Day 1937. This morning we left the house together at 10 am. We took the subway downtown, then walked to their music school, where their weekly class was to start at 10:30 am. Randy and Sammy stayed outside, while I went into the classroom with them. After Emmy had not behaved too well these past two weeks, he finally did today and got the gift he could already have received two weeks ago.
Today the teacher reviewed everything we've done recently and that they've practiced this past week. What was new was that he asked them to play with both hands at the same time for the very first time. Of course Emmy had already done so really well at home. As for Tammy, it's a lot harder for her to play the same notes with both hands, as the fingers are different. And so I helped her today, while Emmy did fine on his own.
Not only did they play at their pianos, but they went to the front and had to draw the notes the teacher asked for on the board. Tammy got a hard one and couldn't quite do it. Emmy did it correctly.
While playing on the piano, Emmy made a mistake once, but I was proud of him, when he was able to not take it to heart but continue on.
After an hour the class was over. They got their stickers and a stamp because they had practiced every day this past week. Then we put our coats on and left.
This was not a typcial Saturday. Instead of going to McDonald's and then to swim class, we actually went home. We had less than an hour at home. I made a quick meal for us, then we got ready to leave again. We all got dressed up a little and left the house at 1 pm.
We took the subway to the end, out of town, then had a longer walk to the theater where Tammy was to perform today. We had never been there before and took the longer route around the building. They saw a bouldering wall and did some climbing, but not for long. Tammy was supposed to be there by 1:30 pm.
We walked into the building, had Tammy's name ticked off on the list, then we left Randy and Sammy in the lobby and Emmy, Tammy and I went to the changing rooms where all the dancers were getting ready. It took us a while to find the corner of the little ballerinas. Tammy got changed, putting her ballet dress on, then we sat down and waited. Emmy wanted to go back upstairs to Randy and Sammy, so I took him there and returned to Tammy's side. I stayed with her for a while, then asked the teacher, when I could leave. Tammy's actual teacher wasn't even there yet. It was the other ballet teacher that was. At about 2:15 pm I left Tammy and joined the boys. We then walked into the theater together and found our seats.
Grandma was supposed to come as well, but she got there late. She also joined us where we were sitting. The program started quite a bit later than the scheduled 2:30 pm time.
Tammy was the 12th act in the first half of the program. It was all supposed to last for 90 minutes, but it actually took 3 hours. They took us on a tour of the whole world, different countries, different Christmas songs, that the kids and young people danced to. Tammy's song was from Croatia.
They have three ballet classes for her age during the week, and all three classes were on the stage together for their dance. That's why there were a LOT of girls on the stage. It took us a moment to find Tammy, but I did, and I got to film her whole dance. The teacher had switched her class to the song the others were doing pretty late, so Tammy had not had a chance to practice it much and didn't really know the choreography. She looked to the side where the teacher was doing the moves the whole time.
A few minutes after she was done, I went backstage to get her and bring her to our seats. She then stayed with us until break time. During the break, I went backstage with her so she could get dressed again, as she was not dancing any more. We got all her stuff and joined the rest of the family.
We were in the lobby, where Sammy was playing with the doors - his favorite activity right now - and Tammy wanted popcorn after her brother had already had some. It was already 4 pm, and the program was only half-way through. My Mom had something else going on tonight, so she said her good-byes. We're not going to see her again until after Christmas.
Sammy was very cranky, when we pulled him away from the doors. He did NOT want to go back into the theater. Last June it had been a disaster, when we were in the same situation, so I suggested Randy should go home with him, but he didn't want that either. I still put his coat on, even while he was trying to scratch me in his anger. Then I went back inside the theater, where Tammy and Emmy were waiting for me. Then the second half of the program started.
I had asked Tammy and Emmy whether they wanted to go home, but they wanted to stay and watch the show. They both liked it. When the program was only a few acts away from the end, somebody came and asked Tammy whether she wanted to come on stage at the very end, when all the dancers were going up there one more time. She said no.
And so we actually left while all the dancers were going on the stage one last time. That way we beat the crowd to the coat pick-up place. We all got dressed and left the building to walk to the subway and go home to Randy and Sammy.
Not far from the building there was the bouldering wall and other exercise equipment, and the kids went straight for it. Then Randy called. I was surprised to find out that they were actually NOT at home but had never left the theater. Randy had let him play with the doors the whole time, and they had just gone inside the theater, when we left and put our coats on. As the kids were climbing around anyway, we stayed there until Randy caught up with us and then all went home together.
Just before 6 pm we were back home, and at least I was very tired after such a long day. The kids had had a lot of snacks to they were not that hungry, especially Sammy, but I soon started making dinner for them, which was the beginning of our evening routine. Tomorrow is going to be a day just as busy as today's.
