Day 815. Last night I went to bed at midnight. Tammy immediately came running to lie down next to me, but Randy took her back to her bed. Later Emmy came, and Randy took him back too. A few hours later I let Tammy come to bed with me, and then Emmy came too. He was the restless one today. He took his pj's off, which was fine with me, and he constantly wanted cookies, then milk. At some point he and his sister got up and started running around and doing who knows what. One time I looked over, and there was Emmy naked. He had taken his diaper off. So Randy got up and gave them fresh diapers, as he does every morning, while I went to the kitchen to make their breakfast. It was our regular getting-up time anyway, just after 7 am.
Today Emmy had a little bit of the cereal, but that was it, while Tammy ate nothing. After breakfast I dressed them and then took them downstairs, where I got their Bibles out, and we read a couple more stories. Then I did some work downstairs, before going upstairs, after Randy had come with his breakfast. I finished cleaning up and put a lasagna into the oven, changing the starting time to a few hours later, when we were not gonna be home. At 9 am everyone came upstairs, and we started dressing them in their snowsuits, which was the most practical to wear at the playground. It was a dreary fall day. Just before 9:30 we left the house to take two subways to get downtown, where we were meeting up with Sonja.
We got there right at 10 am and walked from the subway over to the playground. I had been there for just 5 minutes with Emmy one time, which is why I knew it was nice and wanted to bring them all there. Today we had 75 minutes.
There were hardly any other kids there. First we went to a slide that was perfect for their age, and they did great going up the ladder and the net. Tammy really enjoyed it and kept going up and down. Emmy was with Sonja and took his time to get going.
Tammy went over to the climbing construct and slide for older kids and started climing up the ladder. She surprised me, when she was courageous enough to go down the closed slide. And she enjoyed it so much that she kept going up and down. I was even more surprised, when Emmy had the courage to go down. But he arrived head first, lying on his back, and wasn't too happy, and so he did not go back down again.
They also went on the big swing together, and Tammy went on the individual swing. And they went on the two cars that are on springs, which they enjoyed greatly. Two school classes arrived, and suddenly there were kids everywhere, but they still made the best of it, and also watched the older kids.
There was a balancing beam of sorts, and both Tammy and Emmy went across with Sonja's and my help.
Leaves were falling everywhere, mostly yellow, and some were really big. Sonja got them interested in the leaves, and soon they were all collecting them, and Sonja took some home with them. Back home, she had them put some paint on them and used them as a stamp on paper, which was pretty.
At 11:15 we started walking back to the subway. They were setting up the Christmas market there, but of course the unvaccinated are not allowed to go there. Hopefully the kids get that experience next year. Just before noon we were back home. The food in the oven was ready, and I put it on everyone's plate. Emmy ate his AND what was on Tammy's plate, as she refused to eat anything. And so Emmy got to eat pudding, which he did in the bathtub. Sammy also enjoyed the lasagna, and had his pudding in the bathtub. Tammy wanted out first and went downstairs with Sonja. Then the boys went to bed. I sat with them first, and then Randy. It didn't take long for them to fall asleep. At 1:15 the girl went to bed and soon fell asleep.
I was doing office work, but got so very tired that I fell asleep myself. When I woke up, Randy had already taken Sammy downstairs, and he was about to leave for the grocery store. When Emmy woke up around 3 pm, I took him downstairs, with their snacks, and then Tammy as well, when she woke up closer to 3:30. Then I went back to doing office work. When Randy finally returned from the store, I reminded him that he had forgotten to do the Corona test for Sammy's physiotherapy session tomorrow, so he quickly did it and took it to the drop-off place. I have my doubts that the result will be back in time.
He was still gone, when I started making their dinner at 5 pm. By 5:30 I was done and went downstairs to spend time with them. I found Tammy and Emmy in the swing together. I didn't think they'd still both fit in there. They came out and wanted to watch Barbapapa. They started watching, while I grabbed Sammy and started playing with him, throwing him around, which he loves. That got the others' attention and soon Emmy wanted to be thrown around as well, and then Tammy as well, and Sonja helped me. We got our work out in! I had also finished tidying up while all three were watching in the beginning. Just before 6 pm we went upstairs to eat.
Tammy and Emmy both ate their soup, which they usually do, but ate nothing else. They just wanted to get into the water. I was greatly surprised, when they ate EVERYTHING on their plate except for the raspberries! That hasn't happened in so very long! Sammy also ate everything, while having fun playing with the faucet. And then Tammy and Emmy also drank the WHOLE cup of breakfast cereal! I'm speechless.
They came out, against their will, and we got them ready for bed. They were in bed before 7 pm. At first it seemed that they were going to sleep fast, but then they were up on their feet again. After a while I asked Randy to take my place, while I got myself something to eat, and then went back to work. I have been working upstairs now for quite some time, while I used to work in my office downstairs at night. Tonight I went downstairs, so I could continue packing for Mali, and so I also worked on my computer downstairs. Now it's gotten pretty late, and it's time to clean up and go to bed.
