Day 1238. I had set the alarm for 7 am this morning. And while I had been so extremely tired I gave up writing a report and went to bed at 11 pm, it was a rough night. We had thought of everything except of having milk for the night. They want it to fall asleep, and they want it during the night, when they wake up. Sammy woke up crying for milk just after I had fallen asleep at 11 pm and he woke up Emmy who was then also crying for milk. That time Tammy kept sleeping. Telling them I did not have milk did not help. I finally got the banana milk out that we still had from the trip and gave it to them. It helped a little, but didn't satisfy them completely. Emmy slept the rest of the night in our bed. Sammy woke up crying a few more times, way too often. I think it was also the new bed. The last time I put him in bed with Tammy, in Emmy's spot, when she was awake as well. They were having fun for a short time and then fell asleep.
When the alarm went off, it woke us all up. Except for Tammy who continued sleeping until Randy picked her up to change her diaper.
After everyone was dressed, we went downstairs for breakfast. They had a buffet set up for everyone. We sat down at our table that we'll have all week, and I went to get some food for them. Tammy is not a morning person, and while she pointed out some things she wanted, she basically ate nothing. Emmy and Sammy ate a decent amount of food. It took us a while until we were done.
After breakfast we returned upstairs to put their ski clothes on and get all of us ready to leave. The ski bus was leaving at 8:55, and time was just going by really fast. And so we were a little stressed, rushing to get out of the door in time. We went downstairs and out on the street, where we just had to cross the street and walk a short distance to the bus stop. The bus was only running every half hour, so we HAD to catch that one. We were the only ones waiting there and still had a few minutes. Tammy kept saying she's so cold, which puzzled me. It was actually a pretty warm day, a few degrees above freezing, and she was dressed warm. I asked her how she was cold, but she didn't answer me. Then I suddenly saw that she was not wearing any shoes!!! I was in shock! We'd been in such a rush, and she'd never said a word that she had no shoes on! Randy had 6 minutes to run back to the hotel room and get her shoes and come back for us to make the bus. Tammy kept saying that she was cold. Then I saw the bus approaching, and I also saw Randy was coming our way. We got on the bus, and then Randy did as well. We sat down and put the girl's shoes on. Randy finished tying her shoes just as we arrived at our destination, where everyone got off.
We got off the bus and walked to the skiing school to check in and get their bright yellow jackets as well as their helmets. There was another family ahead of us. Tammy was getting hungry and started eating an apple we had brought with us. I checked in, and a nice lady got some helmets to put on them. Emmy was first and he did not want a helmet and made that very clear. The lady gave him some candy, and suddenly he let her put a helmet on his head. Tammy had no issues and was excited about the helmet. Then we put their jackets over their ski suits.
Next we needed to go nextdoors to get shoes and skis for them. It was a busy place. We stood there waiting for some time until I realized we had to check in on the computer ourselves, which I then did. Then we sat down for them to get their shoes. The store employee helping us was rather unfriendly. First he took his time, then he wanted to measure their feet, and his result was that Emmy had bigger feet than his sister which was absolute news to me. I didn't believe it, and still don't, and he even measured her feet again to try to make his point. And so Emmy got the bigger shoes, while Tammy had a really hard time getting her feet in. Emmy then complained all the time that his shoes were hurting him, but there was nothing I could do. Once they were about to put their skis on, we checked again and made sure his heels were all the way down. He never complained again.
After the shoes they got their cute, little skis, and off we went to go to where the skiing school was, which was a bit of a distance. They started at 10 am, and I later saw that arrival time was 9:45. We had to cross the car park and then walk up on the other side to where they had a building and their little slopes. The only thing white was the slopes, as this winter has had record warm temperatures, and so it was all artificial snow, which means the slopes are pretty icy. I had Tammy and the kids' skis and was leading the way, while Randy had the boys and they were following us, walking not as fast as us. We had to walk up a staircase, cross a narrow slope, and then walk up to the building, where the skiing instructors were waiting for their new students. They greeted the kids and asked them their names and ages. We then walked around the building to a little training slope. They had a long carpet along the top and bottom of the slope, so that they would not slide. The kids lined up on that carpet, which is where they put their skis on. Then it was time to start. The teachers would take them by the hand and walk down backwards with them going down. On the bottom there was a carpet they just had to step on to go back up. Then they'd go down again. And that's what they did for the next 2 hours. The teachers then started to let go of their hands so they'd be on their own and let them go longer and longer distances all by themselves. It didn't take long until they were going down the whole slope all by themselves. Once the kids had mastered that, they'd hand them little hoops on the way down. I was honestly amazed at how well our kids doing, and they were having lots of fun as well. Only time did not want to go down another time a few times, but quickly got over it every time. They were smiling and having fun the whole time. They didn't even mind falling, which happened a few times. Tammy doesn't like lining up behind people and tried quite a few times to overtake people in line, whether it was for the moving carpet or to go down the hill. One time towards the end, Emmy went down perfectly and simply slid over the carpet on the bottom and continued on on the other side! He never even fell! The ski instructor ran after him to catch him. I wished I had captured that on video! But I did get a few nice video clips.
