Day 1840. On Friday the kids had their first tennis class after the summer break, and we were invited to the sports center's 20-year anniversary celebration on Sunday. It started at 10 am, but we left home just after 10 am to start our long trip to get there. We got there at about 11 am. Somebody showed us right away where the kids could pick up their passes for all the stations, then they headed to the jumping castle first.
It was a small jumping castle. They enjoyed it, but didn't stay long. All the other small stations were right next to it. Tammy and Emmy went to throw a ball at stacked cans to make them fall. Later Sammy did it too. Emmy headed to the boxing trainer who showed him a few moves, and Tammy did it too. Emmy was most excited about the soccer station, where he was supposed to shoot the ball through the holes. One of the trainers standing there watching said right away, "That's gonna be a soccer player, no question about it." Sammy tried to shoot the ball through the holes by hand.
They had a little game right there, where you had to throw rings made of rope around sticks, but it wasn't that easy. At all those stations they received a sticker for their pass that they had around their necks. Next was a station, where they made little snakes by putting beads on a wire. I had to help Emmy a little.
After they had completed half the stations, they could choose between gummibears and a lollipop. Tammy was eager to have her face painted, and I was glad to see that they had hired a professional. Tammy patiently waited in line until it was her turn. There was a book with painted faces that the kids could go through, and when Tammy saw the unicorn, she knew that's what she wanted. There was also a spiderman in the book, so that's what Emmy wanted. And Tammy wanted to be Mickey Mouse, of course. Emmy was a few kids behind Tammy. They had free popcorn and icecream that they went to get before sitting down in line. Tammy already had all her stickers after the face-painting, so I took her to the table, where she could choose a gift from a box.
After the boys were done as well, they all had some icecream, then we headed inside to the tennis courts. Every half hour they rotated who was playing, and it was all kids. They said adults could play as well, but I chose not to, even though I would have liked to. The kids still had to wait a couple of minutes before it was their turn. Sammy sat on the floor watching, and Tammy joined him. She had already picked up a racket herself. Emmy found the high chair for the referree and climbed up after another kid had come down from there. We saw the kids' trainer who was very nice and who was happy to see our kids. He had seen Sammy before but never talked to him. Sammy was finally gonna get a chance to play as well.
Finally it was 12:30 and time for the next group to play. It was not their trainer who was doing the fun training. All the kids lined up behind each other, including Sammy, and the trainer threw several balls to each kid before they went back to the end of the line. I was trying to help Sammy, but not successfully. Then Randy took my place, and he did better. The third time around, the kids' trainer came by and helped Sammy, and he was doing a great job. Sammy was so very happy having that tennis racket in his hand. He really enjoyed it. Who knows, maybe he'll play para-tennis one day.
After a while the kids had had enough, even though the half hour was not up yet. Even though they'd had popcorn and icecream, it was time for some food. They were barbecuing skewers that smelled really nice, and so we ordered one plate for all of us. After we were done eating, the kids still wanted to go to the jumping castle one more time, so we did. Then we decided it was time to leave.
But we were not going home yet. There was another event in the general area, so we were gonna head there. We had to walk a little to get to the bus stop. I was already pretty tired, but we were gonna do this. We rode the bus for a few stops, then we had a long walk. It was longer than expected, and we had to walk in the hot sun the whole time. My feet were starting to hurt a little. I was hoping it was gonna be worth it. I was in a part of town I had never been in before.
We reached the event location just after 2 pm, which is when it had started. It was organized by a children's organization from the socialist party. We have elections in three weeks, so to a degree it was used as an election campaign, which became obvious later. But it was also international children's day, which they said was the reason for the event.
Again the kids had to pick up a pass, where all the completed stations were gonna be ticked off. This time there were 25 stations, and after every 5 completed stations, they were allowed to go jump on the jumping castle. We headed to the first station right there. It was a memory game. They had big cards lying on the ground. Tammy and Emmy did it together, and all the kids received their first stamp.
