6 years 4 months 4 days

Day 2317. I could have slept in but was up early after all, trying to get work done. It was the tooth pain that had gotten me up early. We ate lunch, then we left the house at 1:15 pm. This time it was not a surprise where we were going. I had been telling them about "The Magic Flute" for years, and now the time had finally come for them to watch it. They were excited about it.

We took the subway downtown, then had a long walk to St. Peter's Church where they have a theater in the basement. We got there right on time and walked inside, overcoming a few steps. Then we left the wheelchair sitting there and went down the stairs to the basement. We showed our tickets and sat down to wait to be let into the theater. Sammy had taken his Pumuckl with him and wanted me to take his picture. As we were waiting, he was getting impatient. Tammy and Emmy got some chocolate from the guy checking the tickets. 

Then the time had come to be let in. First, the kids sitting up front by themselves got to go in, and Tammy and Emmy did. Then she had the parents with small kids and us with Sammy go in and sit in the comfy chairs right behind the boxes where the kids were sitting in the front. Then the rest of the people got to go in.

Tammy and Emmy were sitting in the front row, right in front of the actors. The three of us sat behind them on the couch. I had Sammy with me. After some time, he wanted to join his siblings on the box, so I put him next to them. I thought it was so cute when they put their arms on each other. 

The lady in c harge of the place talked first, telling the kids the story. Then it finally started. They had a pianist playing the whole time, and the actors sang all the famous pieces of the opera, talking in between and including the children somewhat in their play. I thought it was great! The kids enjoyed it! They actually got to move the dead snake to the side when Papageno was afraid of it.

After about an hour it was over. The actors stayed around and let the kids take pictures with them. I thought it turned out great. The lady in charge also spoke and said she had a kids choir that the kids were welcome to join and that they'd get to be part of performances with their classical choir. Tammy was immediately all excited about it and went to the lady to tell her she wanted to be a part. The lady said she could actually see Tammy as part of the choir. However, it is at the same time as their piano class so we need to keep it in mind until next fall. 

We left the place, then Tammy, Emmy and I decided to go look inside the church itself. The kids have hardly seen any catholic churches from the inside. They were impressed, then we left again and started our long walk back to the subway. By 4:30 pm we were back home. 

We went downstairs for piano practice, then I went to the kitchen to make their sandwiches, then I cut up their fruit. I was looking for an emergency dentist to go to in the morning and found that there was one that was relatively easy to get to that opened at 8 pm, so I decided to get it done and over with. The kids went into the bathtub a little earlier, I prayed for them, and then I got ready to leave the house which I did around 7:15 pm. I took the train to the main train station, then it was a long walk. By 8:15 pm I was there. I registered and sat down in the waiting room. At some point I was called to the x-ray machine, then I went in to see the doctor. She said there was nothing visible on the x-ray but went ahead and did a root canal on the tooth I'd had a deep filling done on 10 days earlier. It was pretty quick. At 9:45 pm I left the dentist and half an hour later I was back home. I got myself something to eat, then did some work and went to bed at 2 am.

It was a rough night with Emmy being the next one to get sick. He had a fever during the night and was restless sleeping next to me. In the morning, I got up to take pain medication because of the toothache, then went back to bed and got some more restfull sleep. I then made lunch, followed by working on the computer. Emmy slept much of the day because of the fever, and he was in my bed for part of that time. I did piano practice with Tammy, then taught from 3 to 4 pm. Then she wanted to get her crafts projects she got for Christmas out to continue working on it, and I helped her while trying to do my office work. Eventually I made their sandwiches, then cut up their fruit. I could tell that the virus had gotten to me to as well I was not feeling so well. That means that we've now all had it. After having eaten, the kids went into the bathtub, then we did some Bible stories lying in my bed. After I had prayed for them, the kids still wanted to stay and cuddle a bit, so we did. After a few minutes they went to bed. I  stayed in bed and fell asleep and slept until nearly 10 pm. Then I got up and got myself something to eat, then I went back to work. It was Sammy who was a little restless sleeping, and all kids were coughing, as did I. It was 1:30 am when I went to bed.