Day 1917. It was Sunday, but we had a very early morning today. My alarm went off at 7 am, and Randy got up to make breakfast for the kids. Then my alarm went off again at 7:45 am so that I could get up and get myself and the kids ready to leave the house. We all left at 8:15 and walked to the train station to take the 8:32 train. After we got off, we still had to take the subway, then we walked a little bit to get to the school where the tournament was taking place.
It was Emmanuel's fall tournament organized by the soccer school where he takes a class. Kindergarten kids from all over the city were coming together for the tournament, 8 teams in total, each team with 7 or 8 members. Emmy was very excited. We walked into the school and were shown to the elevator. But when we got off, we walked and walked and saw no other people, never finding the gym. We turned around and ran into other people also looking for the gym and eventually we found it.
There were still a few steps to master to get up to the bleachers to watch the tournament from. Randy pulled the wheelchair with Sammy up there. We got ourselves some seats, then I took Emmy downstairs to the gym, where the trainers were waiting for their teams. Emmy said he knew the trainer from a camp he had done. He ticked him off, then we went back upstairs. A few minutes later he came to get Emmy again. They all went into the gym to get warmed up.
Tammy and Sammy had brought their tablets, as we were gonna be there for 4 hours, and got them out. At 9:45 am the tournament started.
Emmy had to play 7 times, against each one of the other teams, and each match lasted 10 minutes. What was unusual was that they had small goals and two goals on each end of the field. But it worked for them.
Emmy was playing really well and scored two goals. In total his teams won 3 times and lost 3 times and one time it was a draw. Emmy's trainer told us in the end that Emmy was the best player on the team.
It was a long morning, but Sammy did better than expected. He did some crawling around and had some fun with me. There was a buffet, and Randy also got some stuff for them.
At 12:30 pm they were done playing, and the award ceremony started at 12:45 pm. The 8 teams lined up in the gym, and they put up a table with the medals and put a football school sign on the floor. Then the MC started calling every team up one by one, starting with the team that was last. They had lost all 7 games. Emmy's team was fourth, together with another team. They came forward, and each kid got a medal put around their neck. Then they lined up by the sign for a group picture.
After the ceremony was over, Emmanuel came back upstairs to the bleachers, where he put his long pants and street shoes back on. We packed up everything and made our way back to the elevator and to the exit. We got back on the subway and then took the train home.
It was 1:48 pm, when we got back home. We were hungry and tired. I put two pizzas into the oven right away, and a few minutes later we were able to eat. I was so tired that I went straight to bed after eating. I really did not want to go to church but they were practicing their Christmas program today, so we had to go.
I slept some but woke up soon and went downstairs to do piano practice with the kids. I did it with Emmy, but there was no time for Tammy to practice. We had to go get dressed to leave the house in time.
We left at 4:15 pm to take the 4:30 pm train. I was still so very tired. Somebody we knew was on the train with us going to church as well, so we ended up traveling together. Because of the fire in the subway and the subway not running, we had to take a detour. We took the train, then the tram, then got on the subway, then walked to church. We arrived there at 5:10 pm.
Of course the service had already started. Tammy and Sammy started drawing right away, while Emmy made a paper plane to let it fly. Another boy also made one and they competed against each other. Sammy then watched a lady with her streamers and also grabbed one and waved it around.
At 5:30 pm we went to the kids' program together, and Randy returned to the sanctuary. We sat down on the floor, in a circle, and the pastor's wife started talking. She asked about Christmas and asked the kids what roles they were playing in the Christmas program. Tammy is playing a king, Emmy a shepherd, and tonight Sammy got the role of a king as well, with Daddy being the star carrier. I had given Sammy the bobby car to sit on, but he was asking for Daddy to come. I asked him if Mommy wasn't good enough, but he insisted on having Daddy. He was so adamant that I had no choice but to leave to go get Daddy. I then stayed in the sanctuary, while Randy took my place in the kids' program.
When the service ended at 7 pm, I went to the kids' room to pick them all up. We were putting our coats on, when Anna walked up to us. Sammy was very happy to see her. We then ended up leaving together and taking the subway together. Then she had to go the opposite direction. We took the tram and then the subway home. It was 8:15 by the time we walked into the apartment.
Tammy had one of her fits that she has when she's very tired. We still got them all ready for bed. In the end she had calmed down, and all the kids fell asleep quickly. I got myself some soup to eat, then started working on today's pictures. Now it's nearly 1 am, and I have another early morning tomorrow.