At 11 am there was a break, and they got something to drink as well as cookies. They sat down on the ground to eat and drink. They were both hungry and thirsty. Sammy got some as well. Randy and I were passing him back and forth between us, trying to keep him happy. I threw him around, which he always loves, then found this "thing" where the kids got off the moving carpet that was moving back an forth and in every direction, so I put him on it, and he was enjoying moving with it.
After the break, the teachers had something else planned to change it up before going back to the slope. We had to walk down and around the building again. However, my shoes had no traction whatsoever, and I ended up falling about 3 times while we were there. One time I fell with Sammy, and he was crying, even though it was not that bad. Then a ski instruction came to me to help and I made it down, where I fell again, slipping on ice. But I had arrived. We had reached the caroussel, something I had never seen before. It was like little blow-up boats tied to a wheel that was going round and round. The kids were sure having lots of fun. After it was over, we had to walk back up the hill and around the corner, and I was extra careful. Uphill turned out to be easier anyway.
And then our second hour started. Tammy kept saying she wanted to go down the bigger slope she could see, and I told her they'd go there at some point, once the teachers said it was time to go there. Tammy mastered going down the hill faster than her brother, but by the end of the day they could both do it perfectly. However, you could tell that they were getting tired (and hungry, asking for food), as they started falling more. The ski bus back to the hotel was at 12:45, and I was wondering what we'd do between 12 and then. I texted the hotel, and they were so kind to say that they'd pick us up at noon right there, even though they don't usually do that. After we were back at the hotel I found out that the class was actually ending at 12:30 not noon! So the kids actually missed the last half hour. But they'd definitely had enough after 2 hours. Once the man who was picking us up had arrived, we took their skis off and left. Once again I had to walk down that hill. The hotel guy said we could leave their skis and shoes right there, and so we put their street shoes back on and started warking to the car park. His car was right there, and we all got in. It wasn't a long drive to the hotel.
Back at the hotel we went to our room, changed, and then went downstairs to have lunch. They serve a simply lunch for kids only; we adults have to go without or can buy little snacks. We went to a different room than where we get our meals and were the only ones there at first. It took us a while to figure out that there was a big pot of soup in the corner for the kids. I got three cups for them, but the soup was extremely hot. They then gave us some icecubs to put into it so they could eat it, and that worked really well. There was also some plain bread for them to eat. Then we returned to our room for a nap.
All five of us were really tired, though Emmy said he wasn't and didn't need a nap. We put them to bed, and it did not take that long for them to fall asleep, Tammy being the last one as usual. As for Sammy, I had to sit down on the floor by his bed and hold his hand for him to fall asleep. By about 2 pm they were all asleep. I decided to do some stuff for a while, then lay down myself as well. Even Randy was in bed and fast asleep, which is something he usually does not do. Even though I was so very tired, I never fell asleep for some reason. Sammy woke up first just after 3 pm, before I had fallen asleep. And then Emmy was up as well, and then Tammy. And so we all got up. They wanted to go play, and so we dressed them and went downstairs.
We went to the kids' play area, where there were quite a few other kids already there. The kids immediately started climbing and sliding and playing with the balls, having lots of fun. I had Sammy at first, and went up with him as well, helping him go down the slide a few times. He also enjoyed all the balls. Then I went to the other room where I helped Tammy get to the top of the climbing wall again. Sammy ended up there as well. I got my computer out and sat down to work and catch up on things. Then I heard some crying and loud voices. Emmy had hurt a little girl, then talked impolitely to her mother. I talked to Emmy, and he apologized to the girl, but he was still a little defiant, when I said he could not do that and not talk like that. The mother also asked for him not to throw balls at her daughter. It wasn't long, when Emmy was doing just that again, and I could hear the conversation between Emmy and the mother. It was definitely time to go. Tammy then said that that little girl was her best friend now.
We went to our room, where we put our swimsuits and bathrobes on and left to go swimming. There was only one adult in there, just sitting and reading, and he soon left, so that it was just the five of us. We put their swim rings on and went into the water. And then the fun started. We were all having a great time. We played shark, and I was throwing them up into the air and putting them on my shoulders and diving under them and playing caroussel with them. It was lots of fun.
Then we showered off again, dried off, and returned to our room. We changed once again so we could go to dinner. We went to our table, and I went to the kids' buffet with them. There was schnitzel and potatoes and brokkoli. Tammy didn't want any of it. All she wanted was fruit. Emmy and Sammy ate the food, as well as some soup, bread and cheese, and later some icecream. Sammy now likes to play a baby game with ducks on the phone and was the first one to ask for it. Then the others asked for it too. And so they each ended up with a device in front of them, doing different things. As they're done so much faster than us with our 3-4 course meal, it's helpful to have those devices.
After we were all done, we returned to our room, where we were getting them ready for bed. I prayed for them and put them to bed, but they were not ready to fall asleep right away, on the contrary. Tammy and Emmy lying next to each other were having fun instead, while Sammy was upset and wanted me to sit by him, which I did. This time we had a liter of milk that we got in the dinner room, thank God, so we should have a better night tonight. Tammy was the last one to fall asleep just after 9 pm. As for me, I was working on today's pictures and report, not even having written yesterday's report. Now it's nearly midnight, and I can barely keep my eyes open any more. Time for bed!
