Day 2352. I should have known that there was no point setting an alarm for this morning. Even though Sammy had only fallen asleep after 9:30 pm last night, he was the first one up this morning, some time after 6 am. And he was saying he was hungry. He and Randy made so much noise that Tammy finally woke up as well, and then Emmy. We had all five slept in three single beds sitting next to each other. There was no way to keep sleeping even though it had been close to 1 am for me. I finally gave in to go to breakfast early, which was just after 7 am - the time it started. Tammy and Emmy had their thermo ski underwear on for breakfast.
It was our first time in the hotel restaurant. There was a buffet, and I helped the kids get what they wanted. They had close to anything you'd want, so we all had a good breakfast. Back in the room, we still had an hour and as it's vacation time, I finally gave in and let them use their tablets. With 9 am approaching, Tammy and Emmy started putting all their ski clothes on - ski pants, socks, pullovers, jackets, headcover, scarf, helmet, ski goggles and gloves. Sammy wanted to come along, so we all went downstairs. I took Tammy and Emmy to the ski room where they had their ski boots and skis. I helped them put the ski boots on, then we took the skis and went outside to wait for our shuttle.
A few minutes later it arrived, and we all got in, with the wheelchair and skis in the trunk. The shuttle took us down the hill to the bus stop right by the ski school. We walked the rest of the way. There were already lots of kids everywhere, and there were signs with letters and numbers. We knew that Tammy and Emmy had to go to J2, and we knew their skiing instructor's name. They were supposed to be there by 9:30, with the class starting at 9:45. We found the group and handed in their cards. Then the kids got a sash with the words "ski school" that they had to put over their jackets. They were ready, and the skiing instructor walked away with them to walk up the hill a little bit so he could see how well they ski. They were going to split their group into two accordingly.
I got the bus app out and ordered a shuttle to pick us up and take us back to the hotel. You never know whether it's five or fifteen minutes, and in this case it was shorter rather than longer. So the three of us walked back to the bus stop where he picked us up and took us back up the hill. Before going to our room, we went outside on the terrace to enjoy the view. There had been so much fog yesterday that we'd had zero view, so it was our first time getting to enjoy it. It was pretty.
Back in our our room, I lay back down as I was pretty tired and ready for a nap. Then their skiing instructor called me and told me the kids needed tickets to use the lift. He said he'd pay them and I could reimburse him when I pick up the kids. In the past the tickets were always included in the school fee.
Sammy was on the bed right next to me, with his loud tablet, which made getting a nap in a little hard. Randy and Sammy finally went to the other room so it got quieter, and I fell asleep. But it was way too short. At 11:15 am I got back up and got ready and took the shuttle at 11:30 to go back down the hill and pick the kids up at 11:45 am. I had already ordered the shuttle to take us back up the hill after.
I walked to the little slope of the ski school and saw them come down and line up to use the ski lift. This is their first time using a regular ski lift like that which isn't that easy. I never saw Tammy get on but Emmy got on with another boy. And then he dropped out. Thankfully the skiing instructor was behind him and alone so that Emmy could join him in the empty spot.
Then I got to watch them ski down the hill, and they did very well. It's their fourth winter after all. I think they could have gone up the mountain, and I hope they still get to one of these next two days.
They took their skis off, and we walked to the bus stop to take the shuttle. We had a 15 minute-wait time so we went inside the grocery store to pick a few things up. When we went back outside, I noticed that there was a mistake in the app. The driver was at the hotel to bring us down instead of at the bus stop to take us up. So I canceled the ride but then there were no other cars available to take us back to the hotel. I called the bus operator who said there were no rides for the next 1+ hour. I was shocked. What were we supposed to do? It was too icy to walk up the hill, and we had two pairs of skis to carry plus a grocery bag that was ripped. I talked to Randy who was at the reception. The receptionist was gonna call us a taxi but it would have cost 32 Euros for that 2 minute-ride. No way! We had no choice but to stay in town for the two hour break. The kids were upset.
