5 years 10 months 9 days

Day 2139. This morning the boys were up around 7 am, and we all soon got up and went to have breakfast. Tammy was still asleep and only woke up some time after 8 am. I then sat down at the computer and taught from 9 am to 12 pm. The kids were playing, as well as going outside in the garden where they gathered some berries. Emmy also picked this red flower for me which was sweet.

After I was done teaching, we sat down for lunch that our hosts had cooked for us. Emmy played a lot of hide-and-seek today, and especially liked playing it with the husband of the family. At one point Randy also played with him, and I helped Emmy out with good hiding places. 

We then retreated to our room. The kids got on their tablets, and I started working on my sermon for Sunday. I was very tired. Randy also took a nap. After some time we decided it was time to go to the grocery store, so we put all the kids into the car and drove the few minutes to Walmart where we bought what we needed. Then we returned home. 

It was nearly 5 pm, and our host had made dinner for us, so we soon sat down to eat. After dinner we put our bathing suits on, and then we followed their car to drive to their kids' and grandkids' house. They actually have triplets among their grandkids, and we had met them when we were last here two years ago. But we had never been to their house before.

We walked into their yard where there was a big swimming pool. The kids were very excited and went straight in after having checked out the trampoline. I went in as well and had Sammy; we had forgotten to bring the swim rings along but we had the swim noodle we had bought, and that's what he used. Tammy can already swim all by herself while Emmy still needs some help, like a swim noodle. And then there was suddenly an emergency situation. One half of the pool was so deep that I could not stand there and Emmy got into trouble there and needed rescuing. But I also had Sammy and had to take him along without losing him or having him go under. I grabbed Emmy and pulled them both to the part of the pool where I could stand. Randy hadn't gotten into the pool yet at that point.

The kids played in the water for a very long time, also together with the kids who lived there. Emmy was playing hard with them. Tammy was the first one to leave the pool and move on to other things. And then we all got out of the pool and got changed. The kids briefly played at the playground, then Emmy started playing soccer with one of their boys, and they played for a long time. Then Tammy said she wanted to go with their granddaughter to light some fireworks. Sammy was sitting with me and eating popcorn.

After a while, we all went to the front of the house where the action was happening. We hadn't been aware of that. A few houses down, there were quite a few people sitting on chairs and kids were doing fireworks. We walked over there and watched Tammy and Emmy doing fireworks with the help of the granddaughter. After some time they gave us chairs, and we sat down and watched them from there. As time went on, it got darker and darker, and the fireworks got more and more impressive. I couldn't believe that they were not running out of them after having been at it for hours and hours. Sammy was having the greatest time sitting or standing with me. He was laughing at all the fireworks, and I was playing with him that I was startled which made him laugh even more. I think he's never laughed for so many hours before. Tammy and Emmy were very excited about the fireworks and getting to light them and then run away. None of the kids were actually tired!

At midnight we decided it was time to get going. But first we took a picture of the two sets of triplets. Then we put the kids into the car and followed our hosts back to the house. Back in our room, we put the kids to bed right away, and Emmy was asleep immediately. Now it's 1:30 am and time for me to go to bed as well. It's going to be a short night and long day.