Day 1726. This morning Randy took all the kids to kindergarten, while I lay back down for a little bit. Just before 9:30 am my alarm went off, and I got up to get ready for my 10 am student. Randy returned just before I started, but had to leave again right away to go get Sammy already. He picked him up, then took the subway to the train station and had to take a train to get to his destination at 11 am. Sammy got new night braces a while back, and they were not adjusted right, causing him some pressure points on his legs. He got an appointment this morning. I was teaching, when Randy called me to tell me that all the trains were canceled so that he was unsure when and if he'd make it to the appointment. I finished teaching and called him again. The trains were running again, but he got there about half an hour late. It took some time to get it fixed. Just after 2 pm they were back home.
I finished teaching at 11 am and then went to the kitchen to make a stew for lunch. It took me a while, then I got ready to leave the house and grabbed something to eat, as the food still needed to simmer. It was a cold and rainy day, so I put more clothes on. At 12:20 pm I left the house and walked to the bus stop. I was glad that it wasn't raining at the time. I took two buses and got to the kids' kindergarten before 1 pm. Tammy was drawing and Emmy was building something, when I got there. They came to the locker room to put their shoes and coats on, and off we went.
We had to walk down a long road to get to the bus stop. The roads and sidewalks were pretty wet, but thankfully it was not raining. We stopped and took a picture, when we saw a rather big snail crossing the sidewalk, leaving a trail behind her. The bus was already sitting at the bus stop, so we can to make it and were happy that the last row was empty. It was the perfect spot for us to sit. We had a 15 minute bus ride; the kids were talking and eating snacks. Then we still had to walk a bit to get to the sports center. I was surprised, when I looked at the time, as we had arrived much earlier than usual. It was their fourth time there today.
We went to the locker room, where they got changed, then we walked down to the restaurant, where I always sit and watch them.
We still had a few minutes until 2 pm, so we sat down in the restaurant and watched their teacher teach an adult lady. Once they were done, the kids walked inside, and so did the other two boys who were back today. The teacher set up a parcours again and had them throw balls up into the air and catch them with their cones. I was surprised how hard it was for them to throw the ball straight up into the air. And so they kept running after their own balls, trying to catch them. I noticed today that the other two boys were doing much better overall. They also look just a tiny bit older.
Then the teacher showed them how to use their rackets to move a ball on the ground through a slalom. Tammy was having a hard time. Then they were put on marked spots on the court, always two and two, and the teacher threw balls at them for them to hit. He showed them exactly how to hold and move their rackets today. It was the first time he did that. Tammy was having a harder time than her brother. Once two were done, they could do the parcours, while it was the other two's turn.
After a while, he changed it up and had two kids hold a hoop on the other side of the net, and those two needed to run to have the balls coming from the other two kids fall through the hoop. That was not very easy given that those balls were going every which way. Next he lined them all up by the net and they had to volley their balls straight over the net, which is somewhat easier. In the end he did a little game again, throwing lots of balls that they had to catch with their cones. And then 3 pm had already come, and the lesson was over.
We went back upstairs to the locker room, where the kids changed. Emmy always takes the key, when we first get it, and looks at the number we've got, then tries to find the number on the lockers. He's really interested in maths and numbers, calculating and counting all the time. He can now count to twenty-nine - when he doesn't forget that twenty is what comes after nineteen.
We left the sports center and started our long walk to the train station. It was raining, and we were glad to have our umbrellas. We were on the train for 15 minutes and did a video phone call with Daddy and Sammy. Sammy was not happy that we were not home, as usual, and Randy wanted to take him to the playground. However, everything was wet. They ended up going to the post office and grocery store and then waited for us at the subway stop by our house. When we got off just before 4 pm, they were right there. Sammy was so very happy to see us and held my hand going home.
I had a student at 4:10, so I had to turn my computer on and get ready to teach. Randy took the kids downstairs to play. And then my student never turned up; he was asleep and didn't wake up in time (a teenager). I then had another student at 5 pm. After I was done with her, I went to the kitchen to make their dinner, which started our evening routine.
