The Clements Family Life

Sunday, June 1, 2008

Better Photo of Pont Neuf Bridge

Here's a better photo of the Pont Neuf Bridge in Paris. You can see the round little areas where Terence and Liam were doing their funny pozes.

Pont Neuf Bridge

The boys were being silly in each of these little seated coves along the Pont Neuf Bridge.

Pont Neuf means 'New Bridge' in French. Even though it is the oldest bridge (first stone was laid in 1578) the name has stuck.

Seine River

Walking along the Seine towards Notre Dame

Louvre

From the Jardin des Tuileries, we walked over to the Louvre to have a look around. We decided that going in with a 7 and 9 year old wouldn't be the best way to spend our morning. Instead we just admired it's exterior while we walked by on our way to the Pont Neuf bridge which we were crossing to get to Notre Dame.

The kids thought this giant spider statue in the garden outside of the Louvre was great.

Terence and Liam taking a break. We walked a lot!

Eiffel Tower

After Kerry and Liam met us at our hotel in Paris, we decided to venture over to the Eiffel Tower. It was a great day. During our entire journey over the boys were talking about how we were going to go all the way to the top. After arriving, the boys started to get nervous. Terence observed how the tower was even slightly swaying *. They started to chicken out but then we compromised on going only to the 2nd platform. The 2nd floor platform is approximately 115 meters high.

On their official site we found this statistic:

* The force of the wind causes the top of the Tower to sway 6 to 7cm.
Heat also causes the Tower top to move, with a curve of movement measuring 18cm.

I even captured a video of T. He was going a little nuts up there. Must have been altitude sickness ;-)

Saturday, May 31, 2008

Back from Paris

Had an incredible trip to Paris, France for 3 nights with Terence, my friend Kerry and her 9 year old son (T's great friend), Liam. We were on an earlier flight than Kerry and Liam going over to Paris on Wednesday morning. We arrived at the Charles de Gaulle airport in Paris and jumped on the train (EUR16.40 for the two of us) that took us to Chatelet Les Halles metro stop. From there we changed to the yellow / number 1 line 4 stops where we got off at Concorde near our hotel.

Paris metro map (looks confusing but it's great). 3 day travel passes were extremely affordable. Somewhere around USD 40 for the both of us for 3 days of unlimited traveling.

Terence and I made a great travel team together and made it in minimal time. When we came up from the metro at Concorde we turned our heads and guess what we saw? The Eiffel Tower! Terence gave out a type of shriek and his whole body sort of shivered with excitement. This first picture is from approximtely 2 minutes after we first saw the Eiffel Tower - just above the Concorde metro stop and about 3 blocks from our hotel.

When we got to our hotel (it was about noon), our room was still not ready. Terence and I decided to venture out. I asked our concierge if there was a Laduree bakery nearby. Lucky for us there was! Curt and I first fell upon Laduree when were in Paris 7 years ago. If you are ever near one, you must try their macaroons! Everything in this shop is incredibly delicious but their macaroons are very like nothing else I have eaten. The Laduree near our hotel was on the rue Royale (only about 4 short blocks away). We just took away some treats and headed over to a park bench in Espace Pierre Cardin (a park at the beginning of the Avenue des Champs-Elysees).

Terence and I enjoyed the beautiful sunshine while watching the people walk by. Suddenly, I spotted a kiosk in the park with the word 'CREPE' on the side. Terence only talked about eating crepes while in Paris and there was a stand calling out to us. So, I pointed it out to him and asked him if he could read what it said. He sounded it out then shouted 'CREPE'! I asked him if he'd like to go and get one by himself if I gave him money. He said yes without hesitation. I watched him go over and noticed he was there for a while. I didn't know if he was having trouble communicating or if he was just being shy or if it was just taking a while to make the crepe. I video taped him coming back.

It turns out the lady was really friendly and was telling him that he spoke great French and asked him his age and where he was from. He told me that he had to tell her America as he couldn't think of how to say Hungary in French. The crepe cost 2EUR. Throughout our 3 day trip, he ate many crepes (average about 3 per day) and the most expensive crepe was 4.30 EUR (the price for sitting down) and the cheapest was only 1.50EUR near the Sacre Coeur (this made T excited as it was also freshly made on the spot).

