Day 1749. We had to get up early, as we needed to take the 8:56 am train to get to swim class to get there on time. I'm glad, when the S-train starts running again in a few weeks, after a 4-month pause. We took the train, then the tram, and walked to the swimming pool that has lots of construction going on. In fact, the inside part is going to be closed all year next year because of it. We had just received Sammy's handicap ID, which the pool had always asked for to give us the discount. There was a mean, old man at the counter, and he rejected the ID, saying he wasn't handicapped enough. I couldn't believe my ears! Unfortunately the government had gotten it wrong, when they said Sammy didn't need a wheelchair, so I'll have to try to remedy that. In any case, we paid full price.
We went to the locker room and changed, then went to the outside area of the pool. While Friday and Saturday had been extremely hot, the rain had cooled it off and so it was surprisingly cold this morning. That also explained why there were hardly any people, when I had expected the pool to be full. Randy didn't want the kids in the water before the 10 am class, so they wouldn't be so cold they'd have to get out of the water, like Sammy had done last time. However, Tammy and Emmy were playing at the water playground and getting all wet, while Sammy was upset he didn't get to go into the water. TIme was short anyway, and we finally made our way inside for the class.
Since the inside pool is already closed, it was only us inside. The water was really cold. The teacher saw Sammy shivering and gave him a wet suit so he could make it through the half hour class. It helped him make it. Emmy was also shivering, but it was late in the class, when he put the wet suit on, and by that time it didn't help him any. Tammy was alright. They did pretty well in the class. They can now swim short distances without any help, both on their bellies and their backs. Only Sammy has the problem that he has to swim vertically, as he can otherwise not keep his head above water, and so I always have to be there to keep him vertical.
They were so cold that they didn't want to stay in the water, and so we headed back outside. The sun was slowly coming out, and I knew they'd get warm in the sun soon. I had promised Sammy that he'd get to play in the water after class, so I took him to the water playground. But he didn't play long until saying he was cold and wanted to quit. The other two were already sitting on the bench in the sun. And so we went to the locker rooms and changed again.
When we came back out, we headed to the restrooms and found a little playground area there, and so they all started playing there. We were actually having fun in the jeep together, playing being chased by dinosaurs. They checked out some of the water equipment there, then we headed to the exit. The sun was no out in full force, and we were all hot again. In reality it was the time to go into the water, but noon was approaching and Sammy was asking to go to McDonald's - again. I really didn't want to go there for two days in the row, but finally gave in.
And so we walked to the tram stop and rode the tram for four stops, right to McDonald's. Our friend who works there wasn't working today, which was a shame. The kids were excited to get the toy animals they didn't have yet, and Randy and I were excited about how little we paid for the second day in a row because of the special deals, so it worked out really well. After we were done, we took the tram to the train station. There was an immigrant lady with her baby on board, and she blew bubbles to her baby, but then also to our kids who were watching her. When we got off, she handed the bubbles to Tammy. The kids were happy about about the gift and blew bubbles, while we were waiting for the 12:23 train.
By 12:40 pm we were back home. We told Randy we needed him to come downstairs. When he came downstairs, we sang the Happy Birtday song with the words Happy Father's Day to him. Then Tammy and Emmy gave him the drawings/cards they'd made for him. FInally it was my turn to hand him the special gift. He opened it and looked at it. The kids were excited about it and counted how many times their pictures were on there.
We didn't stay home for long, as there were elections, and I needed to go vote. I was ready to go by myself, but everyone wanted to come along. I took my scooter with me to be faster, and so did Tammy and Emmy. Sammy did not want to stay at home with Daddy, so he came as well, but of course they were not as fast as us. We walked all the way to the school, where I was to vote, or rather rolled there. We walked inside and found the room where I needed to go. I showed my ID and picked up my voting card. The kids followed me inside the voting booth. They'd actually been there with me before, at the last elections. Then I let them throw my card into the box with a slit on top. We were done and left again.
But instead of going home, we went to the icecream shop in the area that we had seen many times but never tried out. Today was the day. It was a small one-person shop, but it had tables set up outside. The kids picked the flavors they wanted, we paid and took our icecream outside, where a table had become available. Everyone was enjoying it. I was ready to go home after, as I was really tired, but since we were so close to the playground, everyone but me agreed it was a good idea to go there. And so we did.
Randy took Sammy to the swing, while I went to the zipline with the other two, where Sammy soon joined us. They all used if a few times. Emmy was actually standing on it, like he saw some of the older kids do. Tammy and Sammy then went to the round swing together, while Emmy used the zipline a few more times and then went climbing. I went with him. He climbed to the very top, obviously not afraid of heights any more. We stayed a little longer, but then I suggested we'd go home. We'd already been at a playground in the morning. And so we made our way home. Tammy, Emmy and I went ahead on our scooters, while Randy and Sammy got home a few minutes later.
I was surprised how early it was, when we got home. We'd already done so much today. While Randy and the kids went downstairs, I stayed upstairs. I wanted to do some things, but was way too tired and fell asleep. Or rather, I was just falling asleep, when Randy returned upstairs with them early. The peace and quiet was over. So I did some stuff before going to the kitchen to make dinner and start our evening routine.
