Day 1241. This morning the alarm went off at 6:50 am. Tammy and Emmy are sharing a bed, but Emmy always comes to me to sleep next to me at some point during the night, this morning it was already about 6 am. We got up, got dressed and went downstairs to have breakfast. After breakfast we started the long process of getting dressed for skiing. Today our goal was to make the 8:55 bus to the skiing resort, and we got to the bus stop over 10 minutes early. Randy then turned around to get a pacifier and a hat for Sammy. Sammy's hat was lost on the first day and it's been okay so far, but this morning it was snowing hard. Tammy was delighted and cheering for joy! The girl sure loves snow!
Randy returned with a few more minutes left, but he had taken Tammy's hat as he could not find Emmy's. Poor Sammy had to wear a pink hat today! The bus came, we got on and rode the few minutes to the skiing resort. After getting off the bus, we walked across the street to go to the ski rental place. As I had reserved my skis online, I just had to show them the information. A guy brought me a pair of ski boots, and they fit perfectly, even though it was hard to get in. Then they gave me a pair of skis and sticks. The kids thought the sticks were really cool.
As it was snowing so hard, I needed ski goggles as well and bought a pair. Then it was time to walk over to the skiing school area. Tammy was still really delighted about the snow and liked my skis and sticks. We went inside the skiing school hut, where their shoes were that we put on them. Then we got their skis and walked over to the little training slope where they practice. My plan had been to go over to the bigger slope with them, first with one and then the other, but it was nearly time for their class to start, and the teachers were ready to get going. One helped Tammy put her skis on, while I helped Emmy. I then decided to leave to go skiing. I had told them that I was gonna go but come back. Randy told me that they were still crying for some time after I had left.
I skiied over to the gondola and got on. There was a guy with two girls on, a local, and we ended up doing some small talk. It was still snowing, and there was fog, and so you couldn't see much. My new ski goggles kept fogging up. I had never been up that mountain and didn't know any of the slopes. Some sunshine would have been nice. I finally got off the gondola and started going downhill. There were a few options, but not that many. I picked one and just went for it. Soon my legs started hurting. They were obviously not used to this. Coupled with not seeing anything, it made me stop quite a few times. As an expert skier (I ran races as a teenager), that was sure not typical for me, but then it had been 4 years since I skied for a day or two, and it had been long before then too, and even longer before that. Plus I'm out of shape.
As I was getting closer to reaching the bottom again, where I had started, I could see the skiing school and where Randy and the kids were. However, there was no way to get there. I had to go all the way down, then over, and then take a "baby lift" up the hill there to be able to ski to their little training slope. Emmy was really happy to see me. It was about 10:45, and the teachers decided to take a break and take them to the caroussel, which they love. Tammy was leaning out of it to pick up snow that she likes putting into her mouth, and actually fell out. A teacher put her back in. After they got out, they saw a little snowman there and went to check it out. Then it was time to go back up to the training slope to ski. But first the teachers lay down in the snow with them so everyone could make a snow angel. Tammy enjoyed doing it, but Emmy refused because he was upset after I had just told him I'd go away one more time to go up the mountain. I took them to their slope, and then skied off.
By that time the snowing had stopped, and the sun had started coming out which gave me a boost of excitement. I rode up the mountain in a gondola again, which took a while, and could actually see more of the slope. After I got off, I took the same route down the mountain. However, this time I saw a lot more and so I went faster and with fewer stops and was also hurting less. I again skied over to the skiing school area once I reached the bottom. Again they were happy to see me, and I told them I'd take them with me one on one to the next bigger slope for a ride. Emmy was eager to come with me and was upset, when Tammy went first. We skied over to the side, but then she fell and hurt herself on the lip with my stick. Our adventure was over. I took her back to the training slope and took Emmy to come with me. I was trying to remember the way parents ski with their little kids between their legs. As my skis had hurt Tammy, I held them differently this time. We managed to ski to the bigger conveyor belt going up the hill. I don't know what happened, when Emmy was getting on. He fell, and because of that I fell as well. But he's such a trooper. He didn't cry or panick. The conveyor belt was carrying him up lying down, while I struggled to take my skis off while laying down so I could get up and get on as well. A guy from the lift helped Emmy get up and put him on his feet. I got up, put my skis back on, and also got on the belt and then walked up to Emmy until I had reached him. We got off and did not have very far to go to reach the training slope area. I had him between my legs, as we skied down the slope and over to their area. Tammy wa still skiing, though not for much longer. They had a cuddly monkey there they used, and Tammy picked it up to cuddle it. There was not a lot of kids there, as the boss had taken half the kids away earlier to take them to a bigger slope. One teacher told me later that those kids had mastered the "pizza piece", i.e. braking, and that was the condition to move up to the next level and go to a bigger slope.
