Day 1756. We could have slept longer, but Sammy has been up early, and then Emmy is up right away as well. Tammy was also up earlier than usual today. Eventually Randy got up to make their breakfast. I stayed in bed until my alarm went off at 8 am. I got up to make the sandwiches to take with us for lunch today. Then I dressed the kids and got everything ready for us to leave the house. I asked the kids and they wanted to do their songs one more time, so they did. We were ready early and left the house earlier than we needed to.
We'd found a beautiful, white dress among the clothes we were given that Tammy wanted to wear, and it was perfect for a concert. She looked so very pretty. We walked to the subway and took it downtown, then we walked to the kids' music school, where we were the first students to arrive at 9:25 am. The concert was to start at 10, and 9:45 was when we were supposed to be there. We were told to wait in a certain area, so they could continue setting everything up. While we were waiting, more students arrived, and some went into the classrooms and practiced their songs one last time. Our kids started building a cave with the cubes and had fun, while Sammy looked at books and had his tablet. Then we made our way to the big room where the grand piano was located and where the events were held. In reality the room was too small, and it was very crowded, everyone sitting on small kids' chairs. They had a second concert in the afternoon, so that half the students were at the first one, and the other half at the second one. We sat down in the last row by the door, as we had to leave at a certain time, and so that Randy could leave the room with Sammy if need be. We were given programs, where they had written the three songs they were singing, as well as what song they were playing on the piano. I noticed right away that they had misspelled Emmy's name.
Once everyone had settled, the founder and director greeted everyone and then asked those from our kids' level to the front. They were 3 from the Saturday class, and one girl from the other day. For some reason she kept her distance from the other three the whole time. The four kids sat down on the stage and waited.
And then the time for the first song had come. Their teacher sat down at the piano to play, and the other teacher did the hand movements to help them. However, they kept looking at the director, who has written the curriculum, and who was also showing the movements. Before they started, she told the kids to smile. It was pretty obvious that they were all nervous. They did well, though they sang a little timidly and also made the movements timidly. Emmy barely moved, which is not at all like him.
After the three songs were over, they sat back down, and the director called them up one by one to sit down at the piano and do their songs. The other two kids came first, then it was Emmy's turn. He had played the song well before. At first, he was so far away from the piano that he couldn't reach it, but then the teacher moved him closer, and he started playing. Both kids could play their songs by heart, but the teacher pointed at the notes. One major problem was that the piano did not have the colored dots on its keys so they'd know where the keys they were looking for were. That's where the teacher (who wasn't theirs) came in handy, as he pointed the right keys out to them. A few times Emmy didn't push the key hard enough, so that the tone could not be heard. And he made a few mistakes, but given the situation and the nervousness, he did alright.
They had practiced bowing, when the people clap, but Emmy was heading back to his seat. The director then stopped him and turned him to the people so he could bow. However, it never even occurred to Emmy. Instead he said, "Thank you for zuhören.", using the German word for "listening", mixing his two languages. The people in the front row were laughing, while we in the back could not hear what he'd said. I later found out from him directly.
Then it was Tammy's turn. She jumped off the stage and climbed up on the piano seat and started playing right away, but the teacher helped her as she was not on the right key. But then she started playing sovereignly. Unfortunately she ended up on a wrong key and wouldn't take the teacher's cue to correct herself. Once she moved to another key, she was back on track, though, and finished her song correctly. She had actually played her song perfectly at home.
She also went back to her seat on the stage, then the director had them all stand up and bow before everyone before they returned to their regular seats with us, so that the next level group could go sit on those cubes.
I was so proud of them and let them know that. Tammy stayed with me for most of the rest of the concert, listening carefully to the others. By listening to the other levels, we found out what they'll be able to play half a year and a year from now. Randy left with Sammy to go outside, and Emmy soon joined them there. Just before 11:30 the concert was over. Everyone left the room to get some drinks and snacks. I actually got the chance to talk to the kids' teacher for a few minutes, which was a first. She told me how impressed she'd been yesterday, when they had played their songs to her. The director also came by and asked whether they were twins, and was amazed, when I said triplets.
The program was over, and we needed to get to the theater for their next performance. And so we packed up and left. We had to walk a bit to get to the tram that we then rode for 17 minutes. They'd had some food already, eating some of their sandwiches, and we also had snacks. After we got off the tram, we had to walk some more, and Tammy was saying how bored she was.
