Day 1525. Last night we turned our clocks back, which meant gaining an heart, which I was really thankful for, especially as we had to get up early. My alarm went off at 7:30, when all three kids were already awake and up. Actually, Emmy had taken Sammy's braces of by himself for the first time and helped him out of bed. We got up, had breakfast, and got ready to leave the house just after 8:30 am.
We had two options how to go to the other end of town, and Randy chose the train ride followed by the long walk, rather than 2 subways and a bus. We got to the third district by 9:15, and then had a 15-minute walk to the Austrian state TV broadcasting center. It was actually on top of a hill, so much of our walk was uphill. At one point there was even a staircase, but there was a ramp to walk around it. It was foggy, and the streets were empty and quiet.
We finally reached the Austrian TV station and lined up with the other families waiting to get inside for the special event. A few minutes later they let us in, and we had to walk up another hill to get to the main entrance. Once inside, we lined up to register and were given a card for each child. It had six stations on it that they had to accomplish and get stamps for before it was time to watch Kasperl, which was the main attraction. Face-painting was the first station we saw, and so we lined up there right away. Tammy was really excited. We didn't have to wait very long, as the two young ladies were not professionals, but only had stencils with patterns to put on kids' faces, adding glitter to it at the end. Emmy didn't want glitter. Even Sammy let them put a pattern on his cheek, as well as glitter. They got their first station marked on their kids, and we moved on.
Next came the crafts station. There wasn't anyone helping us. They had all kinds of stuff, including papers with suggestions, and we simply started. Once again it was Tammy who was really excited about this, and I ended up helping her, while Randy was helping the boys. The angel Tammy made ended up looking pretty good.
Then we saw the life-size bear. The boys were still scared by people in costumes, only Tammy wasn't, but was excited, and I took her picture with the bear. Third station ticked off. We had two tours yet to do, and getting a snack in the snack area was the third item on the card. We had to wait for the tour, so we got the snacks next. They were all healthy snacks, but the kids enjoyed them.
Then we did the 10:30 am TV studio tour. The guide went upstairs with the group, while someone led us to the elevator to take us upstairs, where we rejoined the group. We were in a big TV studio, where the guy explained different things. He asked the kids what you needed and had cards representing those things. Tammy put her hand up, when he asked questions, and ended up as one of the kids having a card, hers being the cables you need. Once all the cards had been given out, the kids came forward with their cards and each had to do a certain movement with their body. Tammy did great. Emmy was disappointed he was not a part, but he hadn't raised his hand.
We went back downstairs and waited for the other tour that started at 11:30 pm. Sammy was getting pretty cranky. It was quite a big crowd that moved to a small green room studio. We sat down on chairs, and the lady explained a few things, then she invited two kids to come forward, and kids then started going forward two at the time. Tammy and Emmy came second. They were asked to touch the green wall, which made it look on the picture as if they were touching Kasperl and Strolchi. In the end they had the kids wave into the camera.
In the end Sammy got to go forward as well, all by himself, and he did a good job. Then she asked all kids up front and turned on a kids' song, with kids dancing on the screen, that they were all supposed to dance to, and they did. They were having fun. Then the tour was over, and they got their last tick on their cards. We had a few minutes left, and the kids put their heads through the cut-outs of a big board, then I took a picture of them in front of the Kasperl board.
We walked back to the entrance area and followed the crowd into the theater, where Kasperl was to perform. They had cushions on the floor, and Tammy and Emmy went straight to the front and the middle and sat down there. I put Sammy behind the cushions and sat down on the floor behind him. He wanted to take the subway and was impatient, but so were most children who wanted Kasperl to come out.
And then it finally started. The kids loved it, and many, including ours, jumped up, as they were really getting into the story. When it was over, they had a time of Q&A, and three kids won a prize because they could answer the questions most kids would have been able to answer. Especially Emmy was disappointed that he hadn't won anything, but all three kids got a book on the way out.
It was 12:30 pm, which was 1:30 pm yesterday, and especially Sammy was tired and cranky. He was crying, even though we told him we were going to take the subway. But first we went to the bus stop right there, and soon the bus showed up and we rode it to the subway station. But first we needed to get something to eat and went into the McDonald's right there. We enjoyed our meal and our time there and stayed for 40 minutes. But it was time to go home, and we were on the other end of town.
It took us nearly an hour to get home. When the first train came, it was an old one, which really upset at tired Sammy and made him scream. We were supposed to ride it to the stop, where we change trains, but it stopped before, and everyone was asked to get off the train. They were working on the tracks, and there was no going further. Just great. We had to get on another subway to take us to our subway, and this time both trains were new ones, much to Sammy's delight. However, he now has a fit, when we get off, as he wants to stay on the train.
It was 2:20 pm by the time we got home. Tammy and Emmy had done pretty well without their nap yesterday, and given the late hour, we let the kids stay up instead of lying down. Randy went downstairs with them, even though he was pretty tired, as was I. I turned my computer on and started working.
The one-hour time change did not work to our advantage in the afternoon. Randy and the kids came upstairs pretty early, with Sammy being cranky, and Tammy and Emmy started watching videos. I then went to the kitchen at 6 pm already, which was half an hour earlier than usual but also half an hour later than yesterday's time. Sammy joined me in the kitchen. I made their dinner and fed it to Sammy right there, while Tammy and Emmy were eating at the table. Then they all went into the bathtub. By the time they were in bed it was close to 8 pm. Sammy had again fallen asleep, while I was reading Bible stories. I was extremely tired myself and lay down on the top next to Tammy for a few minutes, while Randy sat down on the chair. Then I left and returned to my computer to work. Only later did I go get something to eat. Now it's nearly 2 am, which was 3 am yesterday, so high time to go to bed.
