Day 2470. What a long day this Saturday was! Normally we leave the house at 10 am but not this Saturday. I had to set my alarm for earlier as Tammy, Emmy and I left the house at 9:15 am. They had shorts and T-shirts on. We rode the subway for three stops, then joined the crowd walking in the direction of the stadium and then past it. Soon there was a line but we continued walking; the line was for the 31,000 adults doing the run on Sunday who were there to pick up their T-shirts and numbers. We kept walking and walking to where I knew the pick-up for the kids was. When we got there, there were no lines - thank God - we hardly had to wait at all. I showed them the registration confirmation, then she asked what color and size T-shirt the kids wanted. Emmy wanted light blue but there weren't any his size so he got dark blue. Tammy chose green as there was no pink. With their T-shirts and envelopes in hand, we turned around and started our long walk back to the subway. More and more people were arriving, and the line was already approaching the subway.
We got back on the train and rode it downtown, then walked to the kids' music school. We got there earlier as usual but that was okay. The kids put their racing shirts on, then I got their numbers and safety pins out and put them on their shirts. Tammy had the number 2038 and Emmy 2039. In total there were 3000 kids that were running.
But first it was time for their piano class. All four of the kids were there. The teacher saw their T-shirts and numbers right away and figured out they were gonna be part of a race. So when it was time for the guessing game after the greeting song, everyone had to guess what they were doing after the race. After the game, they did the finger warm-up, and the teacher introduced a new key to them - their fouth one to add to the warm-up. After they had practiced it, it was time to go through the songs in the book that they have been practicing. They did the last three. Then they did two songs they'll sing at the end-of-semester party and the class was over. The kids got their stamps and stickers, and we walked out.
We walked back to the subway and rode it to the McDonald's that's half-way on the way home. I had already chosen the food on my phone while in class so we'd be faster and only needed our table number once Randy and Sammy got there. He called to give it to me, that way the food was already at the table by the time we got there. And we had little time to eat so we had to hurry. We got there around noon and had to leave at 12:15 pm. When we got back to the subway, we had just missed one which meant 7 minutes to wait for the next one which was terrible given how little time we had. We then rode two stops on it and once again joined the crowds walking to the race grounds.
We only had 20 minutes until Tammy was to start her race at 12:50 pm, so Tammy, Emmy and I took the stairs while Randy and Sammy had to take the elevator. The three of us then walked as quickly as we could the long distance to where the start was. Thank God I knew where it was. And the crowds were even worse there. I saw the entrance for the runners where they had a person checking who was eligible to go on. It was not quite time for Tammy to run yet but only minutes later it was time for her group so she went through and to the front. They had the different groups separated by ropes. The group before Tammy's was doing their warm-ups. Emmy and I were standing where parents were and where the kids were gonna go to after their race to be picked up. Emmy was freaking out as he was scared that we'd not find Tammy again in the midst of the masses of people. I tried to calm him down. And I tried to talk to Randy on the phone to find out where they were but it was way too loud as they had loud music going.
Then Tammy started running. Unfortunately she was running away from us so I couldn't see anything. At the half-way point of the 500 meter race they turned around and ran back on the other side. I simply held my camera on the runners filming them all going through the goal I couldn't make out Tammy in the crowd and with the blinding sun. Emmy said he saw her. There were about 50 kids all born the same year in her group, and all the parents were in the same place, trying to pick up the kids. We were able to reunite with Tammy.
Emmy was running 20 minutes after Tammy, with only one other group in between, so it was his turn to go to the starting line. Tammy and I went back to where the parents were to watch. Then Randy and Sammy finally joined us. Again, the kids did a warm-up, then started running. Again I held my camera on the boys running through the finish line. Emmy was the fifth out of the 50 boys or so. Tammy had been fifth too. That's quite an accomplishment for both of them. Tammy and I went to where the kids were being picked up and soon found Emmy.
Randy and Sammy were saying good-bye as it was approaching 1:30 pm, and Sammy was invited to a birthday party that started at 2:30 pm, and it was on the other end of town. They took the train there had a great time. The birthday kid was from a parallel class at Sammy's school.
Tammy, Emmy and I continued walking. The kids got two gift bags from sponsors each, then their medal. Then they had a winner's podest set up so we lined up to take pictures with them on it. It turned out to be a nice picture. They did have an award ceremony at 2:30 but only the first three of each group got a trophy. There was no point waiting around. It was better to go on to the birthday party they were invited to since they were going to get there late anyway. On the way out, Emmy still wanted to play the huge darts game and hit the bullseye with his three balls every time. Then we continued walking back to the subway. It was a long walk, and my feet started hurting since we had already done a lot of walking.
