a little longer and got up to clean them up and dress them after they were done eating. We were ready to leave the house earlier than needed, then left the house at 9:15 am.
It was raining a little bit, so the kids took their new umbrellas with them and were happy to get a chance to use them. Emmy has a firefighter Sam umbrella, and Tammy a princess one. We walked to the subway, rode it for only two stops, then walked to the bus stop right there. It was really cold, and we were all freezing and still had over 10 minutes to wait for the bus. And so we went inside the pharmacy right there to warm up. We looked around at some things and bought some cough sirup, then left again to go catch the bus. We rode the bus for about 15 minutes before we arrived the big shopping mall. We got off and walked to the entrance as quickly as possible, given the rain and the cold.
We had gone to this same shopping mall last year, and because of how great it was, we came back this year. However, it was not as good as last year by far. When we walked in, we saw the long line right away, even though it wasn't quite 10 am yet, which was when the program started. Randy and Sammy stayed in line, while I started walking with Tammy and Emmy to see whether there was face-painting and crafts like last year. We only walked in one direction from there, and there was nothing, so we returned. Just as we returned, they were starting the Easter egg hunt. And the line was moving pretty quickly.
We rejoined Randy and Sammy and saw that the Easter bunny were at the front of the line, taking pictures with kids. Last year our kids had been terrified of it. This year Emmy still said in advance that he was gonna be scared of it, and he was, but he didn't cry and scream and shake like last year. Tammy, however, was not afraid any more. I took her to the Easter bunny and took a picture. Emmy wanted Daddy to hold him, and you can see the scared look on his face. Sammy was also scared and gripping my hand, but was not crying.
Then we had reached the front of the line. They gave the kids a basket each and gave the instructions that they could each get three items. We walked into the ocean of white balloons, but didn't see any hidden eggs or candy anywhere. As we walked on, we saw that they had three stations with baskets full of wafers, and the kids got to take three and put them into their baskets. At the exit, the helpers there put a colored real egg into a paper bag with the three packs of wafers and gave them to the kids. Last year it had been much more beautiful and more exiting for the kids.
Walking out of there, the stations for face-painting were set up right there and so we lined up for that. The kids sat down on a bench and started eating their new wafers. They had more people painting faces this year, so the line was moving much faster. However, last year they'd had professionals, while they did not do a very good job this year. When we reached the front of the line, Sammy went first. This was the very first time he was ready to also get his face painted, which surprised me. It was a big deal. I told her to paint a horse on his cheek, something that would not take too long. She looked a picture up online and then painted it on his cheek. It was looking alright. Then Tammy sat down with the same lady and told her she wanted to be a princess.
While it was Sammy's turn, Emmy sat down with another lady. For some reason that I still don't know, he wanted to be a fox. While she was doing his face, the MC came over and started interviewing Emmy. He had a microphone and had been talking from the very beginning, walking around everywhere. He asked Emmy what he was. Then he came over to where Sammy and Tammy were. When I told him they were triplets, he put the microphone in my face and asked some questions.
Once Tammy was done, we left there. None of them looked that great, but I tried to take a good picture of the three of them. We continued walking to the crafts station right there. There was plenty of room to sit down, and all three sat down next to each other. They had different colored cardboard and scissors that cut a wavy line. The kids were supposed to cut out an egg and then color it with crayons. Tammy tried to cut, but it was too hard. I ended up cutting all three eggs out, and they colored them. Then they put a hole in them and a string so you can hang it up.
We were done, and it was only 11 am, so too early to have lunch. What to do? I needed a bathroom, so we walked in that direction. It turned out to be upstairs, so I took the escalator up, and Tammy and Emmy came with me. They had cool pictures of over-sized animals on the wall that the kids looked at. When we came out of the bathroom, there were Randy and Sammy. Sammy does not like to be left behind.
When we left there, the kids saw the other full-sized animal "Happy" come up the stairs. Emmy was scared again, but not Tammy. She walked over to it and hugged it, then I took a picture of her with it. The Easter bunny was also coming upstairs, and Tammy gave him a high five. Emmy was too scared to come close.
As it was still early, we decided to just walk on and see what there was. We got to a small caroussel that the kids got onto. There was another boy on there, and his Mom put money in, so that it started turning, much to the kids' delight. Sammy and Emmy were together in the little car, and we asked Emmy to put his arm around Sammy to make sure he would not fall out.
From there we continued walking and took the elevator back down at the other end of the mall. Once downstairs there was a police car that all three kids got into. We then put a coin in to make it move, and Sammy was happy that he had the spot with the button to make the sirene come on. When it stopped moving and I picked up Sammy to put him back into his wheelchair, he was screaming and trying to scratch me as he wanted to stay in the car. We took the elevator back up, with him still screaming, and reached a supermarkt restaurant that we had decided to go to instead of going to McDonald's again. Sammy was calming down, but now it was Tammy who had a fit because she wanted to go to McDonald's. I was trying to choose what meals to get, with her standing next to me screaming. An employee asked what was wrong with her. Then I saw that they also had something similar to a Happy Meal, a treasure box. Once I showed it to her, she stopped crying and got excited about the box. I ordered two as well as meals for us adults, paid, and we sat down. The box included chicken nuggets, fries, a drink, an apple and a toy, and they were perfect. Emmy got a little car, and Tammy tatoo stickers. They were dinosaurs, so not ideal, but she still liked them. Once we got home, she put one on each hand, and gave one to the boys each to put on their hands.
Once we were done eating, it was time to start our long journey home. We had just missed a miss, so we had time, as it only ran every thirty minutes. We walked back to the elevators on the other end of the mall that we had first used to go up. Randy then changed Emmy's diaper, while I went inside a store with Tammy and Sammy to buy something I needed. Then we continued on our way. The kids wanted balloons, and we happened to see some in a store, so they each got one. Then we walked back out into the cold, crossed the parking lot, and waited for our bus at the bus stop. We then got on, rode it back to the subway, and rode the subway home.
It was 1:15, when we got home, so nap time for them. By 1:30 they were in bed, and I was soon able to leave their side and lie down myself. The afternoon is once again blurry, as I was so very tired. However, it was Randy who woke me up today, much to my dismay, as I needed to catch up on sleep so bad. He came into the room and dropped Sammy on me. That ended all chance of sleep. And then I had to got up as Tammy wanted her tattoos put on. Randy then took them downstairs, and It turned my computer on to work. It was about 4 pm at that point. And I enjoyed having nearly 2 hours of nearly undisturbed work.
Just before 6 pm Randy and the kids came upstairs. I gave them the devices they asked for to watch stuff and soon went to the kitchen to start making their dinner. They were eating at the table at first, then continued in the bathtub. Then we got them ready for bed, and I sat down with them to read them Bible stories. I prayed for them and then flew them into bed. It was just after 8 pm, when I sat down by them. I stayed for a while, then Randy took my place, and I went to the kitchen to get something to eat. After having eaten, I went back to work. Now it's 2 am and time to go to bed. We have another early departure in the morning.
