Day 1848. Finally Sunday and no reason to get up in the morning! I had asked Sammy to sleep in the night before, especially since they were going to bed an hour later than usual, but of course, he did not but got up even earlier. I tried to go back to sleep many times, but Randy was doing stuff upstairs and not taking the kids downstairs, and so they woke me up every few minutes. No rest for Mommy. I finally got up and got lunch ready.
I kept my eyes on the clock as Tammy was going to have her first climbing class at 1:30 pm. Emmy had suddenly said that he wanted to go as well, but the course was booked full. At 1 pm Tammy and I left the house.
It was day 2-3 of the big storm with flooding like we've never seen in Vienna and the surrounding county before. It's been raining pretty much non-stop, and it was raining, when we left, and very windy. We took the train for one stop, then walked to the climbing hall. Unfortunately the entrance we had taken last time, when they had done a try-out, was locked, and we had to walk all around the building in the rain. We were still ten minutes early and sat down to wait after having registered.
Soon the teacher came. It was a very tall and skinny man. He gathered everyone up, and off we went inside the climbing hall. We walked all the way up to the kids' climbing wall, where they also store the climbing shoes. We had to pick out her size ourselves, and Tammy put the shoes on. Once everyone was done, the class started.
At first they were supposed to just cilmb sideways across the wall. Then he put puzzle pieces all over the climbing wall that they had to climb to to bring them back down. Then they put the puzzles together. They did that twice. They also played a running game on the ground.
After quite some time, he put the harnesses on the kids. Tammy was first. She had done really well, just like most of the kids. Just one boy with long hair was a real troublemaker. The teacher already knew him and had to constantly ask him to come or participate or not run away or do something else. It was pretty annoying, and time was lost.
After all the harnesses were on, the kids went downstairs to walk to the very high climbing wall. The hall was so full of people that it was unbelievable. The trainer said it was because of the bad weather. I sat down near where the kids were and watched. All the other parents had stayed upstairs, but I didn't care. I wanted to see Tammy climb. Last time she'd climbed really high on that wall. This time she went all the way to the top. It was impressive. She got to climb up a second time, on the other line, so it was a different course, and this time she stopped before reaching the top. The rest of the time was spent with securing the other kids, which was rather boring for them.
Once the class was over, we all went back upstairs, where they took their shoes off and put their regular shoes back on. The teacher talked to me saying that I should keep my distance so that Tammy doesn't come to me during class.
Tammy and I left and were going to take the train back home. However, the storm had caused trains to be canceled and it looked like it was gonna take way too long until the next train was actually coming. And so we went to the bus stop instead, but had to wait for quite some time. It was 3:20 pm before we were back home. The class had lasted for 75 minutes, but it had seemed to take forever for me.
I was very tired and glad to be home. I'm really not that happy with a class on Sunday, but what can you do. I was hoping to get some rest before having to start making their food.
Today the emergency situation was continuing with all the rain. Sammy's kindergarten had asked to keep the kids at home, if possible. The other kindergarten has no line of communication. Much of public transportation in Vienna was affected and interrupted. This morning we decided to keep all the kids at home for the day. And so Randy took them downstairs after breakfast, which gave me a chance for some more sleep, contrary to yesterday morning. I got up around 10:15 am and went to the kitchen just before 11 am to make lunch.
After the soup was done and simmering on the stove, I took my medical probe and a bag and left the house. I took the subway for two stops and went to the lab there to hand in my probe. Then I went to the grocery store there for a few items on my list. Then I returned home, where I arrived just after noon.
The soup was ready, so we sat down to eat. After lunch, I wanted to get some rest as I was really tired. Sammy soon came to me, and we ended up having some fun in my bed. He likes playing with the handheld fan. Before I started teaching at 2:30 pm, I made sure Tammy and Emmy were dressed appropriately for their try-out dance class. I was done at 3:20 pm, then I put some numbing cream on Tammy's earlobes.
I was going to take Tammy and Emmy to their dance class by myself, but Randy wanted to come along with Sammy so he would not cry the whole time they were home. And so we all left the house and walked to the tram stop. We had to wait for quite some time before it finally came. It was still raining. We then stayed on the tram for quite a few stops before getting off.
