Day 1219. I went to bed at my usual time of close to 2 am last night, and woke up in the morning with Emmy next to me. I set my alarm for 8:45, as I had a 10 am lesson. I was very tired and had a hard time getting out of bed. After breakfast I cleaned them up and dressed them, but then I had to get ready for my lesson, and Randy went downstairs with the kids. I taught from 10 to 11, then started doing office work. Now that the kids have so many new toys to play with, they are not eager to come upstairs early as they were before Christmas. They came upstairs just before noon, and we sat straight down to eat.
After lunch they finally got to watch videos. At 1:15 I stopped them so they could lie down for their nap, which still took until 1:30. And then it was Tammy who had a hard time falling asleep, as usual. Randy left for the grocery store, while I sat with them. I left after a while, but Tammy called me back, so I returned for a little bit. It was about 2 pm before she finally fell asleep.
I was really tired, but I had work to do. By the time I closed my eyes at 2:30, Sammy was already awake, and then it was Tammy who walked into the room, and a minute later Emmy followed. They lay down with me, but Sammy was not happy being left behind. And then Randy came home and added Sammy to our number. The three of us were having fun, but Sammy really wanted to go to the kitchen to help Randy put the groceries away, and so I let him glide to the floor, and the other two also went to the kitchen, only to come back soon, as Randy preferred not having three little "helpers".
They wanted to go downstairs, but it was 3 pm, and we needed to leave at 3:30, which we did. Unfortunately Tammy has now lost her Paw Patrol hat and she wanted to wear her Christmas hat, and so Emmy wore it as well. It was a straight shot to our destination, so we got off right there, by the amusement park. We walked to the Christmas market, where we were meeting with my brother and his family. We hadn't seen them since April, so it had been a long time, and I had not talked to him in many months either. However, I was determined to see them during the holidays and was glad it hard worked out.
I was disappointed that my brother's wife hadn't made it, but at least I saw my brother and nephews. We walked around the few stands at the market and got to a caroussel and small train. Of course the kids wanted to ride them. Two rode the little train, and two rode the caroussel. Then we went into the coffee shop right there, where we sat down. We exchanged gifts, and our kids were excited to get more gifts and ended up playing with them the rest of our time there. As for me, I enjoyed talking to my brother for the first time in a long time, and Randy joined our conversation from time to time. I also got to talk to my nephews a little bit, but they were on their phones most of the time.
We all had something to drink and the kids ate fries. Once they were getting a little restless, we decided it was time to go. We said our good-byes and went in opposite directions. We walked back to the subway, got on and rode straight home.
Just before 6 pm we were back home. The kids continued watching, as they had on the train, while I started making their dinner. At 6:30 we sat down to eat, then they continued eating in the bathtub. Once they came out, we got them ready for bed. By 8 pm we had read the bedtime story and I had prayed for them, and they could go to bed, which has been a challenge recently. They suddenly want to eat something else, which drags out their going to bed. Finally I was able to get them all into bed and sat down by them. I stayed with them for a long time before Randy took my place. And Sammy always gets more unruly and mischievous after I leave. I took him until nearly 9:30 before he finally got quiet. Emmy also fell asleep pretty late. As for me, I got mysels something to eat and then started working on the pictures. Now it's midnight, and I hope to make it to bed earlier tonight.
