3 years 2 months 2 days

Day 1158. Just after 9 am I forced myself out of bed. Last night it had been late, close to 2 am. After breakfast I took them downstairs, where we read a Bible story together. By the time I sat down at the computer, it was already 10 am, so I only had 75 minutes to work, which wasn't much. At 11:15 I went to the kitchen to cook. At noon we sat down at the table to eat.

After everyone had eaten and had had their icecream, I cleaned them up and dressed them. Tammy and Emmy were watching videos for about 20 minutes, while Sammy was playing in his bed. At 1:15 I put them all to bed. I sat down by them, but all three were awake and not sleeping, and I wasn't very patient today. I had told them already yesterday that I had a surprise for them, and so I kept bringing it up that they needed to sleep if they wanted it. I told them we'd stay home if they didn't behave. At some point the boys fell asleep, but not Tammy. I'd finally had enough and told her that she was not coming with us.

Time was short, and I used it to prepare my 8 pm lesson. Emmy woke up early, and then Sammy also woke up earlier than necessary. When Randy put him on the changing table to get him ready for them to leave, he started crying and crying hard, and he would not stop. Randy left with him after 2:30, but then returned to leave the stroller at home and carry him to his physiotherapy session, because he was just crying too hard.

We woke Tammy up, and I told her she'd stay home, while Emmy and I would leave for the surprise. She started crying. Then we had our conversation about grace again - receiving what you don't deserve - and I symbolically handed her grace. Emmy was relieved, as he had been sad to not have his sister come with us.

We left the house just before 3 pm  and took the subway, then another one. It was a long trip across town. After 50 minutes we got there at 3:45. They still had no idea where we were going and what we were doing. I pointed out the swimming pool there to them, asking if they remembered us taking a swimming class there. But we kept walking. And then we could see a tent in the distance. It looked like a circus tent, and the kids thought that that was what it was. As we were approaching it, we could see the "Mascha und der Bär" posters everywhere. The kids have been seeing them around town for weeks, pointing them out all the time, and always asking that we'd go there. Today the day had finally come. I had kept my afternoon free and done more unusual hours with my students yesterday and in the coming two days. Yesterday I had 5 lessons and taught for 4 hours in a row. But it was all worth it to see their excitement, when they realized we had come to watch what they've been wanting to see for weeks.

There was a line at the ticket counter, and we lined up as well. Just before it was our turn I could hear them say that there was no more room. Oh no! Yesterday we had a public holiday in Austria, and many students started their fall vacation with that, and so there were a lot of kids that had come to the performance, more than they had expected. They decided to add another performance right after the 4 pm one so that the people waiting could go to that one. I told the guy that we had come a long way and could not stay for the 5:10 pm performance. When he saw that we were one adult and two kids he decided to let us in as the last ones. What a relief! The kids had already been on the brink of tears, when they heard there was no more room for us. I was really glad they let us in.

During the week they were giving every child free popcorn and a drink that they gave us. We put the stroller where they were all parked and went inside the tent. In the very back there were still seats, and so we ended up in the last row, but that was okay.

The kids were impatient for the show to start, and it started a few minutes late. They were enjoying their popcorn while waiting and constantly asking, when it would start. And then it finally did. It was a one-hour show with a 10-minute break. During the break we stayed in our seats. There were selling all kinds of toys and balloons outside. The kids were standing on their chairs the whole time, which was especially necessary once kids in front of us did the same, blocking our view. There was a big, bad wolf in the show, and it really scared Emmy who easily gets scared anyway, but it didn't last long. In the end that wolf actually had a change of heart and became a nice wolf.

It was after 5 pm, when the show ended. Some people went up front to take pictures in front of the banners, and we did the same. Tammy nearly pushed it over in the process, and I couldn't get them both to look at me at the same time, but it was time to go.

We got our stroller, while the kids kept asking me to buy a balloon for them. We stopped by the portable toilets and then left the premises. There was a long line of people waiting to get into the next showing. As for us, we made our way back to the subway to start our long trip home. Thankfully it was the final or initial stop, and so the train was empty, when we got on. As it was rush hour, it was soon packed full. The kids were watching "Mascha and the bear" episodes on my phone. When it was time to get off, I could barely get them back into the stroller. And when we got on the other subway, I was the third stroller there, and it was also packed full. The kids stayed in the stroller.

We got home at 6 pm exactly. Randy told me that Sammy had been asking for Mommy. Tammy and Emmy went downstairs to play, while I picked up Sammy to hold him, then I put him into a chair right next to me in the kitchen. I was making their dinner, and so Sammy already got to eat some of his food. At 6:30 we sat down at the table to eat, then they continued eating in the bathtub. It was a little later than usual, so I kept watching the clock to keep track of time in light of my 8 pm lesson. They would have stayed in the water longer without it. Once they were out and ready for bed, I quickly prayed for them, then grabbed my computer and went downstairs. Usually I go downstairs a little earlier, but there was still plenty of time. And then, no student at 8 pm. After 5 minutes I wrote her, and she told me that she had forgotten and came a few minutes later. Good thing I had written her!

By 9 pm I was done and went back upstairs. The kids and Randy were all asleep. I went to the kitchen and started making my salad. It was after 9:30 before I could sit down to eat, and so it was also really late before I started working on the pictures. Now it's nearly 1 am and time to finish cleaning up the kitchen before going to bed. Tomorrow morning Randy has to leave the house at 8:30 to meet with Sammy's physiotherapist alone, and then I have a 10:20 lesson I'm teaching.