Day 1242. This morning the alarm was set for 7:30. Sammy was the first one up again. After being dressed, Randy put him on the floor to play, and I was impressed to watch him use the drawing pad. After everyone was ready, we went downstairs for breakfast. After breakfast, we put our skiing gear on and left the hotel to walk to the bus stop nearby. We still had ten minutes, so plenty of time. It was snowing again, and especially Tammy was enjoying the snow. She really loves snow and wants to play and build with it rather than ski.
We took the 9:25 bus and arrived at the skiing resort a few minutes later. Instead of going straight to the skiing school, we first went to get the kids' lift tickets that we had never picked up. There were only two days left, but if they ever leave the little training slope, they need it for all the other lifts and moving carpets. Once we had them, we started walking to the skiing school area, where we put their ski boots on inside the hut, then walked to the training slope with them. Instead of getting started skiing right away, the instructors took them to the bottom of the slope where there was some open space and where they had put different colored plates on the ground. They played a game, where they had to run to the color they said. Emmy didn't care much for it, and Tammy didn't want to ski at all and refused to play the game as well. Instead she started playing in the snow. As for Sammy, I had set him kneeling by a sack to sit on, and Randy then took him.
With the kids busy, I left to go skiing for a second and last day. I had also left my ski boots in the hut, so I put them on in there, then picked up my skis and skied off to the bottom of the gondola. I got on to ride to the top which takes a while, so I took advantage of that time and closed my eyes. It was barely snowing any more, but it was foggy and the visibility was really bad. And so I took my time skiing down the hill. I was hurting again a little, though I had been surprised in the morning to not have any aching muscles from yesterday. Once I reached the bottom, I skied over to where the skiing school was. To get there, I had to take a little baby lift up a little hill to then ski further over. There were several handicapped people on chairs made for skiing getting on the lift. That peaked my interest and so I asked a guy at what age a child could start learning to ski that way. He told me that the teacher was on top and to ask him. So I did just that. He told me that there are kids' courses starting at 6 years old. That got me pretty excited! When I told Randy, he just said that Sammy was gonna be walking by then.
When I reached the skiing school area, I found the kids in the caroussel. Even Sammy got to ride in it for the very first time. It was 10:45, and after they got off, they went inside the hut for something to drink and cookies. Sammy was so happy to see me. Randy told me that he always cried while I was gone, and he also cried, when I was there but not holding him. So I held him, while his siblings were eating and drinking, and Sammy got some too. Then it was time to continue skiing. Tammy had not skied at all yet today. I told them that we could race against each other to see who'd be on the bottom first, and that I was gonna catch them. It was enough to encourage Tammy to ski again, and she does it really well. But it was not enough to keep her going. She soon quit again and started playing in the snow. And so I continued having fun with Emmy, going down with him and then up over and over again. And I did so holding Sammy who wanted to be with me and who enjoyed skiing with me, and then being on the moving carpet.
Time was going by fast, and I never got to go up the mountain again for one more time as planned. And the sun never came out. Just before noon I left to turn my skis and boots in, and Sammy cried again while I was gone. Emmy wasn't happy either. I skied to the bottom, turned everything in, and walked back to the skiing school. I found Randy sitting on a bench with the boys in front of the hut, while Tammy was in the snow with other kids building and playing. They were done skiing for the day. So we put their shoes back on, put the skis in storage, and walked to the entrance to find out whether there was room in the car for us to be taken back to the hotel. There was not. Once again there was only room for the kids, not the adults. The kids were disappointed as they had been looking forward to riding in the car, so I reminded them again that they could go without us. To my greatest surprise they said they'd go in the car without us. I had not expected that. And so Randy, Sammy and I walked away to go to the bus stop, while Tammy and Emmy followed the driver back to the meeting point to gather up all the children.
When we reached the bus stop, we still had nearly 15 minutes, so we went inside the shop. It was the coldest day yet, every day being colder than the previous one. I took advantage of the time to buy a local magnet to add to my fridge collection. Then we returned to the bus stop. We got on our 12:45 bus, where we discovered that Sammy had lost one of his gloves. I hope they have a lost and found where we can recover it tomorrow. Sammy had fun on the bus with us, looking out the window on the short ride to the hotel.
