Day 2063. This morning I had set my alarm for 8:45 am. At 9:15 we all left the house together. We took the subway for two stops, then waited for the bus to arrive that we rode for 14 stops to arrive at the shopping mall. It's already become somewhat of a tradition for us to go there for their program on Easter Saturday; I believe it was our third time there. And we don't ever go there at any other time of the year.
We got there just before 10 am, which is when it was to start. There was already quite a line for the Easter egg hunt, and we joined it. There was a race car there that the kids enjoyed playing in and on. The mascot of the shopping mall and the Easter bunny also came by, and Tammy and Emmy ran to them to say hello. Sammy was still a little fearful but did go all the way up to the them.
The line moved quickly. Before we got to go in, they handed little baskets to the kids for the hunt, and we took a picture with the Easter bunny. Then they ran in to look for the eggs. They were allowed to take three candies and one real egg. They had two big boxes in there with all the candy inside, as well as candy dispensers, and the kids took three items. Then there was a bell you had to ring for a surprise. Tammy rang it all three times, and every time a hand with a colored egg came out of the bush to hand it to the kids. At the exit, a lady checked what they had gathered and put it into a paper bag for them.
We continued walking and reached the face-painting station where we joined the line. This line was a lot slower. I was proud of Sammy who was not able to wait in lines in the past, but today we could actually do it even though it took a while. The kids ate some of their new candy. Then their turn had come. Sammy went first and wanted Mickey Mouse of course; the lady did a great job painting his face. When the next lady became available, Tammy went there. She wanted a unicorn. Emmy waited for Sammy to be done and then sat down with that same lady. His theme was soccer but he then changed his mind. As the lady started painting, I was puzzled and wondering what he had chosen. He wanted to be a clown! Surprising choice but he looked great.
We left and went upstairs to the restrooms. There was a little helicopter that the kids sat in right away but then we moved on. Randy and Sammy stayed there, and Sammy had fun.
Coming back from the restrooms, we lined up at the glitter tattoo station that we had passed. The line was not as long as downstairs, thank God. Tammy chose a unicorn, Emmy a soccer ball and Sammy Mickey and Minney. Tammy went first, the boys were done at the same time. They could chose two colors for the glitter. Tammy chose well - pink and purple - but Emmy wanted gold and silver, and those colors were too light for the soccer ball to come across well. Sammy had beautiful blues.
There wasn't anything else to do. It was going on noon, so we went back downstairs to go to McDonald's for lunch. On the way there we stopped at the huge Easter bunny and took a picture of the kids. We then had a good time eating together. I checked when the next bus was coming, as it runs only every half hour. When I saw that it was in a few minutes, we quickly packed up and left. We just had to cross the parking lot to get to the bus stop and even had to wait a little before it arrived.
By 12:30 we were back home. I was very tired and just wanted to lie down which I did. The kids got on their tablets. At 1 pm I finally closed my eyes. For a while it was still loud at times but then it got quite. Randy had taken the kids downstairs. I slept until 3 pm, and then the kids already came into my room. I went to the kitchen to make their dinner-to-go boxes, then we all got dressed for church.
Just after 4 pm we left the house together and walked to the train station to make the 4:20 pm train. After the train, we took the subway for three stops, then walked through the mall to church. Tammy, Emmy and I always take the escalators up, while Randy and Sammy take the elevator. Emmy continued walking with them, then saw us on the escalator and came running to join us. He fell on the escalator and hurt his knee bad. He was bleeding. I pulled his pants up, and we continued on to church.
When we arrived at church, I asked for a first-aid kit, and a lady got one from the office. It only had alcohol pads that I used to clean the wound. As there were no bandaids, we put a bandage around his knee, then pulled his pants back down. Emmy was still crying. I carried him into the sanctuary where we sat down with the others in the first row. The service started with joyful singing of resurrection songs. Emmy was exhausted and fell asleep on my chest.
He slept there for a while, then woke up again. Tammy and Sammy were on the floor for some time, playing together, and then Sammy wanted to go be with his friend Janos and crossed the sanctuary with his sister to get to him. After a while Randy went there to bring him back. The kids were asking when the kids' program was gonna start, especially Tammy, as the singing was going on for quite some time. Sammy was with me for some time as well, and he kept wanting to see the song-cookie I had reordered since his favorite cookie had gone missing today. At least he could look at the picture on my phone.
Just after 6 pm the singing ended, and the kids left with Randy to go to the kids' program. I stayed in the sanctuary and listened to the preaching. After the preaching, we started singing songs of joy again. I then left to go find the kids and found them coloring pages. We then returned to the sanctuary together, where people were dancing through the room holding hands. Tammy and Emmy joined in and were having fun, but the song ended too quickly. We slowly made our way out of the sanctuary and went to the coffee shop where the kids got a few pieces of candy off the tables. We said hello to a friend, and quickly talked to the pastor on the way out. It was time to go home.
We rode the subway and then the train and got home just after 8 pm, which is their bedtime. I took the bandage off of Emmy's knee, disinfected the wound and put a bandaid on it. The kids then got ready for bed, and even still read them some stories. By 8:45 pm they were still awake in their beds. Randy had already made his dinner, and it was my turn to get something to eat. After having eaten, I started working on the many pictures of the day. Now it's 2 am and time to go to bed. It's another early morning tomorrow.
