Day 2178. It was another rough night, going to bed late and then the kids being quite restless all night. At 9 am my alarm went off as I had a student at 10 am. It was quite hard to get up and get ready and have some breakfast. I then taught from 10 to noon while the kids were having fun with our friends. After I was done teaching, we sat down for lunch one last time. After lunch, Randy loaded the car up while the kids were playing - legos, with the dog,...
Then it was time to say good-bye. We prayed for our friends, took a few more pictures, and walked to the car. Just before 2 pm we drove off, waving good-bye to our friends. We had a 2 hour 10 minute drive ahead of us to Atlanta. After an hour, Sammy was getting really hungry, so we stopped to get a kids' meal from McDonald's. Then the other kids also wanted to eat some food, so we got a Happy Meal from McDonald's as well, and Randy got gas for the car. Then we finally continued on our way with everyone being happy.
By 4:20 pm we had arrived at a Walmart half an hour away from our hotel. We decided to all go inside for our very last shopping trip. We got some stuff to take to Europe, as well as some food. It took us nearly an hour before we continued on to our hotel. And time was short, and there was lots of traffic, so stress started to build. Once at the hotel, we checked in, went to our room and waited for Randy to bring all our stuff up. Then we went back to the car and drove the 6 minutes to the restaurant where we were meeting Randy's oldest daughter.
We got there at 6:15 pm, fifteen minutes late. She was already there, and we went inside together and got a big booth. It was an Italian restaurant which was great, so we ordered two different kinds of pasta and a pizza to share. The portions were the biggest I've seen so we had lots of food to take with us. We had a great time with Randy's daughter. Emmy wanted to sit next to her and have fun with her. Sammy also walked over to her, but after 90 minutes Sammy was getting tired and cranky. It was time to get going. We said good-bye and drove the few minutes back to the hotel.
The kids knew that the pool was closing at 9 pm and were eager to get in in time. By 7:50 we were back at the hotel and put our swimsuits on, then we walked downstairs to the outdoor pool. It had rained on and off but was not at that moment. Nobody else was in the pool. It was a good size. It was a little cold at first but not for long. It was the first time since Sammy had recovered that he got to go swimming again, and he loved it. They were all having lots of fun in the pool even though Tammy was sad that she didn't have diving goggles any more. The dog in Florida ate hers, and then she lost Sammy's in the ocean.
We got out of the pool before closing time at 9 pm, put towels around our shoulders and went inside the cold, air-conditioned hotel and to our room. After a hot shower, they all got ready for bed. I read them a bedtime story and prayed for them, then it was time to sleep. It was already after 9:30 pm, and 9 pm had been their bedtime in this time zone. At 9:45 they were STILL talking. As for me, I lay down on my bed and didn't move again. The last few nights had been short, and I'd had no nap in the car. I was so tired that I was actually nauseous and could not do anything. And - surprise, surprise - I fell asleep and slept until the morning - with interruptions, as Tammy and Emmy joined us.
