Day 1323. Emmy was up first this morning, as usual, and then Sammy woke up right after Emmy had made some noise. Tammy was sleeping in our bed once again, even though I had taken her back to her bed at some point during the night. Around 8 am Randy got up to make breakfast, as we needed to be ready by 9:15. After they had eaten, I cleaned them up and dressed them. And then our special guest arrived just before 9:15.
From age 9 months or so to 2,5 years old Sonja was the most important person for the kids after us. A year ago she found a job and came rarely at first, but now she hadn't been to our house in about 6 months, and we'd hardly ever seen her at church. And so it was extra special for her to finally come visit us again. The kids were excited and had a great day with her, and they've already said they're hoping she'll be back soon.
When she rang the bell, the kids opened the door and ran to greet her. All three were very excited. We finished getting them ready and left the house together to walk to the bus stop which was a good distance away. Once there we still had some time to wait. Thankfully it was a sunny day, and it was finally a little warmer than it had been.
We got on the bus, rode it for a while, and then got off by the flower gardens. Last year we had also gone there on Easter Monday and were disappointed by how little there was. This year we could tell right away that there lots more people, and there also more open stands there. Not only that, there was a carrousel, a blow-up castle to jump on and a flying caroussel. We first passed them to see whether there was an Easter Egg Hunt, but I guess those don't take place after Easter Sunday. The area was abandoned. There was a crafts station, but you had to pay to do it. And so we walked back to the carrousel.
More and more children gathered there, and so the carrousel was actually full. Emmy got on the motorbike, and Tammy the spinning cup, while Randy put Sammy on another motorbike. They were having fun going round and round. The blow-up castle and flying carrousel were using the same tickets, and so wended up buying 8 tickets in total, as it was cheaper that way. Emmy wanted to go on the flying carrousel, and I was surprised when Tammy didn't. It was Emmy's very first time, so I wasn't sure how he'd like it, but he loved it and was laughing as he was going round and round. Tammy preferred going on the blow-up castle to jump, but her joy didn't last long. I guess she wanted to jump together with her brother, who then went up as well to jump. However, he accidentally hurt another boy younger than him who was crying as a consequence. When I asked Emmy to apologize to him, Emmy started crying and with that it was over for him. He didn't want to jump any more.
Sammy got on the carrousel for another round, and then I still had one ticket left. As Tammy had no interest, Emmy used it for the carrousel. Only once he was doing his rounds did Tammy come to me asking to go on the flying carrousel, and I had to tell her that there were no tickets left.
Of course Sammy cried hard again, when he had to get off the carrousel, as he was having so much fun. When he's upset like that, it's really hard to get him into the wheelchair.
We continued walking and walked again into the hall, where the crafts were. It was only then that I realized that you had to pay to do them, and so we walked on. Now it was Tammy who was upset, as she loves doing crafts and really wanted to do them. However, we continued walking to go to the playground.
It's a really big playground with lots of different things to do, and the kids ran to go play. I put Sammy onto a bee on a spring and made him move, which he really enjoyed. Then we walked over to where his siblings were and let him go down the slide a couple of times. When I saw that the baby swing was free, I walked over there with him and put him in. He loves the swing and had lots of fun in there. Sonja stayed with him, while I got Emmy and Tammy, who started climbing on the ropes and then up the ropes to a metal tunnel. Emmy went in first and walked through it without any issues, but to my greatest surprise Tammy was too scared to go through, which is not like her at all. Maybe some memories from when they were too little and tried to go through? When Emmy noticed her fear, he suddenly got scared as well and turned around just before he had reached the other end. Emmy then went on to go jump on the big blow-up hill, while Tammy went into the round swing. She wanted me to push her really high, and I did, much to her delight. Then Emmy joined her, and then Sammy joined them as well, and they were all having fun.
Then we decided to move on. We still wanted to go see the animals that they have there. We had only been to the animals once before, and back then we could not see the rabbits. I hoped we'd see them today. We actually went straight to them first. They were inside a building, and we could only look through the bars inside. All of them were just sitting there. Tammy really wanted to pet them. The chickens were right there as well, and Sammy had been looking forward to seeing them. They were pretty big. Then we saw goats as well as little animals running around on the ground. We walked on and saw sheep, then more goats. Then we had reached the other end of the gardens, and it was the perfect time to leave.
We started walking, having to conquer a few blocks to make it to the bus stop. It was a bus that ran only every half hour so time was of the essence, and we had plenty of it. Once at the bus stop, the kids wanted to watch videos, and I started the children's songs that Sammy likes to much, and all three of them were watching them. The bus arrived at 11:38, and we got on. It took us all the way to the big bus, subway and train stop near our house. From there we walked home, where we arrived just before noon.
I had put a chicken into the oven before leaving home in the morning, so it was ready. I still had to make rice with vegetables, and so Sonja and the kids went downstairs. The kids had so much to show her after the many months she hadn't been to our house. I could hear them having fun and laugh, while I was in the kitchen working. At 12:30 they came back upstairs to eat. We were having a great time having lunch together with Sonja. After the main dish, they all dug into the chocolates of their Easter baskets, and Randy had also bought some cake. Emmy called it an "Easter cake", and everyone had some. Then it was time for bed. I cleaned them up and dressed them, and Tammy and Emmy both wanted to put their costumes on (princess and Ryder). Then they all went to bed. They were complaining, saying they wanted to be with Sonja, and I told them the sooner they'd sleep the sooner they'd be up again to go play with Sonja. It took a little time, but then they finally fell asleep.
I left them and lay down in bed myself. Just after 2 pm I closed my eyes to get a nap, as I was very tired. I was hopeful that I'd get a better and longer nap with Sonja in the house, but that was not the case, unfortunately. At 3:30 pm I was woken up, and I wasn't just very tired, I also had a headache. I took my time getting up and getting ready for my 5 pm student. The kids were downstairs with Sonja, while Randy was working on organizing clothes. I then taught from 5 to 6 pm. Before I was done, the kids were already upstairs. After I was done, the kids got their different devices to watch or play stuff, while I talked to Sonja a little and went to the kitchen to get their food ready. After a few minutes Sonja said her goodbyes and left, promising to not wait another 6 months before coming back. The kids started eating, then continued eating in the bathtub. Then we got them out one after another and ready for bed. They were eager for me to read them Bible stories, which I did. Then I prayed for them and flew them into bed. It was just after 8 pm. I sat down by them, and for the next half hour they were all talking about all kinds of things, and I was engaging with them. Then I encouraged them to stop talking and to sleep. After Randy had finished eating, he took my place. Sammy was then overactive again, as if to upset Daddy on purpose. Eventually they all fell asleep. I got myself something to eat, ate, and then went back to work. Now it's 1 am and time to finish the kitchen and go to bed. I can really feel the last few intense days.
