Day 1809. Randy left with Tammy and Emmy just after 8 am to take them to kindergarten, while Sammy would not let me sleep but wanted my attention, wanted to play with the fan and watch videos of the three of them. Just before 9:30 I told him I had to get ready for my 10 am student, and so he started watching children's songs on his tablet. When Randy returned around 9:45 am, he went downstairs with Sammy, and I then started teaching.
I only had one student in the morning, but I had to cook, so I went to the kitchen to make lunch after I was done. Sammy was already back upstairs, and Randy left earlier today, at about 11:45, to go pick up Tammy and Emmy. Sammy and I then had lunch, once it was ready. At 1:15 Randy and the other kids returned home. Emmy was tired and upset, when his tablet had run out of energy. At 2 pm we all left the house together.
We went to the train station and took the 2:10 pm train in the opposite direction from the one we usually go, but we already got off at the next stop, so it was not far from us. Then the question was how to get from the platform to street level, as that's a very complicated and confusing train and tram stop there, especially with the wheelchair. It was already 2:15, and their class was starting at 2:30 pm. We took the elevator down to where the tram was going under the bridge, but you could not walk out of there. There was only an escalator up to street level, so we took it, including Randy with Sammy in the wheelchair. Once we had reached street level, we could already see the climbing hall right there, and I was glad that we were on the right track. We just had to do a little bit of walking to get to the hall.
We walked in and told them our names that they ticked off the list of the attendees of the climbing try-out. She then told us to just wait right there, and that the teacher was gonna pick us all up right there. We still had 10 minutes. There was a sign right there and Tammy wanted to climb up on it. I told her to ask the receptionist and Tammy - knowing no fear - went over there, barely able to see over the counter, and asked the lady whether she could climb up. She said yes, and Tammy was excited and went all the way to the top. She kept saying how she couldn't wait for the class to start. Emmy was less enthusiastic, but also climbed up the sign, though not to the top.
At 2:30 the lady teacher arrived and greeted everyone. Then she told us to follow her inside the hall. Randy and Sammy had to go a different way, as there was a barrier and steps. I went in with Tammy and Emmy and all the others. Once inside the huge and high hall, we went up a staircase to smaller climbing walls for kids. They also had the kids' climbing shoes there and gave all the kids a pair to put on. I helped them put them on. By then Randy and Sammy had also entered the hall, and Randy was getting Sammy out of the wheelchair to carry him up the staircase to where we were. Sammy wanted me again, but I also wanted to see what the others were doing and to take pictures and videos. I took Sammy to the climbing wall there that no one was using and had some fun with him. Then Randy took him; I still entertained him somewhat, but after half an hour there he'd had enough. I asked him whether he wanted to go to the playground, and he said yes. So Randy and Sammy left. The nearby playground wasn't much of a success, and then the wind started picking up, announcing a storm, and so Randy took Sammy home.
Tammy and Emmy started climbing up the kids' wall. They had to climb up and then sideways, and Tammy did the whole length, including climbing around corners, She was doing great! Emmy only climbed up a little and soon jumped back down. The teacher did a few games with them, where they had to hide something on the handles or find stuff, and the kids were having fun. Then she put harnesses on them, and off we all went downstairs to the high wall with ropes to secure the climbers. She told all the kids who were not climbing to hold the rope and had one kid climb up a little, then she showed them how to come back down by holding the rope and putting their legs on the wall. One kid after the other went up with the others securing them. Tammy was the fastest and went the highest. I could not believe my eyes watching her! I had not expected her to be the climber. When they were little, I always thought it was Emmy. She had no fear of heights and just went up and up. The teacher stopped her and told her how to get back down. Then it was Emmy's turn, and he was barely taller than the teacher, when he already stopped to come back down. They all got to climb up twice, and it was pretty much the same thing on their second go around.
We then went back upstairs, where she had a few more games for them, then the class was over. The kids took their climbing shoes off, and when Tammy put her sandals back on, one of them broke. They were old, but her favorites. We left the hall as a group, then left the building to walk back to the train and make the 4:15 pm train. It had been a 90 minute class. Because of Tammy's shoe, I put her on my shoulders, but she's pretty heavy now with her 18 kilos or so. We found our way back to the platform and still had plenty of time to wait for our train. Randy called and reminded me that I had brought sports shoes for the kids, so Tammy was able to put those on.
It was just after 4:20 pm by the time we were back home. I had a 4:30 pm student, so I had to turn my computer on right away. The kids went downstairs with Randy but came back upstairs once I was done an hour later. They'd had too many snacks to be hungry, so I only started making dinner just after 6 pm. It was the beginning of our evening routine. Now it's after 1 am and I have yet to do the dishes. Tomorrow I have a long day ahead of me.
