Day 1648. On Wednesday the kids have their exercise class, where parents are not allowed to watch. Randy took Emmy and Tammy there, while I stayed home with Sammy. Then I received a phone call from their teacher that Emmy's belly was hurting and that he had filled his pants up. I called Randy to go there. It turned out that his pants were fine, and Emmy actually continued having fun with the group. As for the two of us at home, I had plenty of work to do and got some done, while also playing with Sammy. Once they were all back, I had a student.
Today has been a very long day, and it's 1 am now, and I'm very tired. Both Randy and I were very tired tonight. After Randy had left with Sammy to take him to the kindergarten, I got up and got the kids and myself ready for us to leave the house once Randy came back. Even though I had urgent work to do, it was our last or previous to last chance to go downtown, to Town Hall square, to go ice-skating there. The ice-skating rink there has been up for 1.5 months and ends on Sunday, and we had never gone there yet. I had given Randy ice skates on his birthday, and we've all wanted to go ice-skating together, so this was our chance.
It was nearly 9:15 am, when we left the house together. Half an hour later we walked on Town Hall square. The ice was empty, and the free kids' area was cordoned off. I walked up to an usher and asked about it, and she informed me that it all opened up at 10 am. What a relief! We found a bench nearby and started putting our shoes on, which takes some time anyway. I was glad that Randy's shoes fit, as he had never tried them on before.
When they opened everything up at 10 am, a school group of kids stormed the area we were going to as well. In fact, there were lots of school classes everywhere, as they skate for free in the morning. The area we were using was free for everyone, and it was big enough for our purposes. Tammy, Emmy and I got on the ice, while Randy was cautious, not having ice-skated in years, and even then little. The three of us were having fun, while Randy slowly got used to the skates and tried to become more secure. There were quite a lot of kids on the ice, but it was still alright. Tammy and Emmy grabbed the penguins or other animals, when they'd become available, even though they skate so well that they don't actually need them. But they were fun for them to use. And we were playing some me trying to catch them, and them trying to catch me. I was still a little insecure, but getting more secure every minute.
And then I fell. I didn't hurt myself much and was able to get up by myself. But suddenly I was feeling pretty bad and had to get off the ice. I hadn't eaten anything yet today, which usually isn't a problem, but I suddenly felt like I was about to pass out, and so I lay down on the ground. The kids came off the ice and saw me lying there and started screaming. I calmed them down right away. I ate a cereal bar and soon felt better. Then I went back on the ice with the kids. Randy was still rather insecure, which is understandable. He was using one of the animals to hold on to, which really helps.
After a while we'd all had enough and decided it was time to go home. We're hoping to come on Sunday, when it's the last day, so Sammy also gets a chance to ice-skate at least once this winter. Once we had packed everything up, Emmy and Tammy grabbed the bag with their shoes, helmets and other equipment, showing how strong they were, which was fun and cute. Randy then took the bag from them.
We walked to the tram and then got on the subway home, where we arrived just after 11 am. I turned my computer on to get some work done, while the kids turned their "school tablets" on to do some studying. At noon I went to the kitchen to cook, and a few minutes later Randy left to go pick up Sammy.
Tammy's tablet ran out of juice and she then ended up with me in the kitchen helping me cook. I gave her a few mushrooms to cut into slices, and she did a great job.
When Randy and Sammy got home at 12:40, we all sat down at the table to eat. Then everyone did different things. At 2:30 I started teaching, and at 2:45 Randy and Sammy left the house to go to his last physiotherapy session, as his therapist is retiring. He was having a good time and received pictures of him with his therapist as a parting gift. After it was over, Randy and Sammy got on the subway to come join us at the dance class.
I was done teaching at 3:20 pm and then started getting the kids and myself ready to leave the house. We left at 3:40 pm and took the subway, then a tram, and then walked to the dance school. We got there 25 minutes early, so we need to leave the house later in the future. We sat in the waiting room, where they ate some snacks and looked through the window into one of the two halls, where there was tap dancing class going on. I then showed them some videos of professional tap dancers, as well as of people dancing Rock'n'Roll with acrobatics, as I used to do that in my 20s, and as they are doing some acrobatics in their dance class.
At 4:30 their class started. There were not a lot of children there and still no boy, even though we'd been told there was one other boy in the class. The teacher greeted the kids, then did a warm-up with them. Emmy came to me a few times, and I kept encouraging him to go back. At least his belly wasn't hurting. After the warm-up, and doing the ballet positions, they did some running and jumping with their arms in different positions. They also had to jump over mats.
At 5 pm Randy and Sammy finally arrived. Sammy started playing ball with Randy and I, but soon he wanted to do other stuff. In any case, he was having fun. I got so distracted that I missed the kids practicing splits. They also practiced doing cartwheels after that.
Then the teacher said they were gonna start working on the dance they'll be performing in June. She showed them the moves, then turned the actual music on that they'll do it with. I filmed them, and given that it was the first time, they did a really good job. I found out today that their performance is in a theater and that it is the same day as their music school concert. At least it looks like they won't overlap.
And then the class was already over. We packed up and left to go home, where we arrived at 6:10 pm. I had not eaten anything since lunch and was not only tired but very hungry. I warmed up food for the kids and ate something myself. Then the kids went into the bathtub, where they ate their fruit. After coming out, we got them ready for bed. They wanted hot chocolate to drink, so I made them some before we sat down to read a Bible story. Then everyone brushed their teeth, I prayed for them and put them to bed. I actually lay down together with Tammy and Emmy in my bed. After a few minutes, Emmy went to his own bed, and after a few more minutes, I got up to go to the kitchen to make my salad, which takes me about half an hour. Then I carried Tammy to her own bed and sat down to eat. It was late by the time I was done and got to start on the pictures. Now it's after 1:30 am and time to finish with everything in the kitchen and also go to bed. Tomorrow we're not going anywhere, but I teach in the morning and in the afternoon.
