Day 1775. The boys were up early, as usual, then Randy got up to make their breakfast and start tidying and packing up. When I got up, I started packing the suitcases, which is my job. We were working hard on getting everything ready, and Randy loaded everything into the car. It all took a while, and so it was nearly 11 am by the time we drove off.
Instead of going straight to Vienna, we drove north to go to a Fairy Tale Park I had found online. Surprisingly, it was not a detour but took the same amount of time to go to Vienna that way. It was 12:15 pm, when we pulled into the parking lot there. It was a family who had started setting up fairy tale stations in the woods behind their restaurant. As time went on, they added more and more, including rides. I've actually never seen a self-service amusement park before, i.e. self-service rides. An adult just had to keep standing on the machine where you turn it on for it to keep going.
But first it was time to eat. We walked in, paid for the fairy tale park, and sat down in the restaurant. We ordered our food and ate. The kids also checked out everything that was right there before the meal. There was a jumping castle, but it was in the sun, and the kids said that it was burning hot so that you could not jump on it. Then there was a little fairy tale house, and there were goats, including a very pregnant one. Tammy went into the container with the building blocks, but came out quickly once she'd spotted a spider. There was another little house with a big, red button. The kids were too scared to push the button, so I did. It simply started playing music.
After having eaten, Tammy ended up pushing a little boy in a little toy car. It was too cute. Then it was time for us to finally walk into the park. It went uphill right away, and the whole park was on the side of the mountain. It was a real challenge for the wheelchair, not just the steep paths but also the different soils. Once we walked into the woods, it was at least pleasant that it was not that hot any more but pleasantly cooler.
We pushed the wheelchair up the hill and walked through the official entry. We had received a treasure map that had all the stations and paths marked on it, including questions for the kids to answer. In the end, they could go online and participate in a drawing for a prize. They were excited every time they saw another quiz questions, and they were usually easy enough for them to answer.
First, there was a pirate castle and ship, and the kids could climb up nets. They did, but then Tammy started crying because she was unable to come back down. Thankfully she wasn't too high so that Randy could help her down.
The pirate castle had the first self-service ride, and it took us a little time to figure out all the steps. Randy and Emmy went in first; it was only for two people. Then it started. Their car was pulled up to the top on one side and then let go off, so that it went back and forth a few times until it came to a stop back on the bottom. Tammy said she didn't want to do it, but then she did after all - and did not like it, much to my surprise. Sammy was eager to do it, and he went sitting with Daddy, with Emmy on the other seat. Emmy couldn't get enough of it and wanted to keep going, but there was so much more to explore.
We continued going uphill and found a track to slide down on sitting on wheels. Randy pulled the wheels up for them, then they sat down in them and went down the track. They enjoyed it. In the meantime Sammy and I were looking at the little houses there, and he enjoyed pushing the buttons to make them talk, sing and move. Tammy and Emmy joined us there after they were done. Then they found a diamond mine there and started looking for precious stones and came out with a handful each.
We walked on and got to a flying caroussel. Tammy and Emmy were excited, and Sammy wanted to do it too, but we were a little worried that he would fall out and so we didn't take the risk. He would probably have been okay. They were flying round and round and higher and higher. After two minutes they came back down. The kids did the ride twice. Randy and Sammy were walking on to the next little building with a button and a story.
We then all continued going uphill. There was a small, windowless building with a cool game. It was dark and lasers were blocking he path. I pushed the "easy" button. You could to avoid the lasers and get to the treasure at the end of the path, but surprisingly, the kids were scared and didn't want to do it. Maybe it was the dark and fluroescent drawings on the wall. I ended up doing it myself to show them there was nothing to it, but it didn't convince them, so we left.
We walked into the woods where the historic fairy tale trail started. Every few meters there was another fairy tale displayed, always with a button to tell the story. You could tell they had put a lot of love and effort into the displays. They were very well done. We walked all the way to the end, then turned around.
It was time to go to the new part of the park, where all the rides were. First there was a long slide, which was the fastest way down anyway. Randy went to get some sacks to sit on, then walked to the top with the three kids, while I took the wheelchair down to the end on the path. All three had lots of fun going down the slide, and they did it twice.
Then they climbed a little in this climbing construct, then went on the trampoline, but it was too hot. They got on the next ride, which was just going round and round, up and down. We dared to put Sammy in this time, and he enjoyed it. It was pretty slow, and so Tammy was bored quickly and just wanted out.
The next ride was just going round and round, and all three did it. They could already see that the next ride was a boat ride on water, and they were eager to get on. I helped them get into the boats and start and stop the ride. They were just going round and round on the water.
We had finally reached the last part of the park. There were some little puzzles and some climbing stuff. They had a toilet with a guy in it and a button. When you pushed the button, the guy complained about being disturbed and suddenly a stream of water came out of there to get us wet. It was really funny, and the kids pushed the button several times. There was also a board with holes for the head and arms that made it look like you were tied up in there, showing legs stick out on the bottom. There was also a gold-digging area, and the kids tried their luck and saw some specks.
We had been in the park for over 3 hours and were hot and tired - at least we adults. We started walking back in the direction of the entrance and got to a small kids' caroussel that they rode on, but it was pretty slow. Then there was a flying caroussel for one person at the time. It was actually mechanical. I put Tammy in first, and then you had to give it a shove for it to go round and round. All three were enjoying it.
I was glad we were finally done. We walked through the exit and walked down to the restaurant and the exit of the building. We needed some cold drinks that we bought there, and then the kids each got a promotional box from kinderhotels that had some goodies in it. They were excited.
We walked back to the car and loaded up. We had been there for 3.5 hours and were ready to finally start the last leg of the journey going all the way home.
I had given Emmy some fever-lowering sirup, when we left Klagefurt, so he could enjoy the fairy tale park, but it had finally worn off. It didn't take long for him to fall asleep in the car. Sammy was so excited about the box that he kept pulling items out, holding them out and shouting "look" at us. He and Tammy were then on their tablets, but soon Sammy was bored. In total, it was a 2 hour 15 minute trip to our house. Sammy was getting very cranky, and so I had to get creative to play with him and make him laugh. I made him believe that he was pushing a button that made my window open up, while I was the one actually opening it. He had so much fun, laughing all the time, and Daddy never complained about the window opening and closing all the time.
Before we went to our house, we first stopped at a gas station to fill up the car, then went home. It was nearly 6:30 pm. Randy parked in front of the house to unload, while I took the kids to the apartment. Emmy put his pj's on right away and went to bed - with his tablet for a while. He didn't want to eat anything. I got some food for the other two that they ate. Then I put them in the bathtub and got them ready for bed. I was on my own, as Randy had left right after unloading the car to drive the car back to the rental place and return it. I then put the other two kids to bed as well and sat down by them. Emmy was still awake. And when I touched Sammy, I could tell that he now had a fever as well. I ended up giving both boys some fever sirup to sleep better. Sammy was tired, but he was whining and at times even crying for Daddy. He was just falling asleep, when Daddy finally returned. He was really happy and soon asleep, with Daddy sitting right next to him. Being relieved of duty, I got myself something to eat and then sat down to start working on the pictures. Randy was so exhausted that he went to bed early, while I continued working on the pictures and reports. By 1 am I could not go on any longer and had to go to bed.
