Day 1315. This morning it was Sammy who was up first, and we gave him the headset with the children's songs. Emmy asked for it later, and at 8 am my alarm went off, so Randy got up to make their breakfast and change their diapers. They haven't been eating much of Randy's oatmeal made with hot water and jam recently, so it may be time to change it up. After breakfast I cleaned them up and dressed them, and at 9 am we left the house together.
It was a windy and rainy day today. We took the subway to the end, then still had to take a tram. For once the elevator there was working. And the tram was just arriving, when we got off. We still had quite a long ride on the tram ahead of us. Once we got off, we needed to walk a little, then we got to our destination, and we were ten minutes early. The indoor playground only opened at 10 am. As it was raining a little, we moved closer to the door to be under a roof. The kids got pretty impatient waiting for the doors to open, but then the moment had come, and they ran inside.
We were quite up front in the line, paid the entry fee once it was our turn, then went to take off our coats and shoes. The kids were impatient to go inside to start exploring everything, and ran off with cheers of joy. They'd been there once before, but because it's so far, it's been a while since then. And today they had a special event, as they're usually not open on a Sunday. They called it a kids' disco, playing kids' songs and animating them to dance. To make room, they had let the air out of the big blow-up slides which was pretty disappointing. Instead they put up some mats on the ground for the kids to dance on.
But first it was play time. They were running around, checking everything out, and as the room filled with kids, it was sometimes hard to keep track of where they were. I had Sammy much of the time, which meant the other two were Randy's responsability. He had been talking about the pool of balls all day and was impatient to get in, so I took him there first. He wasn't as excited as I had thought, though - not at that point. I then put him on different rocking and moving things, then we went to a little train, where Emmy already was, and I put Sammy next to his brother. Then the music started, so I put Sammy back into his wheelchair to dance with him. We could not motivate the other two kids to participate in the dancing at first - later Tammy changed her mind and did. Sammy thought the music was too loud, and so we left the room and went outside to the little library. We then looked at a few books together. Then we went inside the little baby room where they had a toy kitchen, which is something Sammy loves. He played there for some time, then more and more people came, and Sammy was ready to leave.
We moved on to the crafts table. It was really just a table with coloring sheets and crayons, and Sammy started drawing. After some time Tammy came out and joined us. She really likes to draw. I then left Randy with them and checked on Emmy who enjoyed climbing around, and I played with him a little. Then Randy came to me with Sammy, telling me that he was asking for me, and so I took him again. I put him back on the little car, and he started going all around the big room with it. He was doing a great job moving. Then the music started again after the break. It was a "polonaise", a dance where you form a long line of people holding on to the shoulders of the person in front of them, and I got Tammy to join Sammy and me at the end of the line. When the next song started, I danced with Sammy. This time he didn't complain about it being too loud. And I could watch Tammy dancing by herself, which was a lot of fun to watch.
Then Sammy wanted to go back to the balls, so I took him there. Once he'd discovered the slide, he did not want to go anywhere else any more. We stayed there until the very end. I put him inside the tunnels of the climbing construct, which he enjoyed, then I helped him get to the entrance of the slide. He slid down head-first on his belly, right into the balls, only his legs sticking out. He stayed like that without moving, and so I started panicking, as I could not get to him to pull him out. I finally somehow made my way across my obstacles into the ballpit and pulled him out. He was laughing and not in any distress at all. He wanted to go again, and again, and again, and who knows how many times he ended up going up and down. I finally stayed inside the ballpit, which made it a lot easier. Tammy and Emmy also joined us at some point. Sammy's speed was never as fast again as that first time. He was barely sliding, so I suggested maybe he'd slide better on his back. From then on he'd turn on his back, sliding down head-first, and he was laughing hard every single time he went down that way. I'm sure it's a 3-digit number, how many times he went down that slide. Finally they started giving signals that the end was near, and so we pulled away and went back to our stuff to put coats and shoes back on. The kids had had such a great time playing there! But they were not only tired but also hungry, and we still had to take the tram to get to McDonald's.
We left and walked back to the tram. On the tram, Tammy and Emmy were watching videos, while I was trying to keep Sammy happy (and succeeded). We finally reached our destination, got off and crossed the street to go to McDonald's. We got there just before 1 pm and were able to get our usual seats, even though it was completely packed with people. I ordered, then Randy picked up the order, and we had a good time eating together. At 1:45 we left to go home.
It was raining harder by then, but we did not have far to go to the elevator. We took the subway, where the kids were watching videos again, and got home just after 2 pm. It was high time for bed! They went straight to bed, protesting somewhat but clearly tired. I sat down by them and could soon leave their sides, as they had fallen asleep.
By 2:30 I was also able to lie down for a much-needed nap, and was surprised, when it was after 4 pm, when Emmy woke me up. It was pretty late, and we had already ruled out going to church tonight. Randy gave them snacks and went downstairs with them to play. I would have liked to sleep longer, but enjoyed being able to move slowly instead of having to watch the clock and rush to a student. I soon started working, but only had just over an hour. It wasn't even 6 pm yet, when Randy and the kids came back upstairs. Randy had found a gocart he wanted for the kids and had made a pick up appointment, and so he left a few minutes later. As for the kids, Emmy was watching firefighter Sam, his favorite show now, Tammy was playing a Peppa Pig game, and Sammy was listening to kids' songs. I spent a few more minutes working on the computer, then went to the kitchen to make their dinner. They then sat down at the table to start eating, while continuing with the same activities. Then they all went into the bathtub, where they continued eating. Then I got them out one after another, starting with Sammy, and got them ready for bed. After I was done with Sammy, Emmy and Tammy came out at the same time, and so I put them next to each other on the changing table. They hadn't been up there together in a long time and thought it was fun. What great pictures! I got them both ready for bed, then we read some Bible stories together, before I prayed for them and put them to bed. It was about 8:30 by the time we were done. Sammy was already antsy, wanting his Daddy, and I told him he was on the subway on the way home. It took until 9 pm, before Randy got home, and all three ran to greet him. Of course at least the other two were more interested in the gocart, but all three checked it out closely. Then it was really time for them to go to bed. I sat with them, but Sammy wanted Daddy, and so he took my place. I went to the kitchen to start making my salad, which takes a long time, then sat down to eat. After having eaten, I went back to work, starting with today's pictures. Now it's going on 1:30 am, and I still have to clean the kitchen before going to bed.
