Day 2570. On Saturday Emmy had his second soccer practice since our return to Austria. Randy and Emmy left at 10 am as it started at 10:30 am. At 11:30 am Randy left again to pick him up at noon. Tammy and Sammy stayed at home with me. Tammy was making things with the 3D-printing pen she got for her birthday. Eventually I went to the kitchen to cook. We had lunch, and after that, Emmy wanted to try out his birthday gift, a soccer training mat. He did a few trainings, then Tammy wanted to do it as well.
At 3 pm I taught for an hour, then we left the house to take the 4:20 pm train, then we rode the subway and walked to church. I had an update to give so I handed my flashdrive to the tech person. We had a good time worshipping God. After half an hour, the kids were told to come to kids' church so they all left with Randy. But this time Randy left Sammy there and returned to the sanctuary for the service. Only once did they need to get him, after that he came back.
I gave my update on what had happened to Paul in Mali, then the pastor preached. After the service had ended, we went to the café where everyone was gathering to eat together. We ended up staying, and I enjoyed getting to talk to different people. Eventually we did have to go home; they ended up going to bed over an hour later than usual.
Sunday
It was nice to have a Sunday with nothing going on. The kids were enjoying themselves, and we got ready for the first day of school the next day. We went through the school list together to see what they still needed to put into their schoolbags, what we still needed to buy, and what all they needed to take back to school. We had a great time together.
Monday
It was their first day back in school, starting second grade. They were not the youngest anymore. Randy took Tammy and Emmy to their school where they only had one hour from 9 to 10 am on their first day. I took Sammy to his school; he had school from 8:30 to 11 am. He was very excited to see everyone again.
Once back home I enjoyed the silence to get work done. Later I cooked, and Randy and the kids already returned home before 11 am. Then Randy left to go pick up Sammy. Once everyone was home, it was time to eat.
At 2 pm we left the house together as I had something special planned on their first day of school. It took quite some time to get there, but we got there in time for the 3 pm time slot we had. I hadn't told the kids where we were going as it was a surprise, but they could soon see that we were heading to the Danube tower. They thought we were going up, but that was not the case. I had tickets for the VR experience traveling millions of years into the past of earth, meeting the dinosaurs and other animals. Sammy was not happy and didn't want to be there. I did my best to calm him down and make him happy.
It was our turn to go inside. A man gave us a VR headset each and led us to where the experience started. There we put our headsets on, and off we went. I had never done anything like that before. It was 45 minutes long and like a movie, traveling through time. It was really cool. Tammy and Emmy were in my group while Randy and Sammy were right behind us, maybe a minute later in the movie. We were moving through the movie, actually moving and staying with the "tour guide" in the movie. I wished I had taken a photo of all the people with their headsets on before going inside. It was quite funny to look at.
45 minutes is quite long to be in virtual reality. While it was really cool, I was starting to feel nauseous towards the end and was happy when it was over. Tammy was also whining that the headset was too tight on her head. And Sammy was whining the whole time and kept taking the headset off. All in all, it was still a great experience.
It was nearly 4 pm when we stepped out of the building. I asked the kids whether they wanted to go to the playground before going home, and they said yes. So we walked a little until we got to one of the playgrounds in this huge park. There they had lots of fun, including Sammy. After a while we left and walked to the nearest bus stop to take the bus back home - it was actually two buses and the subway that we had to take. Just after 5 pm we were back home. It was time for dinner and our evening routine.
Tuesday
On this second day of school Tammy had classes from 8 am to 12 pm, while Sammy was already on his regular schedule from 8:30 to 1:30 pm. Randy took Tammy and Emmy to school, then came home and took Sammy to school. I then got something to eat and got ready for my 9 am student. I taught until 10 am, worked some more and then cooked lunch. When Randy and the kids came home before 1 pm, I found out that Tammy and Emmy hadn't eaten in school yet, so we all ate. Then Randy left to go pick up Sammy.
I had plenty of work to do, and continued putting the protective cover on all of Tammy's and Emmy's schoolbooks. That's a lot of work. Randy and the kids went outside so they could ride their bikes for a while. It was a really hot day today.
At 3:20 pm I left the house by myself and took two buses to get to Tammy's and Emmy's school where a parents-teachers meeting started at 4 pm. I sat at Tammy's desk for it. For 35 minutes their teacher and the school director told us all about what was ahead for the kids this year, and all we needed to know. Then I left to go back home.
Randy and the kids left the house at 3:45 pm. On a normal Tuesday he would have left only with Tammy. Tammy had dance sport at 4:30 pm, and ballet at 5:30 pm. While she was in class, Randy and the boys went to the nearby park to play. Normally Emmy has soccer on Tuesday that I take him to with Sammy.
I enjoyed being home alone and working on their schoolbags, then making dinner for them that they ate when they got home at 7 pm. After that it was bathtub time and bedtime - after a story. Once they were in bed, I got to eat dinner, then I finished putting the covers on the school books. Now it's after midnight, and I need to go to bed as the alarm goes off at 6:15 am.