We crossed the street and went inside the mall there. I had made an appointment for 4 pm, but it was already later. I figured that was not a problem. Right after walking in, we saw a Peppa Pig play area that looked really cool. Tammy and I left the boys there and went into the jewelry shop that was right there as well.
The lady asked me how long the cream had been on and then decided to wait five more minutes. Tammy was really excited that the day had finally come for her to get earrings. For many weeks she'd been bugging me to get earrings, but Randy had not been in favor. I knew it was time to do it and I had waited for an opportunity. Today the opportunity had come as this place was in the same shopping mall as the dance studio, and we could do it before the class.
The lady got the earrings out, but we had already chosen online, and there wasn't really anything to choose. As soon as Tammy had seen the unicorn earrings, she was all excited about them.
The lady had Tammy sit on a chair and removed the bandaids on top of the cream on her earlobes. Then she wiped her earlobes clean. Next the lady made a little dot on each earlobe, where she was going to shoot the hole. She then got a little device out and shot first the one ear and then the other. Tammy hadn't felt anything, thanks to the cream. The lady really liked Tammy and bragged on her that she hadn't been fearful whatsoever. She told me how a 12-year-old had been very fearful. While I still had to pay, Tammy went outside to join the boys. Daddy was still not very happy.
It was still early, but we had never been to the dance studio and I wanted to make sure we'd find it before doing anything else. And so we made our way in the direction of the studio. We ended up in the parking garage they said you had to go to, but then we were lost. I had to call them for directions. We then took the elevator up to the fourth floor, walked across the parking lot and found the door to the staircase. We had to go up one more flight of stairs, and there was no elevator there that we could see. And so Randy rolled up the wheelchair one step at the time.
Once on top, there was a gym and there was the dance studio. We went inside and were overwhelmed by how many people there were. And it was big. We stood in line by the reception desk. Once it was our turn, I wrote down the kids' names on the list. Then we went to the locker room, where they took their long pants off and put their dance shoes on. When we came back out, Sammy was crying hard. He wanted to do the Peppa Pig rides. And so Randy left with him to do just that, while I stayed with the kids for their class. Sammy ended up having lots of fun on those rides.
When it was finally 5 pm and time for the class to start, we were told that parents were not allowed inside. Even though it was a class for kids age 5 to 7. And there was a lot of them. But then there were also 2, sometimes even three teachers. I was not happy but had no choice but to stay outside. They had blinds on the glass walls, but they were not completely closed so that you could see what they were doing inside. I stood by the glass the whole 50 minutes to watch them and take pictures. Thankfully they didn't mind me staying outside, even though that's usually a big issue for Tammy.
It was a dance mix class, but today all I saw was what you probably call Hip Hop. Emmy was not the only boy, but most of the kids were girl. They participated well and seemed to have some fun. But I could soon tell that it was not really the right class for them. That's what try-out classes are for.
I got tired standing by the window and was glad, when the class was finally over. Crowds were heading to the locker room, where it was a challenge to get changed. After we were all ready, we left. We took the elevator all the way down and left the building, crossing the street to go to the tram stop. After a few minutes the tram arrived and we rode it for a good bit. After getting off, we still had quite a walk ahead of us. While we were walking, Randy and Sammy called to ask where we were. We talked with Sammy for some time, then we were already home. Randy and Sammy were standing inside our building by the main entrance, opening the door for us. Sammy was so very happy to see us.
We went to our apartment, where I started cutting up fruit for them. I had made their bread with salami before leaving the house, and Tammy and Emmy had already eaten it. They sat down and ate their fruit, then they all went into the bathtub, where they had fun. I put Sammy to bed, then sat down with the other two for a bedtime story. I prayed for them, then they went to bed as well. Tammy was saying how her newly-pierced ear was hurting, and I comforted and her and ended up giving her something for the pain to subside. She then soon fell asleep.
I got myself something to eat, then started working on the pictures. Now it's 1:30 am and time to go to bed.
