Day 1244. As we had plenty of time this morning, I did not set an alarm. I figured Sammy was gonna be our alarm clock again. Emmy joined me in my bed around 6 am and just before 7 he dropped his pacifier and spoke up about it which was enough to wake up Sammy who immediately started saying his typical “Wecker?” (alarm clock?). I knew that the night was over. I got up and put Sammy in our bed as well, and by 7:30 everyone was up. It was another short night for me, about 5 hours. Emmy and Tammy put their medals around their necks, and I shortened the band so it was on their chests, then they proudly posed for a picture. We dressed the kids and went downstairs for breakfast. For once we did not have to watch the time while eating. We enjoyed our last buffet, the kids eating as little as always, and then drawing a little.
Once we were all done, we returned to our room to pack. We had plenty of time as check-out was at 10:30 am. It still took us until just after 10 am, which I had not expected. We put our snow suits on and took all our luggage downstairs. The kids pulled their dog suitcases, and the cleaning lady helped Tammy out setting her dog straight. Randy had taken the biggest suitcases down first and had then come back. All our luggage was in the fireplace room, where we had lunch all week. We put the rest of our stuff there, checked out and headed to the garden, where they had several sleds of different kinds and sizes. The kids were excited to finally get to go sledding. Tammy loves the snow anyway and already started playing with it on the way down. There were a few other parents and children there planning on doing the same thing. We reached the sleds first and picked one, but it was the wrong choice as it was not sliding at all in the new snow. We then tried a round boat-like thing, but it wasn't working well either, neither did the shield-like one that Emmy tried. Next we took the plastic sled, and that one worked really well. Emmy and Tammy could both sit on it together, and they went all the way down the hill. The longer all the kids were sledding, the better the conditions got, as the deep snow disappeared.
Sammy wasn't too happy, as he wanted to be with Mommy. Randy put him into a round blow-up-boat, but he was still not happy. I then sat on the plastic sled with him and finally got him to smile and then to laugh, when we went down the hill. Randy then also went down the hill with him that way. I then took him again, as he wanted Mommy, and walked over to the snowed-in playground that had not been used since all this snow had come down. I saw Randy helping Emmy going up and down the hill, while Tammy played in the snow, which she loves doing. I pushed some of the snow off of the swing and put Sammy into it. Soon Tammy joined us and got in as well. They were having lots of fun. Then Tammy continued on to the rest of the playground and climbed up one of the towers, where she started playing with the snow. She then took the bucket with her to the ground and started filling it with snow, then turning it over to make snow cakes. Emmy then joined us as well and found an excavator under the snow. Then Randy found a little sled with a steering wheel and tried it out with Emmy, but it really wasn’t working, and so Emmy came back and continued playing with the excavator and a ball he had found. Then he headed to the slide that was full of snow. Because of the snow he was not really sliding and Randy had to help him move down.
Sammy was still in the swing, but it was time to move on. He was saying he was cold, and so I left the others out there to play and went inside with Sammy. He loves the balls, and so that’s where we went. We played there for nearly an hour before Randy and the others kids came inside. Sammy was interacting with other kids there, and as he loves climbing, I let him climb up to the top and then crawl around to the slide and let him slide down, before landing again in the balls.
After we had played for a long time, I picked Sammy up, and we left the balls area. Randy and the kids had just come into the building. We took their snow suits off and put their travel clothes on, then they all went into the play area to play. I ordered some food for lunch and then joined the kids. Emmy has been enjoying building with Duplos, so that’s what he did. Then they rediscovered the climbing wall, and both of them started trying to climb up without my help. They did not get far, but they got up there!
Just after 12:30 our food was ready, and we sat down to eat at our regular table in the fireplace room. I had ordered two soups and a ham and cheese toast, which they love eating. We could have ordered two of those. The soup was not as popular. After we were done eating, we let them play a little longer, then it was nap time. It was 1:30, so a little closer to their nap time at home than what it’s been this week. As it was the day, when most people leave and new people arrive, there was no child care. The hotel was so nice to open up their “sleep cave” for us. It was a tiny, window-less room with a few cots on the ground. We put them down, and I lay down myself. However, it took a lot of work and patience and time for them to actually fall asleep. I lay next to Sammy, and the other two a little further away were interacting instead of sleeping. I then moved them to my other side, which helped. Sammy thought it was the most fun in the world and was doing anything but sleeping, just giggling and doing what I said no to. Tammy fell asleep first, Sammy finally got quiet and fell asleep, and then Emmy. I also got close to falling asleep, but then Randy came into the room way early, saying that the car was gonna be there shortly to take us to the train station. That was earlier than what had been arranged. They had only just fallen asleep! Emmy was up first, after maybe half an hour, then Sammy woke up. Tammy has the deepest sleep and continued sleeping, while we put the boys' coats and shoes on. Then we had to wake her up and got her ready as well.
The driver had already taken some suitcases and the stroller to the train station and returned to take us. Tammy and Emmy pulled their dog suitcases out the door and to the car. The driver (actually one of the hotel owners) asked Tammy, whether she was looking forward to going back to kindergarten. Tammy said yet. I then told him that they were not going to kindergarten because of our work in Mali. And so I told him a little bit about it, while he told us about the humanitarian work he had done on the way to the train station.
