Day 1195. This morning I set my alarm for 8:30, but I was already up before then, thanks to the kids. We opened the advent calendars, and Randy started changing their diapers. After breakfast, we cleaned them up and dressed them and left the house at 9:30 am.
It was a cold and windy day, but thankfully it never rained on us. We took the subway, and then we had a long 15+ minute walk to the river and then to our ship. Once we hit the river, there was one ship behind another. We kept walking until we reached our ship. It was 10 am, so the perfect time, as the ship was leaving at 10:30 to be back two hours later. People had already gone on board, so there was no line, which was nice. We were thankful to get on, as we were all cold. We showed our tickets and got tickets to exchange later for the kids' Saint Nicolas gifts. The ship had two stories, and we were told that our table was upstairs. As there were already a good number of strollers downstairs, we decided to take them upstairs with us. And so I walked up the stairs with the kids, while Randy carried the strollers up. I found our table, and we sat down. It was the perfect table, with a bench on one side and chairs on the other. I asked for a high chair for Sammy, and while they thought they had none left, they were able to organize us one after all.
We all sat down at our table and ordered some drinks. The kids were looking at the TV screen above us that showed a live feed from the stage area that was empty at that time. Then we got up from our table to walk around a little. We went to the front, where you could look downstairs at the stage area, then continued on to the windows in the front. We all looked out and could see the water cresting. There was also a Christmas tree on the deck outside. Sammy enjoyed playing with the curtains the most. I returned to the table with him, and then the clown that was going to entertain them came by. Sammy was getting scared, but he just passed by, shouting to everyone that his show was about to start. I was wondering if the other two kids were going to be scared seeing him approach them.
Once they returned to the table, we all went to the front again, where you could look down at the stage area. The clown had told everyone to come downstairs, but there were a lot of kids, and they could see much better from upstairs. I put Sammy with his siblings on the floor at first, but he was not interested in the show. So I ended up going to the window with him, where he could look out and play with curtains again.
The show started, and the captain came by to talk to the kids. He then told them that they had forgotten a very important visitor - Saint Nicholas himself. However, he was on a small boat approaching us, and in fact, as I was by the window, I could see the small boat driving by and then docking and Saint Nicholas coming on board. How elaborate! And then he walked to the stage area and joined the clown. They were talking together, and then Saint Nicholas asked the kids whether they had been good kids, and they all shouted YES with a loud voice. And then he already started distributing the gifts. It was pretty crowded with all the kids wanting to get their gifts right away. And we knew we needed to go downstairs, which we did. It was clear that it would be a while before it was our turn. The kids were surprisingly patient. Once we had come close to the front, Emmy pushed through to be in the first row. We had noticed that they were giving little kids priority, and in fact, as soon as he saw Emmy he chose him to be next to get a gift. And so it was the triplets' turn. The clown picked up Emmy for the picture, Saint Nicholas took Sammy out of Randy's arms - and he was not very happy about it - and Randy picked up Tammy. Then I took some pictures. After they had put them back down, they each gave them their gift back full of different kind of candy. Last Easter the kids had been terrified of the Easter bunny, but today they were not scared of Saint Nicholas.
We left the crowd and went back upstairs. They were doing professional face-painting at the top of the stairs, and though the kids had already said they were hungry, they wanted the painting even more, and so we joined the line. Randy took Sammy to the table to give him some food, and Tammy and Emmy were watching the ladies paint. Sammy returned after a while, as he does not like being separated from the rest of the family. They had book there full of Christmas motives, and Tammy and Emmy both picked what they wanted painted on their faces. The lady did a great job, and she was fast too. The kids were looking really great, with cute animals on their faces.
While we had stood in line, everybody else was already eating. It was finally our turn, but there was not much left. All they had were sausages and fries, as they were out of the potato wedges. The kids don't care much for sausages, so they only ate fries. And of course they wanted to get into the candy they had received from Saint Nicholas. While we were eating at the table, the clown came by again, saying that he was about to start his show again. So the kids went back to the same spot to watch the show downstairs. It lasted until we were back where we had started our journey. I did not want to be last to get off the ship, as it was already 12:30, so I went downstairs with the kids, while Randy carried the strollers down. And indeed, we were right there by the entrance/exit. We put their coats and hats back on, and then the doors opened already for us to get off, which we did. Once again we had that long 15+ minute walk back to the subway, and we were all freezing in the cold.
We took the subway and were home just after 1 pm. It was time to go to bed right away for their nap. It took until 1:40 until Tammy was also asleep. I was really tired myself and did not turn my computer on. Instead I lay down and set myself a one-hour timer. Emmy was up before then and came into the room waking me up. I then got up, though tired, and got ready to leave, as well as getting the kids ready. We then left on time just after 3 pm to take the 3:20 train.
Once we got off the train, we took the subway. When we got off, the elevator was out of order, so I walked upstairs with the kids, while Randy carried the strollers upstairs. Then we walked into the shopping mall and went to the grocery to get a few items we needed. Then we continued walking to get to church.
We got there just as the 4 pm service was starting. It was a special family service, like we had experienced once before. We went to the front, where they had set up little chairs for kids, and Tammy and Emmy sat down on them. I also had Sammy on one for some of the time, but most of the time he was in my lap. He stayed with me the whole time, as he'd start crying for me with Daddy.
The service started with worship, with kids dancing in the front as well as clowns, but today our kids never once participated. I asked them to dance, but they refused. After prayers, greeting and offering, the clowns did a little show, then two puppets came, then someone did a little sketch, and then the speaker came. The kids had been looking forward to "Kasperl" as they'd been told he was coming, but they were disappointed, when he never came. Instead two puppets were talking with each other, and they came back at the end to talk some more. The speaker had visuals on the screen and also showed them a clip from a movie, which they enjoyed. Tammy and Emmy sat quite far away from me, close to the puppets, and stayed there.
Sammy was getting crankier and crankier as the service went on, and I finally got up with him and started throwing him around, which makes him happy. I was thankful, when the service then ended, and went outside with him and to the table we usually sit at. Then the other two came outside and went straigh to the place where they'd get balloons and picked one out each. Then we sat down at the table, and I got ourselves something to eat. After having eaten, we soon left, hoping to make the 6 pm train, but that was not the case. Emmy had lost his Paw Patrol hat, which was sad. We walked through the mall, put their coats back on, and went to the subway. Had it come right away, we would have had a chance to make the train. But the screen said it was 12 minutes to the next train. And so we sat down on a bench and waited. Once we got to the train station, we stayed inside hall waiting for the 6:30 train, and Tammy and Emmy were watching videos. I took Sammy to the ticket machine so he could touch it and have fun instead of crying for a button to push. Then we took the elevator to the platform, and a few minutes later out train arrived.
By 6:45 pm we were back home. I cut up some fruit that they ate in the bathtub. Then we got them ready for bed. With them all ready, I sat down on the chair with them and we opened the two advent calendars with books that we then read. Then I prayed for them, and they went to bed. They were giving us a hard time tonight, with some drama going on, and so it was quite some time before they were all asleep. For me it was 9:30 before I could sit down to eat. Then I started working on the many pictures of today. Now it's after 1 am and time to clean up the kitchen and go to bed.