When we got to the theater, it was just after 12 pm. The show was gonna start at 12:30 pm, and there were already lots of people standing outside the theater. We continued walking, around the corner, to get to the actors' entrance. Randy and Sammy were waiting outside, while I took them inside to their changing room. The other kids had already been there for a while and had already all changed into their costumes. I asked their dance teacher, whether she wanted me to help dress them, and she said yes, so I got them dressed. I had never seen their costumes before, as Randy had taken them to their class the day they had tried them on. The kids were happy, so I told them good-bye and left to rejoin the boys outside. The three of us then walked to the main entrance and into the theater. We left the wheelchair sitting where the strollers were, and carried Sammy into the theater. I had picked good seats right in the middle. Sammy was excited to sit in his own seat. Tammy's and Emmy's seats stayed empty for the first half of the program, until break time. Sammy was eager for the program to start. And for a long time he was really enjoying the music and moving in rhythm with it. One group - and individuals - after another came to dance their choreographies. I was wondering when it was our kids' turn. I didn't know what their song was. It turned out they were number 14 of 18 before the break. They showed some pictures in between songs as well to show their dancers successes and pictures from competitions and what life at the dance school was like. Their groups have won prizes all over the world, and I was very impressed by what I saw, when they danced. You could tell they were full-blooded dancers.
And then it was finally time for the little ones. The lights were always off between dances, so the dancers could take their positions. For our kids they laid down a mat on the floor and then lined the kids up. Their teacher was in the front to the side and danced there, so that the kids could watch and copy her, which they did. It didn't look very professional, what they did, but they gave their best. They had some early stages of acrobatics in their dance. When the dance was over, the teacher went to them, had them hold hands and bow. Then they left the stage.
Sammy soon started getting pretty antsy, and so Randy left the room with him. However, there were only about two dances left before the break. As soon as it was over, I left the room and the theater to go pick up Tammy and Emmy. I found them already completely dressed and ready to leave. They were beaming. They said good-bye to everyone, as it was the official start of the summer break for dance school, and then we left and rejoined Randy and Sammy in the theater. After a few minutes the bells started ringing, indicating that the second half was about to begin. Emmy couldn't wait to get inside the theater. All five of us then sat down on our seats. Sammy wanted to be close to his brother, and they were holding hands for a while. Tammy was sitting on my other side. And then the program started. Tammy and Emmy were very interested and watched everything closely. They were clearly impressed by what they saw. But Sammy was getting more and more unhappy, and so Randy left with him. However, he got worse outside, when his tablet didn't have internet for him to have his kids' songs going. He started crying and screaming his heart out. There was nothing Randy could do but wait for the program to be over and us to come out.
The three of us were watching all the dancers. In the end the founder and director of the school, an American musicl dancer, had all the dancers come up on stage - of course except for the little ones like ours. She said a few words, and then it was over. We left the theater to rejoin Daddy and Sammy, who were both happy to see us.
We started the long walk to the train station. Tammy soon started crying because she wanted me to carry her. I told her I could not. She's too heavy now. And so I held her hand and continued walking. She cried all the way to just before the train station, where I saw a bench and sat down with her. I held her, and she soon calmed down, and from then on, she was fine. We were able to continue walking to the train station. Emmy needed a bathroom, so we went to the one at the train station. But after that, we still had quite a bit time before our train was to leave. We went outside the main entrance to look at the huge screen they had put up so they could show the European Soccer Championship matches there for anybody who wanted to watch. We looked at it for a minute, then we turned around and went back inside. We headed to our platform, where our train was already sitting, even though it was still 15 minutes before it'd leave. We got on and sat down. By 4:15 pm we were back home.
But the day had already been so long that it felt like it was much later than that. We were all tired. Randy and the kids went downstairs, while I sat down upstairs and downloaded my pictures and started working on them. At 5:30 the others returned back upstairs, and the kids got on their tablets. They were getting hungry, so just after 6 pm I headed to the kitchen to get them some food.
After the bathtub, I put the white stuff on Tammy's bumps. It had become clear in the course of the afternoon that she now had chickenpox. They were declared healed last Monday, but I don't think she actually had them, only Emmy did. Today she broke out all over her body, and then I saw that Sammy also has quite a few bumps, though not as many as his sister. Just what we needed! Again no kindergarten, and Sammy misses the photographer as well as his summer party, and Tammy also misses the kindergarten's year-end party. Let's hope she'll be back for the field trip on Friday. Emmy is the only one happy to be over it and able to continue all activities.