I saw a restaurant across the road so we headed that direction but it was closed. I then looked on my phone and saw that you could get snacks right there where the gondola was going up the mountain. Tammy was close to tears. We kept walking, then walked up the stairs and walked inside the ski bar. There were many other families eating in there as well. I made sure I could use my card to pay as I only had my phone with me then we sat down and looked at the menu. It was all basic stuff but that's all we needed. We ended up ordering a schnitzel with fries, a gulash soup and some apple juice. We decided to make the most of being stranded and to have a good time. Emmy tried eating the lemon slice on the schnitzel and had fun doing so. I was amazed at how much they ate; skiing must have made them hungry.
But we had 90 minutes which was long. Tammy started reading practice with me but got upset and quit. Then Emmy read the whole paper. Then we left and walked down the stairs to go to the bathroom there. I had to force Tammy to use the bathroom. It's not easy when you have all your skiing gear on. But having too much time, it was the perfect activity to use that time.
We then started our walk back to the ski school. Tammy was still upset and didn't want to carry her skis but she refused to say "please" when she wanted me to carry them, so she had to carry them herself. We got back to the ski school at the perfect time, a few minutes before their class started again at 2 pm. They put their skis on right away, and their teacher was already there as well. Tammy started playing with another girl in her group. Both Tammy and Emmy started going up and down this tiny hill right there. Then the teacher called them, and off they went to the ski lift. I then walked to the bus stop and for once didn't have to wait that long before I was picked up and taken up the hill to the hotel.
While we were in town, Randy had gone to the hotel restaurant with Sammy where all they had was a little soup. It's an expensive restaurant. They were in our room when I returned. Once again I only had 75 minutes before I'd have to get ready to leave again. I was pretty tired. I lay down in bed with my phone. Sammy was on his tablet once again. Time went by fast, and at 3:30 I got up and got ready. I took the 3:45 pm shuttle down the hill to pick up the kids. Their class ended at 4 pm. I walked to the ski hill and tried to find them among the many kids, and I did. They skied down the hill and right to me. I got great pictures taken of them. Then the class was over. The bus app said the shuttle was coming at 4:09 pm so we walked to the bus stop. Once there, I looked at my app and suddenly it said 4:23 pm. I had no desire to stand in the cold for 20 minutes and Tammy started crying at the prospect. She was cold and tired and wanted to get out of the ski boots she'd had on all day. And the wind was blowing which made it feel colder than it was. We walked to the entrance of the grocery store so we wouldn't have to stand in the cold, then I called the shuttle bus operator. I told her that it had said 4:09, and now it was 4:23 pm. She then said the shuttle was about to arrive. We saw it coming and quickly walked back to the bus stop. Two other people were getting on. I told the driver what the lady had said so he called the operator. After the conversation, he asked the two people to get out of the car again and told us to get in. Thank God! That was mighty nice of the operator. We were all happy - especially after the lunch ordeal.
Back at the hotel we put all their ski equipment into the ski room and went up to our room. Randy and Sammy weren't there. The kids got straight on their tablets, needing some R'n'R. I was ready for some rest too. After a while Randy and Sammy returned; they had waited for us downstairs but had missed our arrival. The kids were telling Daddy how much they had enjoyed skiing all day, how much fun they'd had. Sammy was more than ready to go swimming after a day of not doing anything. After the other kids had had some more time to relax, we all put our swimsuits on and walked to the pool.
It's unfortunate that the water is not warmer but we had more fun today than yesterday and stayed in the water longer as well. I had Sammy most of the time who wanted to play with me, and we played the whole time, roleplaying Kasperl & Pezi. We had lots of fun, and the siblings got included as well, so we all had fun. Eventually we got out, took hot showers to warm up, and quickly returned to our room to get warm and dry and dressed.
The kids put their pj's on right away, even though it wasn't even 6 pm yet. It was time to eat so I got some paper plates out that we had brought with us, some sliced bread and salami, ham and cheese to make sandwiches for everyone. We had also bought some yoghurt and chocolate milk and still had lots of candy. Everybody got to fill up. When 8 pm was approaching, we read a story together, then it was bed time after I had prayed for them. Once again they all wanted to sleep between us on our triple-bed. Thankfully Sammy was so tired that he fell asleep much faster tonight, right after his sister. It was Emmy who was rather restless and needed a long time to really settle in. It was really hot in our room again, so much so that I had to open the balcony door even though it's below freezing outside.
Now it's going on midnight, and I hope to go to bed by then which I did last night, even though it took me a long time to fall asleep.