From the park we walked across the Champs-Elysees. This first photo is of us standing on it with the Arc de Triomphe in the distance. We were just so excited! It was wonderful to see Paris through Terence's eyes.

This last photo is T walking across the Champs-Elysees. We were walking over to the Jardin des Tuileries next to the Louvre.

I have 100s more photos that I took and will sort through the rest tomorrow.

It feels great to be home and with Curt, Mia and Ali again. Terence couldn't stop talking about the trip all evening. He was just flying high from the experience.

Tuesday, May 27, 2008

Bon Voyage

We are off to Paris, France for 3 nights. Just Terence and I with our friends (Kerry and her 9 year old son, Liam). Kerry has been promising Liam a trip to Paris ever since she went alone with Liam's big brother, Riley, about 4 years ago. We decided it would be the most fun for the 4 of us to go together as Terence has been asking to see Paris (he was only 5 months when he was there with us in August 2001) for about a year now. He's interested in visiting all the landmarks he has been learning about in school (Lycee de Francais). It'll be interesting to hear him practice speaking as well. The Eiffel Tower will be the first place we go. We have many other sites to see. He has lots of museums on his list (I think his teacher gave him the list)...

The girls are sleeping over at Brigi's tomorrow night but Curt will have them on Thursday and Friday nights and all day Saturday. We will return Saturday around 8pm on a direct flight on Air France (let's hope they don't go on strike).

The kids are back to school on Monday / Lundi.

More Grape Barrel Fun

The kids all take turns getting tumbled in the 250 liter barrel.

Grape Barrel

The kids all love playing with Sue and Peter's grape barrel (for stomping the grapes) when we are in Somlo. It's amazing how much entertainment it can provide. One of the best things about going out to Somlo is the easy way of life. No TV, no electronics, etc. Just the simple life and the kids love it!

Monday, May 26, 2008

Cherry Fun

Sue and Peter had a cherry tree on their property and the kids picked as many as they could reach. They tasted delicious. Mia even found a way to use them as accessories!

The Tomedtoz Olympics Schedule

Here are the 2 teams of kids and the 6 events (in English and Hungarian).

Tomedtoz Olympics History

The main reason we went to Somlo, Hungary (2 hour drive from Budapest) this weekend was so our kids could experience their first annual Tomedtoz Olympic day.

The history of the Tomedtoz Olympics evolved over the last year. In August 2007, while visiting the the Tatrallyay's vineyard, one of the Clements' kids (identity still unknown) decided to toss a few of Sue and Peter's garden tomatoes into the nearby road. Sue hid her sadness but we found out later that she was upset as it was her first year's tomatoes. To make up for her loss, we decided for X-mas 2007 to reimburse her for her lost tomatoes with a giant basket filled with tomatoes, seeds, tomato sauce, etc. and a funny homemade poster about the 'Tomedtoz' as Terence spelled it!

From this, Sue created the Tomedtoz Olympics!

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QUOTES OF THE DAY:

Today, July 1 2010 while driving through McD's drive through Terence and I got to talking about what a job at McD's would be like. I told him that my brother worked there and that was one of his first jobs. I explained how he was in charge of the french fries and used to come home with lots of grease burns. T told me that if he ever worked at McD's he wouldn't be able to work on the Big Mac assemblies as they would all end up disappearing. The Big Mac is his favorite!! He's not a french fry kind of guy, just a burger boy!

June 10, 2010. Ali has been a bit curious about dying lately. Fortunately, she doesn't remember anyone close to us that has died but she hears Mia and T sometimes talking about it. The other day, she came up to me very sad and said, "Mama, I don't want you to die." I told her that I don't want to die either and this is why I have to exercise and take care of myself so that I can stay alive and healthy longer. She nodded in agreement and then, while playing with my pink wallet on the table, she followed up with, "Mama, if you DO die, can I please have your wallet?" Glad she jumped back so quickly...

