Day 1692. We had to leave the house at 10 am, and all five of us, but we also had to dress up today. Tammy has a lot of nice dresses, and we picked one and also dressed the boys nicely. It was going to be a hot day, so it was shorts and no jackets.
We took the subway to the end and then walked to the music school, where we arrived on time. There were three other students in class. We sat in the back together, and the teacher started with the greeting song, going from child to child. She then had the kids identify the notes Do-Re-Mi-So on their pianos and put colored stickers on each one representing them. Then they opened their books and played a song following the notes on there. That was the first time ever they did that, and they did a great job! They then went to the front, where she reviewed the notes again with them. Then they sat down and colored notes on a song written in their books. Assiging a color to each note helps them to identify them. They then did some action songs where they had fun. I had Sammy, whenever they were up front as Randy went up front with them. In the end she did a story, then the good-bye song, and then they lined up for their weekly sticker.
We left the music school, and as we still had time, we went to the nearby playground that they like a lot. Emmy headed straight for the zip line, and so did Tammy a little later. There were a lot of kids, so I had to intervene a little to make sure the line was moving and the kids got their chance. Tammy and Sammy went into the round swing together, while Emmy ran off to the slide with the climbing wall. Tammy then also headed there. Sammy had fun in the baby swing, then did some rocking with his sister, and then we decided to get going. I then discovered that we had left the music books at the music school, so Tammy and I left to get them, while the boys stayed at the park. We still had plenty of time, so it was not an issue.
After we had rejoined, we walked a bit to get to the tram stop and got on the next tram that was leaving. Getting off the train, we still had quite a bit of walking to do. I carried Emmy part of the way because of his hurting toe. We reached the restaurant twenty minutes early and were first after the birthday girl, my Mom, and her husband. It was great to see them again. We had a long table in the small garden of the best pizza restaurant in the world. I grew up around the corner from there, where my Mom still lives, so I've had those pizzas all my life. Now we live too far away to get to eat them, so I was happy to get that chance again.
Soon everybody else had arrived as well. We ordered drinks and then the pizzas. Sammy sat in a high chair and kept asking for pizza, even before we had ordered them. Thankfully it didn't take too long. All five of us enjoyed the pizzas. Then it was time to give the birthday girl her presents. Tammy gave her the gift and Emmy the card. It was the first time they had signed a card themselves. They know how to write the first letter of their names and then copied the other letters. After Grandma had received all her gifts, she started opening them. Our kids were watching like hawks. We had given her coasters with the kids pictures on them, and she liked them.
Then it was time for desserts. The kids had already been asking for cake, but there was no birthday cake at this birthday. And so we ordered two desserts, one of them being a hot chocolate cake, and it was all gone really quickly. People were up and talking, so we took advantage of the situation and moved from our end of the table to the other, where Grandma was. We all ended up sitting there and having fun with her and with Grandpa. Then people started saying good-bye and leaving, and we did the same. It was already 4 pm. We'd had a great afternoon.
And it was a long trip home, crossing all of Vienna. We started walking to the other tram stop, the alternative to the way we had come, and walked through a park where there was a playground. The kids immediately jumped on the first attraction, which was a pretty cool net of moving platforms. They were having fun. Then we moved on, and they started climbing and swinging and sliding. I was extremely tired and just wanted to get home, so we didn't stay very long but continued on to the tram stop.
It was after 5 pm before we were home. Emmy had actually fallen asleep next to me on the tram, and I then carried him for a little bit until he woke up again. Back home, they still went downstairs to play for a while, while I went to work. We had eaten late, so I started our evening routine later than usual, making food for them. They ate at the table, then continued in the bathtub. It was about 8:40 before Tammy and Emmy finally made it to bed, so rather late. I then went to the kitchen to make myself something to eat, and went to work on the pictures after having eaten. It was so much work that it was 2:30 before I went to bed, and without having written my report.
