Day 750. Last night it was about 12:15 am, when I headed to bed, having struggled to keep my eyes open to write my update. It's no different tonight. Last night Emmy did not come into our bed during the night, but only in the morning, being the first one up. And so we actually had the bed to ourselves for a night - until 7 am. After Emmy came, Tammy came a few minutes later, and then Sammy woke up and I went to get him to join us. I do enjoy these times together in one bed, even when it's early and I'm tired.
They were starting to mess around, as usual, which is when it's time to get up and get them dressed, and then we went downstairs for breakfast for the last time. And nothing was broken today. It's still challenging to keep them at the table and at the bay. They've been reaching over into the bar area, getting stuff from out of there. Today the lady working there gave them pens, which we eventually had to take away. The young hotel boss is obviously not a friend of children, but he kept professional, just not being responsive to them, like when they would greet him.
After breakfast it was time to pack, which was a challenge with three kids around. Even turning the TV on did not help. Randy then went outside into the hallway with them, but not for long, as he returned with a crying Tammy. It was enough to make good progress with packing. Randy started taking stuff to the car, but the kids were getting so cranky and eager to leave that we moved the rest of the stuff outside, and then they wanted to help by grabbing their mattresses and taking them to the staircase. I thought we'd have lots of time, but in the end it was 10:20, before we were all done and the car packed, and ready to go start our long drive to Klagenfurt.
They had been eager to get back into the car, but I knew it wouldn't last. Thanks to my phone I know that we spent a total of 5 hours 35 minutes driving, covering 331 miles or 533 kilometers, and it sure seemed to be a very long trip. Especially when kids cry and want out not long after having stopped.
We decided to take the shortest route through Germany again, even though we had an expired Covid test and no passports with us. And I'm glad we did. It wasn't long before Emmy fell asleep, and a little while later Tammy did. Sammy once again never slept except for 5 minutes one time, which is what he had done last time. I don't know why he's not sleeping in the car on the long trips.
Not having a Covid test also meant we could not stop at a restaurant for lunch. After an hour 40 minutes we pulled up at MacDonald's at noon, and I went inside by myself to buy food for us. It was our very first time eating MacDonald's with them, and my very first time ordering Happy Meals, and it took a long time. I wasn't happy with the toy choices as they were all books and meant for older kids. I got back into the car and we drove just a few minutes up the road to a playground my phone had shown me. Like last time we were impressed by the playground. Germany sure has nice playgrounds! And again we were the only ones there at first. Emmy had already been asking for food, and Tammy woke up, when we stopped at MacDonald's. They were excited, when they saw the playground, and could not wait to get in and start playing. They forgot that we were gonna sit down and eat. The boys had already had snacks in the car, and Tammy was more interested in playing. Sammy probably ate the most, surprising Randy who kept giving him more and was not turned down. And then Sammy also joined in the fun. They all enjoyed the playground. And it was quite a hot and sunny day.
After an hour 20 minutes we continued on our way. We were just before Munich and still had a long drive ahead. However, Randy had noticed a light on the dashboard that meant that we had to add "AdBlue" or the car would stop working. There was an opening for it right next to the diesel cap. It's a brandnew car, and we don't really know what it is or does, but we stopped at the first gas station, where I asked whether they had it, and they did. Randy added it and the light disappeared.
We were finally on our way, hitting the Munich traffic as we took the interstate around the city and continued on to Salzburg. It was 2:10 pm, when we left, and this time it was Tammy who fell asleep first, and Emmy a little while later. No sleep for Sammy. We crossed the border back into Austria and started crossing and going through the Alps, going south to get to our destination. After 2 hours 12 minutes we stopped again, right there in the mountains. I got a tea-to-go, we went to the bathroom, and then we returned to the car. Unfortunately there was no playground or anywhere they could play. Randy noticed that Sammy needed a diaper and went back inside, while I started playing with the other two by the car. Tammy was pretty cranky, and I tried to distract her and cheer her up. In the end both she and her brother got to sit in the driver's seat and pretended to drive, which made especially Emmy happy.
We continued on our way and did not stop again, even though Tammy got pretty eager to get out. This time we drove an hour 40 minutes. I ended up playing videos on my phone to help them make the time go by faster. They enjoy real animal videos best, so we were watching lots of rabbit and goat and cat videos, which they enjoyed. But when I started with baby videos, they liked those best. However, we were going through the mountains, and constantly looking at my phone started making me nauseous. By the time we arrived at our destination at 6:40 pm, I felt so sick!
We were all glad to have arrived, and it's never fast enough for the kids for us to get them out. Today we finally turned the child lock on, as they've both opened the door while we were driving, and I'm glad as they tried it again today. But it means they have to wait for Randy to open the door.
We were staying at an appartment the church where we'll be speaking owns, and I had been told where to find the key. We never saw another person here today, even though someone else lives here. I went into our bedroom with the kids, while Randy started unloading the car and bringing everything in. I sat down in a chair, feeling terrible and really unable to do anything. As for the kids, having sat in the car all day, they were hyper-active, checking out the whole room while laughing, pulling on every cord and opening every drawer and messing things up. I had no choice but to keep going after them. I was glad, when Randy finally returned. However, you have no choice as a Mom but to do your duty. I forced myself up and to the kitchen, where we emptied our food bag to give them leftovers to eat. By now Sammy was so exhausted from not sleeping he was just crying. I got their beds ready and took them to the bathroom. The other two were so eager to get into the bathtub, but I had to take care of Sammy first, and then it was their turn. I got Sammy to bed as quickly as possible. He was crying the whole time, but fell asleep immediately once I put him to bed with his prayer. Then it was his siblings' turn, and they needed longer as usual. I sat between their beds to reassure them both that I was there. It was 8:25 pm, and it did take a little while before they fell asleep. Emmy did his usual talking with me before sleeping, while Tammy would sit up and toss and turn and then sleep.
Once they were asleep, I got up and went to the kitchen, where Randy was. I got myself something to eat as well. I was thankful that I was feeling better. Then I returned to the bedroom to start working on the pictures and the report. My eyes were falling shut again, as usual, but somehow that changed at some point, so I was able to write my report just fine tonight. It's 12:30 am now, so high time to go to bed.