We got their 40 minutes early, as Randy is always concerned about issues that could arise and make us miss the train. We went inside the waiting room, where there were also other people waiting for their trains. We could see on the monitor that our train was on time. We sat down to wait. The kids ate some food, and Randy talked to some of the people there. I showed Emmy his chocolate beard on my phone and snapped a few pictures of him and his sister looking at themselves.
It had been snowing all day and was still snowing hard. Once our departure time was approaching, Randy took some suitcases to our platform. He had to take the elevator down, then another elevator up to get there. When he returned, we all walked to the elevator and did the same thing. It was the coldest day yet, every day having been colder than the previous one, and we were all freezing. We still had about 10 minutes. We went inside an area with glass walls, but it was open and just as cold, minus the wind. Once they announced our train, we went outside, where other people were also waiting for the same train. When we had taken the train here, there were hardly any people on it, and there was plenty of room. It looked like it was gonna be fuller this time, and I was hoping we’d still find some seats easily. Like last time, it was a really old train, and one without internet. We were looking for a door with a bicycle/stroller picture, but the one closest to us was not usable. So Randy ran to the next one further away, but it was also locked and wouldn’t open. So I told him to just get on using the door right next to it, stroller picture or not. I put the kids in, and Randy started putting our luggage in. Randy thought he was done, but I was missing a suitcase. I looked outside and saw the suitcase plus the children’s dog suitcases sitting on the platform quite a distance away. Randy got off and ran to get them while I stood in the door so it could not close. The kids freaked out and started crying hard. I told them it was okay and that Daddy was gonna be right back, and he was. He got the stuff in, the door closed, and the train left. That sure was crazy!
We had gotten on the car with the individual compartments holding six people each. The second one was empty and there was no reservation, so we got in. It was time to take a deep breath and sit down and relax. It was nice to have this privacy, as more and more people were getting on, and the train got fuller and fuller. I put Sammy on his knees by the window, while the other two wanted to watch videos. And so our 4 hour journey started. Only that it turned out to be 4.5 hours. We were already pretty close to Vienna, when the train suddenly stopped. Then it slowly started rolling again. A few minutes later they announced that the train had technical problems which meant they had to take a different route into Vienna which would add 20 minutes to our trip. Great! Four hours is a long time for 3-year-olds to occupy themselves, and they were ready to arrive. They had used their tablet pretty much the whole time, either to watch or to play. Sammy had also played and watched on Daddy’s phone. He’s a lot harder to keep happy. When everyone was settled down, I got my computer out to work. However, the tiredness really hit me. I closed my eyes for a few minutes, but never get to do so for long. I worked a little, but it was not easy, as especially Sammy wanted my attention. I gave him a headset that tells stories one time, but he didn’t really like it. Emmy used it too, while Tammy was playing a game, then they switched. Sammy had the most fun, when he got to open and close the compartment door. That’s exactly up his ally!
The kids also got to eat whenever and whatever they wanted, and Randy had gone to the grocery store yesterday to pick up some food for the trip. Emmy was the only one to get some exercise, when he used the bars to climb for a little bit, but it was only for a few minutes.
At 8:40 pm we FINALLY arrived at the main train station in Vienna. Once again the kids were panicking, when Randy started getting the luggage off the train. Then I got off, and they continued screaming. From the platform I reached in and lifted them out one after another. Then they were finally fine, once we were all together on the platform. Sonja had once again agreed to help us get home, thank God, but we could not see her anywhere. So we decided to just walk to the elevator, while I was texting her. We got down to the hall from where you can take elevators to all the platforms, and then there was Sonja approaching us. Thank God! The kids were really excited to see her. Emmy sat down on his dog and had her pull him, while Tammy was walking and pulling her own dog. I looked at the monitor to find out where our train home was leaving from, and off we went, taking the elevator up. Thankfully we did not have too long to wait, even though the train goes only every half hour. We got on the train just before 9 pm, and we all sat down on seats, except for Randy who stood with our luggage. Tammy and Emmy were having fun with Sonja the whole trip home, which isn’t really that long. Once we got off the train, it was snowing really hard. What a difference to a week ago, when we left! It was deepest winter! It snowed harder than it had done in the mountains!
By 9:20 pm we were finally home. We thanked Sonja who left to go home, then we got the kids ready for bed. Emmy was so excited to be home, he wanted to go play, but I told him he could do so tomorrow. I prayed for them, put them to bed and sat down next to them. It didn’t take long for them to fall asleep. Then I turned my computer on to work on today’s pictures and write a report, while Randy was unpacking all the suitcases. However, I was extremely tired. I soon fell asleep while working. When I woke up, I was annoyed and wondering how I was gonna finish. Randy told me to go to bed, and I soon realized that’s the only thing I could do. I simply could not go on. At around midnight I fell into bed. Even though it was very cold, having turned down the heater upstairs before leaving (while downstairs is still not fixed), I soon fell asleep.
