Day 2189. It was after 3 am before I got to sleep last night. Tammy and Emmy had come early again, and as our bed is too tight for four people, it was hard to sleep with the kids turning all the time. Nevertheless, the alarm went off at 7:30 am. Sammy was already up, and Randy had just gotten up for him. We then also got up. The kids had breakfast, while I was getting ready to leave the house which we did at 8:15 am.
Tammy, Emmy and I took the subway to the end, then we walked a little bit to get to our destination. The try-out today had already been arranged back in June. We found it easily and got there 10 minutes early, even though we had missed one subway and had to wait 15 minutes for the next one. Once we got inside the building, the boss of "Little Genius" told us to go to the waiting room there. It was actually a community room for the whole building, and it was pretty nice. The kids started playing right away. Soon other kids arrived. At 9 am, the boss led us up the stairs to his premises.
He let the kids sit down and gave them the task of covering the whole board in front of them with pieces. Emmy was actually the first one to get it done, and Tammy was second. More kids were arriving until there were 7 kids for the try-out class. The boss asked us to follow him back downstairs to the waiting room, while his teacher continued with the kids. We then waited down there for a while, until the boss came back and explained the whole concept of the class. It turned out that our kids were already too old for this class as they're starting 1st grade now. But they were also gonna stay for the 10 am try-out class for another class.
We then all went back upstairs where the kids were sitting on the ground with a game where they had to much pictures with the letters those words on the pictures started with. Tammy and Emmy were having fun, especially Emmy, and they were the most outspoken of the kids.
Then that class was over. When I told the kids that we were staying for another hour, Emmy started crying. The boss then came over and told him there were medals and trophies to win, and that's all he needed to hear. He stopped crying and was all excited about the second hour. So was Tammy.
Once the kids were all there, the boss asked them to choose a desk to sit at. Tammy was the first one to sit down, then Emmy sat down next to her. The boss then asked us to go to the waiting room again, where we again waited until he later came to explain the class and the concept. It's "mental arithmetic", i.e. the kids learn a great tool to calculate all kinds of calculations really easily. I was fascinated by what I heard and excited. Emmy loves calculating and is good at it, while Tammy does not and is not, so it would be beneficial to them both. But then I was very disappointed when I found out that the only class for their age group was at the same time as their piano class. I talked to the boss who said he'd think about it, but it doesn't look like there is any solution, like another class.
We then all walked back to the classroom where the kids were hard at work calculating using that system, and they were doing a great job. Emmy was really into it, raising his hands all the time and wanting to go to the board. Tammy was less enthusiastic but she also went to the board a few times to give the answer.
The boss showed us two videos of kids who are advanced in this technique which was very impressive. We then did some more talking. Tammy was especially disappointed that no medals or trophies were given out, even though there were medals lying on the desk.
It was time to say good-bye and leave; it was just after 11 am. We walked back to the subway and got on with another kid and his Mom who had been at the try-out. We had a good conversation with her on the subway. Her son has been doing the class for younger kids there for the past two years or so.
Just after 11:30 we were back home, and I went straight to the kitchen to make lunch. It didn't take too long before we could sit down to eat. After lunch, I lay down for a nap and got some much-needed sleep. Once I got back up, it was time to make the cream for the birthday cake. I had already made 4 cakes yesterday that were in the fridge. Tammy wanted to help me and that was fine with me. And so she used the handmixer to mix the cream. And that's where the help ended. From there on she was not allowed to see anything else. I then put the cream on the first layer, then the second layer of the cake and put the cake into the fridge.
Next I had to put together the two "Happy Birthday" banners. It takes a while to put the string through all the holes of the letters. Tammy and Emmy came by and actually saw what I was doing.
They were getting hungry so the next thing I did was to make their dinner. After they had eaten, we went downstairs for piano practice, then it was bathtub time, followed by story-time. I prayed for them, and they went to bed. Tammy wasn't happy; she was saying she was wide awake, and she did stay awake for a while.
I went to the kitchen and got myself something to eat. Then I returned to the kitchen to work on decorating the cake. I had four fondant colors to work with. I started kneeding and rolling out the first one and putting it on Emmy's part of the cake, then did the same with the other two colors. Finally I cut out circles for Mickey on Sammy's side of the cake. I looked at all the stuff I had to put on the cake, so I had an idea of what to do, but I was done for the day. The rest will be going on before the party tomorrow.
Randy had been blowing up balloons downstairs. I then took the "Happy Birthday" banners downstairs where we put them up. Then Randy had one more balloon to blow up. I returned upstairs to start working on today's pictures and report. Now it's after 2 am and time for bed.