We moved on to the next station, where they had to throw balls at cans to make them fall - the second stamp. At the next station they had a tetris puzzle lying on the floor. I was surprised how eager Tammy was to do it. She even wanted to do it all by herself, and most definitely did not want my help, even though I like these kind of puzzles as well. Tammy and Emmy tried together for a while, and I just started helping anyway, but it was definitely not easy. Sammy also sat on the ground and enjoyed handling the pieces. In the end we accomplished the task after all, even though it had not been easy. They got their next stamp.
We had know there was gonna be food there and had planned on it, so Randy got some sausages and bread and sat down with Sammy to eat it. Tammy and Emmy were already at the next station making a necklace, and then they made a flag. Two more stamps. It was time to go to the jumping castle. Tammy and Emmy went in first and enjoyed jumping around, then Randy went in with Sammy. I was surprised, when Tammy came back out rather quickly. She had seen the painting station and wanted to paint more than shew anted to jump. And so she got a big, blank sheet of paper and started painting. They had cans of paint with different colors set out, with a brush in each one. I enjoyed watching her and wondered whether she was gonna be an artist one day. When Emmy came out, he wanted to paint as well, but he was done really quickly, and I never saw his artwork.
Tammy and I had already moved on to the next stations. She did a race jumping inside a sack - by herself - then we got to the station, where they had to choose a disguise and take a picture with it. She only found some pig ears, as the other stuff had not worked out. Emmy joined us there and also put some stuff on for a picture. Another stamps.
We were reunited again and went to the next station, where it was all about children's rights. The lady had cards with different statements and the kids had to say whether they were right or wrong. Most of them were too hard or formulated in such a way that a 5-year-old could not understand. We didn't stay long.
Then someone was speaking over the microphone saying that the head of the party over all of Austria had arrived together with the mayor of Vienna and head of the party in Vienna as well as the district head of the party. I could barely believe my ears that they would come to a small event like this, but then the elections are not far away. We were heading in the direction where they were. I tried to tell the kids that those were important people and that it would be cool to have pictures taken with them. Other people were already lining up for pictures, and there was also a professionl photographer. Some people got to be in a picture with both big shots, but then they were going different directions. When I told them how cool it would be to have a picture taking with them, Tammy went right up to the head of the party over all of Austria and stood right in front of him looking up and trying to get his attention, but he was busy talking with people. I saw that the mayor was not as busy, so we were heading towards him. I told him that those were triplets, and he interacted mainly with Sammy. He said he like the face-paining, and as Sammy's was already really smeared, I said that the heat had done its work already. He was really sweet with Sammy. A lady offered to take a picture so that I could also be in it. Too bad that Randy didn't join us as well. The professional photographer also took a picture of us. Then we walked away.
Tammy had spotted the corner, where a circus had set up their stuff, and all three were eager to try things out. They walked on a cord and walked on a big ball. Tammy also had this thing that she tried out (I don't remember its name) and Emmy hang off the swinging bar. One of the circus artists had taken a liking to Sammy and was playing ball with him. Then Tammy saw the tool corner, where there were saws and stuff, and she wanted to do that. It looked a little dangerous, but with some help they got to do some sawing.
It was nearly 4 pm and I was completely worn out, on my feet all day, in the hot sun, I was just tired and ready to go home. I didn't really have anything left in me. They were not gonna complete all 25 stations. Tammy wanted her gift, so I said to her she could ask whether she could have one anyway, without having completed them all. Tammy has no problem going up to anybody to talk to them. She went straight to the lady who wanted to see her pass and said she could not have a certificate. But she gave them gifts, all campaign stuff from their party - coloring books, candy, stickers. Then we left.
We had another long walk to the subway ahead of us, but were lucky, when a bus came and took us the last stop to the subway. Then we rode two subways before we arrived back home at 4:40 pm. I think we were all exhausted.
And so we all sat or lay down to rest. But first I put two pizzas into the oven, as Tammy and Emmy had not had any decent food. After lying down for a while, I got up to cut fruit for them, which started our evening routine.
After they were all in bed and I had eaten, it was time to start tackling the 300 pictures of the day. That was all I could, so I had to leave this report for the next day and went to bed really late anyway.