Today, May 24 2010, is a public holiday (Pentecost). Ali woke up - only at 9am - and since she had no idea of the time I reminded her that there was no school today. She smiled and said, "Yeah! I'm going to stay in my pjs ALL day". Later she asked me about the cat's birthday. I told her I did not know. She then asked me when Blue, our border collie's bday is. I told her it was in August. She smiled and said, "Let's have a birthday party for him. What kind of cake do you think we should make for his party?" We decided to make him a dog food cake! However, she is now trying to figure out if it is better to give him a cake with or without candles...

This Saturday morning (April 17, 2010) I am at home with Ali while Curt is doing the dance and football taxi service. My main responsibility is to work on our US visit travel schedule (flights, rental cars, hotels, etc.) It always takes a lot of coordination but it's all worth it as we love our summer returns to the US. Anyhow, I was telling Ali what I was doing and she asked me to remind her who we were going to see again. The main people I mentioned were Nana, Papa, Aunt Sally and Uncle Mike as these are the first people we will visit. I asked her what we should take to Nana for her birthday present. She thought for a second. Then, her eyes grew wide as she thought of a great idea. Her animated answer (she always uses lots of hand motions when talking - is that from me?) was, 'A nice hat, a scarf and if you have a dress that you out grow then we can take it for her!'. Funny little monkey... Don't worry Nana, I won't be bringing you any hand-me-downs! x o x o

Yesterday (Feb 24, 2010), while Ali went to visit her old nursery school, I took Terence and Mia for lunch before picking up T's new passport at the US embassy. There is this little cafe that I really love and they have great wraps, onion rings (I have a weakness for good onion rings), burgers, salads, smoothies, coffees, etc. Terence decided on a plain burger with onion rings and Mia decided on a bacon cheeseburger with onion rings. I got a smoothie and hoped for some bites of both of theirs... When the burgers arrived, they both lifted off the top bun and frowned. T grunted, "I asked for a plain burger. Not a burger with this sauce!" The sauce was sort of a 1000 island dressing type of tangy sauce. Mia pouted about this matter, too. I immediately got upset with them and told them not to judge it until they tried it. Then, I followed with, "you both need to become more adaptable." After a second of silence, Mia told me she was going to tell dad. I asked her to clarify and she told me that she was going to tell dad what I had said. Again, I asked her to clarify as I hadn't said anything rude or even a bad word (I sometimes have trouble with the latter). She then told me very angrily, "I'm going to tell dad that you want us to be adopted!" Adapted ... Adopted ... Pretty close!

During our ski trip to Schladming, Ali and I often spent some time together in the afternoon (after her morning ski school) drinking hot chocolate at the top in one of the restaurants. One afternoon she made a funny observation. Actually, she made 2 observations that went like this: "Ma!" she began. After I responded "yes", she asked me, "why are there some teenagers working here?" Before I had time to answer, she asked me another question. "And, why are there so many teenagers kissing?!" I looked around and there were 2 young couples nearby kissing... on the mouth! She was very interested. I answered to her that many teenagers worked when they were on break from school and regarding the teenagers that are kissing, they must love each other. She took this in and thought for a while. I told her that I'd like it if she also worked when she became a teenager and asked her what she thinks she'd like to do. The response has had us giggling for a few days. With little hesitation, she answered that she wanted to be a penguin when she was a teenager. I asked her where she would work as a teenager and who would pay her money. She thought for only a second and then answered, "the Four Seasons Hotel. They will pay me and I'll work there." I bit my tongue and asked her what she would do in the Four Seasons dressed as a penguin. She looked at me like I was an idiot and said, "Ma! I would swim!" She said this with a slight roll of her eyes like I was born yesterday. What else would a penguin in the Four Seasons be doing???

Just yesterday (Sept 18, 2009) I heard Ali saying to Mia, "drink me". I had to turn around and see what they were talking about. Mia was holding Ali's cup while she sipped out of it. Ali must have thought 'drink me' was the way to ask to be fed (?) a drink. We do say 'feed me' but what do we say if it's a drink item and not a food item?

The other day (early June 2009) the girls were taking a bath together and Mia blurted out "Oh Man" about something. Ali thought she was referring to her as a 'man' and shouted back at Mia, "Me not a MAN, me a LADY!" For obvious reasons I have never called her a 'lady' but she's somehow picked the word up. Loved how she defended herself as being a lady...

