Day 1006. Last night I went to bed just before 12:30 am. At some point during the night I realized Tammy was lying between us, and in the early morning hour Emmy came, but he did not come to sleep and didn't stay long. Soon he had his sister up as well, and together they got up to pull stuff off, tear it down and apart, which is what we get up to. Today it was 8:10, when I dragged myself out of bed.
I emptied the dishwasher and told the kids that now they could finally have some cocoa. They were excited and impatient for me to make it. After all I had told them about, but this was their first time drinking it. They both liked it and had a full cup each, which is probably why they ate even less than usual. Instead they got up and started playing around. I put the suitcases on the floor and showed them that the stuff going to Mexico was going in there, putting some stuff there, and they put their water squirters in there. Then I cleaned them up and dressed them, and we went downstairs. They immediately asked to read a Bible story, and we sat down on the floor and read one together. Then they asked to do drawing, and so I got the table, paper and crayons out. Then I went upstairs to work, and Randy went downstairs to stay with them.
I started working on the German translation of the newsletter with the goal of getting it out this morning. At one time the kids were crying hard, and I went downstairs to comfort Emmy. Randy said that he had let them watch something and they were crying because he had turned it off. Some time later he told me that they had both gone potty successfully and asked for it, which they don't do yet, so that was great to hear, and I praised them for it. I was able to send out the newsletter and went to the kitchen at noon, after they had already come upstairs. I put yesterday's food into the microwave, and then we sat down to eat. Tammy and Emmy ate everyting on their plates, but Emmy did not want dessert for some reason, so only Tammy and Sammy had icecream and pudding. Then we cleaned them up and dressed them, and they went downstairs.
I went to work cleaning up, then putting some stuff together for our trip to put into the suitcase. It took me all the time until they came upstairs at 1:20 to go lie down for a nap. They were all wide awake and giving me a hard time. I finally asked Randy to take my place and sat down at my computer to work. They continued making noise until just before 2 pm, and at 3 pm we were already supposed to leave the house. I made their dinner-to-go and got everything else ready, including myself. At 2:45 I turned the ocean waves off, and Sammy was the first one awake, then Emmy got up, and Tammy last. Tammy was her usual cranky self after waking up, giving me a really hard time, while I tried to dress her. We got them all ready, put them into the strollers, and left on time just after 4 pm.
We walked to the train station and got on the train. Sammy did not want to be in the stroller, so I took him out and had him on my lap, while Emmy sat on a fold-down seat, and Tammy stayed in the stroller. When we got off, I had Sammy sit on the stroller handle, so I had all three in my single stroller, while Randy was pushing an empty double-stroller. We walked to the subway and got on. After we got off, we walked into the shopping mall to cross it and get to church, where we arrived a few minutes before the service started.
We sat in the back at first. I had Sammy, while Tammy and Emmy were on the chairs, watching and listening and staying there. Then Tammy walked over to where I was with Sammy. It wasn't long until Emmy went to the front and then Tammy did too. They then walked over to the other side of the sanctuary where the drummer was sitting and were watching him play. I walked over there with Sammy, who was also very interested in watching the drummer, as he loves to drum. It was clear that he wanted to walk over to the drummer.
Then it was communion time. Emmy walked over to the middle again to watch the pastor talk, and Tammy followed him. Randy had in the meantime joined us in the front and took Sammy. We then took communion together. Then it was time to go to the baby room.
They were disappointed that there were no cars, as they are in the other baby room. I got some toys out of the closet there, and there was one book in there. Tammy wanted me to read it to her, and so we sat down and I read the whole book to her. Emmy stayed for some of the time. Tammy was really into it and enjoyed the book. Then another Mom came with her son who is younger than them, and they started playing with them. I gave Emmy a ball, which he was really excited about, and he started playing with it, and playing with the Mom. They were all having lots of fun together. Randy had Sammy and was feeding him. Sammy also wanted the ball and had it for a short time. Then Randy got this little piano out and Emmy got really into it playing it. Sammy wanted to play too and got his opportunity once he was on the floor. The kids had their dinner box out and went over there to eat some from time to time. They were having lots of fun. I took Sammy as he likes it, when I let him dangle off the back of my chair.
Just before 6 pm we decided it was time to leave and return to the sanctuary. We went in and sat down in the back of the church. And then the preaching ended and music started again. Once again Emmy and Tammy went forward, while I had Sammy. And then the service was over, and we talked to a few people. One of those people was our friend Janos who I have a lot of pictures of tonight, as he was first holding Emmy, and then Sammy as well. He's the one who always sacrifices his time to drive us to the airport, including this Monday morning. And he really loves our kids.
We said our good-byes and started walking towards the exit of the shopping mall. On our way to church I had told Emmy we'd do the bumper cars after church, and so I kept my promise. I actually sat down in it with both Emmy and Tammy, but then Randy did not have a 2€ coin. And so I got back out and simply pushed the two of them around for a little bit. Then we continued on to McDonald's. Emmy had already been telling everyone we were going to McDonald's, that's how excited he was. We found a great table, where they sat down, while I went to the electronic board to order. They were enjoying themselves even before the food came, but even more so after. They had new toys, little superheroes, that they enjoyed. They also enjoyed the fries, took a sip of coke from time to time, and liked the strawberry milkshake. Sammy has had a day of eating a lot, surprising especially Daddy, including at McDonald's. We took our time, never at the clock, with everyone having so much fun. Once we were done, we loaded them into the strollers and left to walk to the subway.
We got on the subway, rode it to the end, and went up to the train platform. We had just missed our train by 4 minutes, which meant we had nearly half an hour to wait for the next one. The kids wanted to watch Paw Patrol, and so I turned it on on my phone. Then we got on the train, where they continued watching. Sammy, however, did not want to be in the stroller, and so I handed my phone to Randy to hold it up for the kids who were watching and took Sammy out of the stroller and let him stand on the seat. He leaned over the back of the seat to get to Daddy's head, which he enjoyed and made him laugh. We got off at home and walked all the way to our building. At 8:15 pm we were back home.
We took all their clothes off, washed them and got them ready for bed. By 8:40 pm they were all in bed, but still rather active. I told them it was so late they should all just fall asleep, no rocking. But then Emmy kept insisting and so I let him lie down on my chest. However, I set a 3-minute timer on Alexa and put him back to bed, when it went off. Then I picked up Tammy, who had been waiting, and did the same. Sammy came last and also had a 3-minute timer. At 9:10 they were finally asleep, and I could walk away and get to work. And I had a productive evening of working. Now we have only just over a day left before our departure for Mexico, and I still have lots to get done tomorrow. We appreciate your prayers!
