5 years 11 months 28 days

Day 2188. The first night in Vienna was surprisingly good for the kids. They slept for 13 hours. I myself went to bed too late, close to 3 am. Emmy woke up first around 8 am. 

The kids spent the day playing with their toys and on their tablets. At 3:45 pm a friend came with her daughter to bring some clothes and toys for our kids. She also brought a cake, so everyone went downstairs and had a slice. I only got to talk to her for a few minutes as I had a student at 4 pm. The rest of the day I was busy with preparations for their birthday party on Sunday, a big part being making the gift bags for the visitors, as well as unpacking and organizing all cake supplies and decorations. At 6 pm I started making their dinner which they enjoyed as they'd really missed Austrian food. After the bathtub, it was bedtime.

Their second night in Vienna was rough. I was so exhausted last night that I went to bed at 10 pm. I could not function any longer. But at midnight it all started. One kid came, then another, then Emmy had an earache and needed medicine. Then Sammy came to our bed which he has NEVER done before. He lay with us for a while since there was only one other kid, but when the third kid came some time later, he went back to his bed as it's impossible to have three kids at the time in our bed. WIth two kids we already don't have any space to move.

At 9:30 am Emmy was the first one up. We had finally had a few hours of uninterrupted sleep. Tammy was up next, and together they woke up Sammy. Randy made breakfast, and I got up to  have plenty of time to prepare for my 11:15 am student. However, my student didn't show up. Randy left to go to the grocery store, while I warmed up yesterday's soup. We all sat down to eat just before Randy returned from the store.

After lunch I soon got so tired that I didn't have any choice but to take a nap. Randy went downstairs with the kids.

When I woke back up, they were all coming back upstairs. It was time to get working again. I had to make the cakes for the birthday party on Sunday today. Tammy wanted to help me, and I let her. And so we made the first cake, then the second. They were rather thin. I didn't have enough to put to the side for a third cake. Randy was going for a bread pick-up anyway, so I asked him to bring me another cake mix from the store. He couldn't find a cake mix but came home with a muffin and brownie mix and a ready-to-eat cake. And so I made two more cakes with the mixes he had brought, and the cake will be the top layer. It all took until after the kids were in bed.

Before Randy returned, I made the kids' dinner and gave it to them. They ate well. Later they went into the bathtub, then it was storytime. They hadn't done any piano practice yet since our return, so we went downstairs for that. Tammy started crying half-way through practice because she doesn't play it as well as she'd like.  Back upstairs, I prayed for them and they went to bed. It was already after 8:30 pm. 

I got myself something to eat and watched something while eating. Then I started working on some stuff, including the pictures and report. This is the third night since our return, and it's already off to a bad start. Emmy came really early again, wanting to lie down next to me. Later Sammy woke up, as well as Tammy. Now it's midnight, and Sammy is awake, and the other two are in bed with me, Emmy being awake. And tomorrow we have to get up early as we leave the house at 8:15 am. Right now it looks like we'll be very tired.