Yesterday, March 31st 2009, Terence, Ali and I were sitting at the table and talking. Terence made a joke about going to jail. After Ali laughed, I asked her if she knew what 'jail' was. She answered 'yes'. So, I asked her if jail was a place for good guys or bad guys. She correctly answered 'bad guys'. Then, I asked her, "How does Brigi call 'jail'"? I know this is correct but this is the way Ali would understand me asking how would she say 'jail' in Hungarian. Brigi, by the way, is her Hungarian nursery school teacher who she has a very close relationship with. Her answer to my question, "How does Brigi call jail?" was "with a telephone".... Very clever she is...

This afternoon (Jan 28, 2009) Ali pulled out a DVD and asked, 'we watch this when dada come home?' I looked at it and said, 'Ali, that's not a good one for you. It's a little scary.' (it was Men in Black II). She had recognized it and was ready with her quick reply: 'Don't worry (pronounced woowwee) Mama. Me cover my one eye with a pillow (piwwow).'

On Ali's birthday (Jan 24, 2009) while we were driving to Aquaworld, I turned around and offered the kids a stick of gum. I guess normally I / we say a 'piece' of gum. Curt then followed up with a joke asking if any of them wanted a 'stick of dynamite'. The girls were a bit confused but T, without missing a beat, said 'we can't buy dynamite, only people like miners can buy sticks of dynamite.' This is something he got out of one of his books that he loves to read. I believe it's the Richard Scarry What do People do All Day book that he has practically memorized and still goes to bed reading it and examining all the detailed pictures every night.

This morning (Jan 27, 2009) when we were hunting for Ali's shoes for school she looked outside and said, 'Mama, it's raining'. I turned to look out the window she was looking out and replied, 'Ali, I don't see rain'. She then followed up with something in Hungarian that I didn't understand. When I asked her to repeat it she looked at me, switched back to English and said 'It starts snowing after Halloween'. Not sure what this meant, why she said it, how she even remembered what Halloween was as that was ages ago in her little lifetime. Very sweet.

Mia's newest line (as of this first week in Sept 2008) is "I'm having the worst day ever". She's also been saying, "I feel like an idiot". She tends to say the latter when she's feeling a bit shy or lost for words. The first one is usually after she falls, stubs her toes, gets hurt or drops something. I have no idea where either lines have come from. Very funny to hear a 5 year old talk like this...

Every summer we take our 3 kids back to the US to re-familiarize (I'm sure this isn't a word...) them with their American roots. They were born in Europe and have only lived in Hungary their entire lives. Terence, our 7 year old, knows he's American. However, sometimes when he's asked 'Are you English?' he answers 'yes'. I think I've finally gotten it through to him that just because he speaks English doesn't mean he is English. In America (and several other countries), English is spoken... He now gets it and corrects people if they guess he's English. You may think that they would recognize his American accent but I think this misunderstanding usually happens when he is speaking Hungarian or French.

Mia, on the other hand, thinks we are Hungarian. When we were talking about Hungary beating America for the gold medal in water polo, she shouted out 'Yeah, we won!'. We had to explain that Hungary won and not America and we are American. She answered something about us living in Hungary which makes us Hungarian. Needless to say, she is a work in progress.

Then there is Ali who is only 2 1/2 and is still trying to not mix up English with Hungarian in her speech so she has no idea where she's from but will in time.

Anyhow, going back to our trips to the US. Curt and I like to give them an all-American cultural experience whenever we are in the US which includes baseball games, summer camp, carnivals, dunking machines, donuts, bagels, catching lightning bugs, looking for Cardinals and Blue Jays, spotting alligators in the lakes in Kiawah and this year a rodeo and a demolition derby. In addition to introducing our American favorite pastimes to them, we also have to teach them how to talk about it. For example, when our plane was landing in Kansas City on July 4th 2008 we had a perfectly clear day and could see everything. Terence looked out the plane's window and in his loud voice shouted to me, "Look at that baseball court mom!" I could hear heads turning wondering why the American accented boy who should be in at least his 3rd or 4th year of little league just called it a baseball 'court'. Well, that was at the beginning of our US summer trip... ;-)

Tonight (July 11, 2008) on our way home from the Sedgwick state fair (hee haw), Ali shouted from the back seat, "Mama, home now! Me tired!" It was about 9:30pm so way past her bedtime. I told her that we were on our way home (or at least Nana and Papa's) and would be there soon. I followed up with something about daddy is driving as fast as he can. Then, she shouted, "Dada, faster!" She is so funny and so expressive. It's funny to hear her bark her commands. And, when she is tired, she tells us....