We walked to the room for the skis and boots, where we found all the kids that had taken the car home. We picked up Tammy and Emmy and went to our room, where we took the skiing gear off, and then we went back downstairs for lunch. The kids' food was already on the table. It was toast with ham and cheese, and I was surprised by how much they liked it. We also ate something little, then we went to our room for nap time. Sammy fell asleep first, with me holding his hand, then Tammy was next. Emmy, however, would not fall asleep, and it was pretty aggravating as he also kept me up. He finally did fall asleep really late, but a few minutes later Sammy already woke up, so there was no nap for me today. Randy had also just lied down, so I got up, took Sammy and went with him to the adjourning room, where he started playing on the floor and having fun with me.
Once it was after 4 pm, it was time to wake the others up, which we did. Sammy was calling Daddy's name to wake him up and succeeded. Then I put Sammy on the bed, where Emmy and Tammy was sleeping, and he woke him up. It was just too cute, and I made a video. One of Sammy's favorite words right now is "Wecker" (alarm clock). He says it, when he wakes up, whether there was an alarm clock or not.
Today we changed our routine up, as "Donki" was coming at 5:45, when we usually are swimming. So we went swimming first, and playing after today. As most people do it this way, there was a family in the pool, but they soon got out and left. Later another family came, but by then we were ready to leave anyway. We'd had lots of fun playing again.
We went to our room to get dressed, then went to the kids' play area. It was going on 5:30, so they did not have much time left to play before Donki's arrival. They were a little apprehensive, as they're scared of adults in costumes like that. They played in the balls area for a while, then went inside the room. And then there was Donki, the hotel's mascot. Emmy ran to me and held on to me. Sammy was already with me and made his fear known, and Tammy also kept her distance at first, but not for long. She actually joined in the dancing; they were all songs they knew. Sammy stayed with me and did not want to dance. One time one of the hotel owners who is our driver even took Emmy by the hand to take him closer to Donki, but Emmy came right back.
After the dances, they did a photoshooting, and all five of us made it onto the picture. Sammy was upset though, as he was too scared to be that close to Donki.
Donki left at 6 pm, which is when dinner starts, and so did all the people. Our kids still wanted to play, however, as they had not had a chance yet. And so I climbed up the climbing & balls area with Sammy, he then crawled across, and went down the slide. Randy then picked him up and took him to the other side again to climb up. We did it twice, but then I'd had enough. We went to the other room, where Sammy was playing making food, so was Tammy, and Emmy was building with Duplos in the corner. At 6:30 we also left to go have dinner.
Tonight they had sausages, mashed potatoes and vegetables for the children. All Tammy always wants to eat is fruit, and it's hard work to get her to eat regular food. Emmy picked up his knife, as he wanted to cut the sausage, so I showed him how. Tammy then wanted to do so as well, and I showed her as well. What big kids! As expected it did not take long for them to say they were done, having hardly eaten anything. I told them they could not go play until they had eaten enough. They ate a little more, then left for the play area. It wasn't even 7 pm yet. Sammy ate a lot tonight, but he also soon wanted to play the duck game. By the end of the night they had played that, had watched children's songs, and had even played with the kids' tablet. There was one game in particular that he really liked. It was really simple. Every time touched a chicken, it jumped, made a noise and laid an egg. Sammy was laughing every time it did.
At 7:30 the play time over there was over, and the kids returned to the table. We were only just starting to eat our main courses. They started watching a movie, while eating our fries and then the dessert. By the time we were done and could leave, it was already about 8 pm. They were not happy, when I stopped the movie.
Back in the room it was time to put them to bed; getting them ready took until about 9 pm, and it was close to 9:30 before Emmy fell asleep last. As for me I was working on the pictures of today, and then this report. Now it's nearly 1 am and high time to go to bed.
