Day 1336. Emmy was up first as usual, then Sammy, and Tammy was fast asleep next to me, finally waking up because of the noise Emmy was making. When my alarm went off at 8 am, they were all up already, and Randy had also just gotten up.
We left the house at 9 am to take the 9:20 train. Is was the warmest day yet this year, but for the last time as the cold is returning tomorrow. After the train we took a tram for two stops, then walked the rest of the way. Emmy and Sammy were holding hands while walking, which was really cute and not the only time today. And then Tammy took Emmy's hand, so that all three were holding hands.
We reached the swimming pool, paid, and changed into our swimsuits. Then we walked inside and into the water. The kids were so excited to be in the water again! And like last week, they were prepared for their exam today. It's the first on the scale of exams, and it's called the "octopus" exam.
The teacher started with the greeting song, then handed out the rings to them, and they had to swim through a tunnel by themselves three times. Then they had to climb out of the pool and jump into the water several times. Emmy even jumped without needing to hold a hand with the teacher, but then he wanted to hold our hands again. Tammy definitely needed no hands to jump in. Sammy sat on the edge of the pool and "jumped" into the water from there. Tammy and Emmy could not get enough of jumping today, and Emmy said that he does not mind diving any more but now likes it, and today his actions confirmed that.
The teacher asked them some questions about how to behave, when it comes to swimming, that they needed to know for their exam. I later saw that it is not really a requirement. She asked everyone at once, and it was Emmy who shouted out his answers as we had reviewed them a few times. At the end of the class she did the good-bye song, and then we all left the pool so they could get their pins that show that they passed the test. I put Emmy's and Tammy's on their bathing suits and took their picture. The kids were eager to get back into the water, and so we went in. Sammy was cold, and so Randy stayed outside with him for some time before they also went into the water. And then Emmy had lost his pin. I found it on the bottom of the pool, but the back was gone. Later I put their pins on their T-shirts, and Tammy lost the back as well, but we have the front, and Emmy ripped a huge hole into one of his favorite shirts because he was playing with the pin until it tore the shirt.
The two kids would have loved to stayed longer, but Sammy was cold, and so we finally left, showered off, and dressed them. Then we walked back to the tram stop.
There were dandelions everywhere in the grass, and Tammy and Emmy started picking them. Emmy then handed me his flowers, telling me it was for my birthday (which is mid-May). Tammy kept hers. We then took the tram for four stops and had reached the McDonald's we go to after swimming. I ordered, Randy picked it up, and then we had lots of fun eating together. While Tammy once ate all her chicken nuggets and still refuses to try a Hamburger, she ate only half a nugget today, once again, and lots of fries.
After we were done, we took the subway for one stop - much to Sammy's delight - and then went to the train platform, where we did not have to wait for our train too long. The kids were watching videos and continued to do so on the train.
By 12:30 we were back home. There was still time until nap time, but because of their behavior I told them no more videos. And so they ended up listening to a few fairy tales on CD until nap time at 1:15 pm. Then I sat down by them, and by 1:30 I was able to leave them to lie down myself. Tammy was the only one not asleep yet and called for me, but soon fell asleep. By 2 pm I was also able to close my eyes and fall asleep.
It was highly unusual today that it was Tammy who was the first one up from their nap, at around 3 pm. Sammy then woke up next, and they were both with Daddy, as I could hear. Emmy was still asleep, very unusual. At about 3:15 he walked into my room and said he had slept really well. Eventually I got up myself and went to the kitchen to make their dinner-to-go boxes for church. They never went downstairs but played upstairs. After I was done in the kitchen, we started dressing them and getting them ready for church. Just after 4:30 pm we left our house.
We walked to the train station to take the 4:50 train, then we took a tram for quite some time to go to church. After we got off, we still had to walk up the hill to get to church. And suddenly Anna was next to us. What a nice surprise! Sammy had been talking about her and was looking forward to seeing her, and there she was. He was holding hands with her walking up the hill for part of the walk. We got to church just before 5:30, and the service starts at 5 pm with announcements.
We went to the front of the church, and Anna stayed around for a while. The kids got some streamers and started dancing on the side of the church. I ended up filming them for longer than usual, as I enjoyed watching them dance in worship. Sammy was out of the wheelchair and partly with Anna and partly with Daddy, and I also had him for quite some time, as he wanted to be with me. I danced with him, throwing him around and making him laugh. I guess that's why he wants to be with Mommy, as Daddy doesn't do that. Then a guy came up to me and asked whether he could pray for Sammy, and we agreed to let him.
At 5:45 it was time to go upstairs. I couldn't find the person who let us have the elevator key last time, so I had to walk up to somebody else to get us on. For that we had to walk to the other side of the sanctuary, and then there was Sonja. When Emmy saw her, he ran to her, and Sonja picked him up. But we only had a moment, as we had to go to the elevator. We rode it up to the level, where the rooms for the kids are, and went into the toddler room.
There were already other kids up there. I got Sammy out of the chair and to the play kitchen that he loves so much. Emmy found a ball on a rubber cord that he enjoyed playing with. Tammy found her dolls that she started taking care of. Before we knew it it was 6 pm and time for the program. And so we all sat down in a circle on the floor. We did the greeting song, then the individual greeting song, where the teaching Mom goes from kid to kid singing to them, then she had the hand puppet sheep kiss them, and they wanted to cuddle with it. She also had a big heart pillow that the kids got to cuddle with.
Then all the kids got to take a Bible that we did the Bible song with, holding it high up into the air. Next the teacher started her teaching. Sammy started saying he was hungry, and so he was getting more and more cranky. I finally got up, put him back into his chair, and slowly rolled him over to the tables. I got his lunch box out, and he started eating, while the others were still finishing the program. Then the other two kids also came over to us and started playing, turning down joining the rest of the class in praying for two absent kids.
When they all sat down to eat, they didn't want to eat either. Sammy then also wanted to play. At some point I got Tammy to sit down and eat a little bit, even though he kept asking for the promised paper to draw. When Emmy saw that there was birthday cake, he also came to the table to have some. Then Tammy finally got her paper and colored it completely, doing a good job.
Randy returned before 7 pm, and we soon started tidying up and putting their shoes back on to go see Anna, which Sammy was especially excited about, even though he had already seen her. I went down the staircase with Sammy, as we did not have the elecator key, which was not a problem. They then played with Anna a little, but were already asking for Sonja. So Tammy, Emmy and I went to the other side of the room where she was. Later Randy and Sammy also joined us. Sonja was happy to see us, and we her. I gave her an invitation to my birthday party, and we talked with her a little bit. After a while we decided it was time to leave. And so we put their coats on and left to walk back to the tram stop.
We were lucky as we did not have to wait long for the tram. Tammy and Emmy started eating their food while watching videos, while Sammy had finished all his food at church. They continued on the tram, and then finished their food while waiting for the train. I was glad we'd made the 8 pm train, so that we were home not long after 8 pm.
We started getting them ready for bed right away, and then I still read them a few Bible stories upon their request. I prayed for them, flew them into their beds, and sat down by them. They were still talking at first, but I encouraged them to stop talking as it was approaching 9 pm, and then it was after 9 pm. Randy then sat down by them with his plate of food, while I went to the kitchen to make myself something to eat. By the time I was done, they were asleep. I sat down to eat, and then started working on today's pictures. Now it's nearly 2 am, and I still have to clean up the kitchen before going to bed.
