Day 1588. At noon Randy came back upstairs with the kids. I had fallen asleep while working and was woken up from the noise. It was time to go to the kitchen to make our New Year's Eve cheese fondue. Last year we had eaten it at night, but this year we decided to eat it for lunch. While the kids were playing, Randy and I were in the kitchen. Randy had bought some fresh bread in the morning and started cutting it into small cubes, while I was grating the cheese and making the fondue. And so it was rather late before we sat down to eat.
Last year it was Tammy who was the only one who wouldn't eat the cheese. Today Sammy would also not eat it. All I had to give them was leftover chicken nuggets and fries, and so that's what they had, while the rest of us ate the fondue. It was really good.
After lunch, everyone went back to playing or watching stuff on their tablets. I was still doing office work that I was trying to finish in the old year. But I also wanted the day to be special. We had considered joining the crowds downtown, as they had a kids' program from 2 to 6 pm, but we would not have been able to make it to what they would have enjoyed most. And so I grabbed the board games they had received for Christmas and went downstairs with them.
We then had lots of fun together for the next few hours, while Randy was taking a nap on the couch. We played two board games, then they wanted to play Hide & Seek, so we did. However, the hiding spots are limited, especially for me. And so I came up with some (party) games I had already played myself as a kid. I put a hat on one kid, pulling it over their eyes so they could not see, and put a turned over pot somewhere that had a chocolate underneath. The person who could not see had a wooden spoon in their hand that they had to use to hit the ground with and find the pot. I'd say "warmer" if they were going in the right direction, and "colder" if they were going in the wrong direction. All three got to be ones with the spoon and had great fun.
Then I remembered another fun game. I wrapped a chocolate bar in paper, put a band on it, and picked up some gloves and a scarf. One kid had to put the scarf, hat and gloves on and then open the package and eat the chocolate with a fork, while the other one was casting a die (on the phone) until they had a six. In that case they had to switch. Even though Emmy was the first one to get to eat a piece of chocolate, he ended up crying really hard every time his sister had a 6, so that he had to quite and start casting the die. So many tears were shed! Emmy has never been able to lose. Tammy, however, was having a great time.
After having spent all that time with them, I went downstairs to get some more office work done. But I had promised to watch a Christmas movie with them this season and had still not done so, and so I called them upstairs. Tammy and Emmy then lay down next to me in bed, and we were watching "Elf" together. They were enjoying it. They said they were not hungry, so I stayed with them to watch, even when it would have been time to go to the kitchen to make their dinner. Eventually they sat down at the table, and I put the computer there for them to continue watching, while I went to the kitchen to make their dinner.
After they had eaten, they continued eating in the bathtub, then we got them ready for bed. Because it was New Year's Eve, they were allowed to stay up longer. As Sammy was getting tired, we then all went downstairs to call the family in America. It was Randy's mother's 90th birthday today. Everyone enjoyed seeing each other, though our kids were a little shy with their American relatives. Then we called Grandma here in Vienna, who they were not shy with at all. We tried one more person after that, but she didn't pick up. And so we all went back upstairs.
Tammy and Emmy got on their tablets and were watching something, while I went back to office work. Even Sammy stayed up. Eventually I told them they needed to sleep before we'd go on the roof for the midnight fireworks. Emmy was the last one not asleep and asked whether he could lie down next to me, so he did. He was soon asleep as well.
I continued working. At 11:40 I got up, put a snowsuit on Emmy, then dressed Tammy, while Randy got Sammy up. Emmy was lying on the floor sleeping, but soon they were all up. Sammy was crying hard, and so Randy and Sammy stayed, while I took the elevator up to the roof with the other two. We got there at 11:53. There were some people partying on the roof. And there were already fireworks going off everywhere. I put Emmy on my shoulders, but it was Tammy who wasn't too happy. I then lifted her up and sat her on the bar there, holding her, while Emmy was still on my shoulders. There was no taking pictures like that. After a few minutes I put her down, and Emmy wanted down too. We had a great view in every direction, and there were fireworks going up everywhere. Last year it was their first time seeing fireworks, and they had screamed the whole time. Thankfully they've outgrown that now, and they had seen big fireworks in Disneyland in summer.
After some time of watching and listening to the waltz music that the people were playing on their life radio, we decided to leave. When the elevator door opened, there were our neighbors inside who were also coming to see the fireworks. The best was already over, though. And when we got off the elevator, there were Sammy and Randy about to come up to join us. Sammy had continued crying because he wanted to be with us. Randy decided not to take him upstairs after all, now that we were all back.
We returned to our apartment and put them all back to bed. Now it's 2:30 am, and time for me to go to bed as well.
