4 years 26 days

Day 1486. When they served breakfast an hour before landing, Emmy was up and had some, while watching kids' programs. Tammy slept until I had to put her into a sitting position for landing. She was not happy, but was happy to lean against me. This time Randy stayed in the single seat, while I had Sammy to my right and Tammy to my left, and that worked really well. Sammy was awake and was happy, so no issues there.

Then we landed an hour early, at 7 am instead of 8 am. The pilot explained how he'd had strong winds behind him making him move faster. Once the plane had come to a halt, we stayed in our seats, waiting for everyone else to get off before gathering up our many belongings and tackling the difficult trek out of the plane. Tammy was crying and did not want to pull her dog/carry-on. An airport worker came and ended up taking it and Emmy's, while we followed him. And then I was surprised that we were not walking into the jetway, but were led to the very front, where we stepped into a vehicle that had come all the way up and went down to street level once we were all on board. They had gathered everyone needing wheelchair assistance in that vehicle. Once we were down on street level, though, we were the only ones getting off as we were the only ones with our own wheelchair. It was waiting on the tarmac for us. We put Sammy in, then got into a little bus with all our stuff. A lady then drove us to the terminal, where a guy took over from her. He said it was his first day on the job, but he was doing great, and he was nice and friendly and interacting with Sammy and the kids. Not a typical Austrian! Or maybe it's just because it was his first time doing this. He pushed Sammy, while we had all the other stuff. We had to go through passport control, then walked to the luggage carroussel, where our suitcases were already going round and round. He left to get two carts for us, then Randy loaded everything onto the carts. Then we made our way to the exit.

It wasn't even 8 am yet, our scheduled arrival time, so our friend picking us up wasn't there yet. I called him, and he said he was parking the car. We started walking to the exit but somehow had missed him going in. Finally we met up right there on the parking lot. The airport helper went all the way to the car with us, then said good-bye. Then the drama caused by extreme tiredness started. Both Tammy and Emmy wanted to sit next to me, but that's not how Randy had put the car seats into the car, so Emmy was crying and trying hard to get out of his seat to get to me. In the end we found a solution, when I asked Randy to move his car seat to the back next to me, so that I ended up sitting between them, making them both happy.

By 8:30 am we were back home. I went inside with the kids, while Randy and our friend unloaded the car. The kids were really happy to be home and started exploring all their toys and stuff they had not seen in three months. Tammy had said that she was gonna sleep right away, but that was forgotten. Nobody wanted to sleep. And so I let them explore and play, while I started unpacking our suitcases. Once everything was inside and we had said good-bye to our friend, Randy went straight to bed. I continued working, but also getting pretty tired at some point and also lay down for a little bit. All three kids continued playing.

Just after noon I got up to make a quick meal for lunch. Tammy had gone to sleep, so it was only the four of us who ate, while Tammy ate later. At about 1:30 pm, I put the boys down for their nap, and they quickly fell asleep. I set my alarm for 2:50 pm and went to bed as well, and so did Randy, and soon we were all asleep.

I heard the alarm, but when I actually looked at the time, it was 3:20 pm - the time, when we should have taken the train. It was the first session of the kids' new exercise class, and I had told them that we might not make it. I was a little disappointed, as it was the only time we could have stayed to watch. Now that they are 4, there are no more parents with them in most of their classes.

I stayed up and found that Tammy had pooped in her sleep. Her bed and she herself, everything was dirty. I got her up and cleaned her up, then we cleaned her bed up. All three kids were happily playing again, and I continued unpacking. Randy left to buy some basic groceries. The kids wanted to go downstairs, where their playroom is, but I told them to wait until Daddy's return. Once back, while he was putting up the groceries, Sammy was by the gate to go downstairs and crying - that's how bad he wanted to go downstairs. Randy finally took them downstairs for 40 minutes, while I did some work on the computer. Just after 7 pm he came back upstairs with them, and I went to the kitchen to make some food for dinner.

It was a smaller version of what they used to eat for dinner - bread with salami, but only grapes and banana, as Randy had bought no other fruit. And of course the soup in a jar they enjoy so much. They all ate, then finished it off in the bathtub, and they would have eaten more if there had been more. They all enjoyed being back in our bathtub again a great deal, happily playing and not wanting to come out. Eventually we got them out and ready for bed. Then we read a story together, and I prayed for each one of them and put them to bed. I'm not sure what time it was, not yet 9 pm in any case. Sammy went to sleep quickly, and so did Tammy. Emmy said again that he was scared sleeping on top and went to his old bed on the bottom. A few minutes later he told me he was scared there, but I encouraged him to stay, and he did, and soon he was quiet as well.

I made myself something to eat, then sat down by the computer to eat and then work. Now it's nearly midnight, and I'm the only one still up. But it's time for me to go to bed, as I have a full day tomorrow - not like Randy and the kids who get to stay home and play all day.