We rode the subway to the train station, then went to the platform our train was leaving from. We had half an hour on the train and were leaving the city limits so we needed an extra ticket. We got off in Mödling and still had a 12+ minute walk ahead of us. It had been a very hot and sunny day but with 3 pm approaching, there were lots of dark clouds in the sky. And then it started pouring down, even hailing a little. We had to find shelter as there was no going on like this. I called the birthday kid's Mom and asked whether they could pick us up by car as we were just down the road but she said no. Thankfully it was just a short thunderstorm because of the intense heat. A few minutes later it subsided and had even stopped by the time we got to the party location. I had given the kids my umbrella but we all had wet shoes and the kids wet socks while my short was soaking wet.
But we had made it to the party just over an hour after it had started. The kids took their wet shoes and socks off, and off they were to play. All the kids at the party were eating cake but the two of them wanted to play basketball instead. As for me, I was very tired and ready for a break. I got something to drink and sat down in a comfy corner for adults where other parents were also sitting.
For the next four hours the kids were having fun. They also had different dishes for dinner to choose from, and once the sun was back out and had dried everything outside, the kids went outside. Emmy enjoyed playing soccer in a cage. Later all the kids were playing a game together in that same cage. Tammy was also playing some dress-up. As for me, I was talking to some of the other parents, including the birthday kid's father who was the only one I knew. When there was noone to talk to, I was on my phone and later I even closed my eyes. It had been a long day.
People started leaving, and we had a long trip home ahead of us. When I saw that it was 6:40 pm and that the train was leaving at 7:10 pm, I told the kids that it was time to get going. They didn't really want to leave yet. We said our good-byes and started our long wallk back to the train station. Thankfully the sun was still out; no more rain.
We got to the train station in time only to find out that our train was canceled. Just great. The next train was at 7:22 pm, so twelve minutes later so we sat down to wait for that once. In fact, it sat there for a while as it was its final stop so we got on and got good seats where we rode the half hour back into town. I showed the kids a little riddle that they tried to solve all the way home, then we played tic-tac-toe on the same paper. At the main train station, we got off and went to the train that took us home from there. By 8:15 pm we were home.
Randy and Sammy had already been home for a while and eaten something. The three of us had eaten plenty at the party so it was time for a quick shower. Emmy was covered in dirt having played soccer after the rain. After the shower, I prayed for them, then they went to bed.
I was finally able to take a break. I lay down myself and actually fell asleep. Just after 10 pm I got back up. I hadn't turned my computer on all day but I had plenty of pictures to download, choose from and edit so I made myself get up - on my hurting feet - and got my computer. In the end, it was nearly 3 am before I went to bed.
A quiet day would have been nice today, but it was not, at least not for the kids and not for Randy. We had to set an alarm for 6:45 am this morning. Randy got up to make breakfast, and at 8 am he left the house with Tammy and Emmy. They rode the subway to the train station then got on a train, once again leaving the city but this time to the north instead of the south. That train only runs every hour so it was good that they made it. They arrived in the village before 9 am then walked to our friend's house where they were meeting up. It was a little Royal Rangers (Christian boyscouts) outing to go take a trip on a raft. They loaded the raft onto the roof of the car, then everyone piled into the car and they drove to where they were going to put the raft into the water. There were three adults and four kids on the raft, and they slowly made their way down the little stream. It looks like they had fun. After about an hour, they pulled off the water, and someone drove them back to where they had started. Someone also took them back to the train station and thankfully, they made the 11:10 am train back to Vienna and were home by about noon.
Sammy was on his tablet at home while I was sleeping and stayed happy for a long time. Just after 10 am he came to me and joined me in bed and started having fun with me. There was no more sleeping at this point. At 11:15 am I finally forced myself out of bed to change his diaper and go to the kitchen to make lunch for everyone. It was ready by the time they got home. We all ate, then Randy left again with Tammy and Emmy to take them to their maths club that starts at 1 pm. Sammy and I stayed home.
I was doing some work on the computer while also having fun with Sammy. Randy returned at 1:30 pm and was home for half an hour before leaving again to pick them up. At 3 pm they all returned home for good. We all went downstairs to do a little family service. After that, it was time for piano practice. Tammy practiced and did her reading practice as well, but Emmy didn't want to. So I went upstairs to make their sandwiches. They all came upstairs as well and ate while I sat down to teach from 5 to 6 pm. After I was done teaching, I went to the kitchen to cut up their fruit and gave it to them to eat. After Emmy had eaten, he was willing to go downstairs for piano practice with me. And then he actually practiced really nicely, without complaining and refusing all the time. After that, he did his reading practice,
Back upstairs, it was time for showers, then we wanted to do Bible stories as I had no more students. However, Emmy still had unfinished homework for school tomorrow so we sat down to do that instead. It was maths, and he understood quickly but there was simply too much to do so one page remained unfinished. I prayed for them, and they went to bed at 8:30 - without a story. I then went to the kitchen to get something to eat and sat down for a break. Later I went back to work. Now it's 2:15 am and I still have to load the dishwasher.