I did my job of encouraging the kids again and having fun with them, going up and down the slope with them and playing, so they'd keep going. Tammy soon wanted to stop, though, and started digging in the snow again. Sammy was tired and with Daddy. And so it was Emmy and I who kept going up and down. I asked him who had been faster going down the hill, and he answered diplomatically that we had both won, that were both equally fast. Smart boy. I then called him my skiing partner, as we were the only ones left snowing and kept going up and down. I was surprised that it was already 12:25, when I looked at my phone. It was time to pack up! The hut was just a little bit below us, and so I put Emmy between my legs and off we went. Everything went great, but then it was time to turn. I don't know what happened, but Emmy fell, and my stick hit his lip, just as it had hit Tammy's. However, he was bleeding. I got him back on his feet and the short rest of the way to the hut. He was still crying, and I comforted him.
We took their shoes off, as I did mine, and put their shoes on. The driver had already arrived and said that he had room to take all five of us today. The kids were really excited to get to ride in a car again. We put the shoes in storage and started walking to the exit, then we all walked to the car park, where his car was waiting. There was one more child that was coming with us, and she sat in the back with Tammy, while the boys sat on either side of me. Emmy wanted me to read him one of the many booklets in the car, which I did. After only a few minutes we were back at the hotel and went to our room to take our skiing clothes off.
Then we went back downstairs to have lunch. It was pancake day today, but the kids are not used to eating those, as I never cook them. They were not impressed and didn't want to eat them. They preferred eating my bread and salami that we had purchased in the store for us adults to eat, as we were not getting lunch. Randy found some antlers that he picked up and held to his head, then to Emmy's. The kids were having fun with them. After we were done eating, we went to our room for nap time.
I put them to bed, but they didn't want to sleep in their own bed. As Sammy wanted me to sit on the floor by him again and hold his hand, the other two lay down on either side of Randy. They were all asleep surprisingly fast. I moved them both to their own bed and lay down in bed myself. After a few minutes on my phone, I also closed my eyes to sleep.
It was Sammy who once again woke up first just before 4 pm, and that was enough to wake up Emmy. It was time to get up anyway, and a few minutes later we were all ready to go downstairs to the play area. I took my computer with me to catch up on stuff. The kids started playing with the balls, and with other toys, and Tammy right away sat down at the crafts' table to make a bracelet with her name. She was really proud of it and wore it the rest of the day. Randy was playing with Sammy. It was already a good bit after 5 pm, when we left to go swimming before dinner.
We went to our room, put our swimsuits on, then went to the pool, where we were once again the only ones there. And once again we had lots of fun playing with each other. That is they were playing with me, while Randy was watching or making sure Sammy was okay. At 6:15 we got out of the water, showered off, and went to our room to get dressed for dinner. Then we went downstairs to eat. Tonight they had a buffet of good stuff, and it always takes me some time to make three plates for the kids and then get my own food. And they always eat so very little of what is on their plates and are soon done. It was just after 7 pm, when they said they were done, and I let them leave to go to the play area, where they had something special going on until 7:30. Emmy kept coming back every few minutes. The first time he said he had hurt a kid (not on purpose), the second time a kid had insulted him, the third time he had hit a kid on purpose, one that had insulted him several times, and I walked with him to the boy so he could apologize to him. A few minutes later it was already 7:30 anyway, and they sat down at the table again, first to play, then to watch a movie, while I fed them the cake that was the dessert. At 8 pm we were done and left to return to our room. They always cry, when we turn the devices off.
Back in the room we started getting them ready for bed, and by 9 pm they were all in bed. Sammy fell asleep fast, then Tammy, and Emmy last. Randy had not been feeling well, so he went to bed as well, while I started working on the pictures, and then started writing my report. Now it's after midnight, and I need to go to bed.