This morning (June 24, 2008) as Mia was changing from her PJs to her school clothes I noticed her PJs had several holes in them. I mentioned it to Mia and suggested that maybe we just toss them in the garbage as it was so torn and damaged (plus small on her) that it wouldn't be easy to repair. Mia nodded her head in agreement but then asked me to do one favor for her. She asked, "Mama, can you please just toss them after I go to school? If I'm not here, I won't see it and then I can't get sad."

One morning while we were near Notre Dame in Paris (May 29, 2008), a group of school kids walked by where we were sitting. I heard T say to Liam, "Don't they sound like the kids at the French school?" Gee, I wonder why? haha

Two nights ago (around March 27, 2008) while Terence was getting ready for bed he said, "Mama, you know what?" He always begins his stories like this. After I asked 'what?' he proceeded by telling me the sweetest thing. He said, "I really like being a kid". I have no idea where this came from or why it occured to him at this point but I think it was really sweet. I know earlier in the evening his stomach was hurting him a bit and I was nurturing and taking care of him. I think maybe that is why he decided that being a kid and having a mom (and dad) take care of him when he needed it was okay!

Mia woke up crying 2 mornings ago. She was actually whimpering. I gently stroked her back and kissed her face while whispering in her ear "Mia, you're dreaming. Wake up. It's okay. I'm here. It's mama and I'm here". I repeated these soothing words over and over until she half opened her eyes and started mumbling. I leaned in to try and hear her better. I asked her what was upsetting her. She then said a bit more clearly, "The Easter Bunny pulled my hair!" Oh no. Poor Mia. "Why did the Easter Bunny pull your hair?". "He came in through the bedroom door and pulled my hair while I was sleeping in bed!" I reassured her that the Easter Bunny would NEVER do such a thing. I explained how gentle and giving good ole EB is. However, this morning (2 days later) she asked me how many 'night-nights' until Easter. I told her it was 2 weeks away (aka about 14 night-nights away). She then looked relieved and then asked me if she could get her hair cut short!!

I've been wanting to add another funny Mia quote that occurred over our New Year's (Dec 2007/Jan 2008) ski holiday. One night when Mia was having trouble falling asleep she crawled in between Curt and I as we were still awake talking. She explained that she couldn't fall asleep so we told her she could stay in our bed until she did. She closed her eyes for a couple of minutes and then started smacking herself in the head with both hands. I asked her what she was doing and she replied that she couldn't get it to stop. Curt and I were confused and asked her to elaborate. She said, 'I can't get the voices in my head to stop'. It was so funny as I immediately knew it was her thinking that was in her head. Curt asked her what the 'voices' were saying and she said it sounded like 'blah, blah, blah, blah, blah'. Curt couldn't resist by saying that he knew the feeling!

Last week (January 10, 2008) Mia came with me to the Indian Embassy in Budapest to pick up Curt's and my passports with Indian visas. She always makes me laugh as she's full of questions but never discreet. One of those kids that have to announce to an entire room that she has to go to the bathroom - even though she's only talking to me. While at the Indian Embassy she looked around at this new environment taking everything in. She had so many questions, "Mommy, what's that for?" or "Why is that over there?" She then noticed two paintings. At about the same time as she noticed them one of the consulates sat down next to her and said 'hi'. She returned the gesture with a shy 'hi' and then turned back to me to ask me who those people are in that painting. I had no clue and didn't want to embarrass myself in front of this Indian embassy employee. So, I asked him if he could answer my daughter's question. He looked at her and said, "That's our president". So then I showed Mia the map of India and told her that was the country we were going to. She returned her attention to the man and the woman in the painting and asked who the woman was assuming it was the man who was the president (reminder - she's still not 5 years old). The nice man had to explain that it was the woman who was the president and the man was the prime minister. Then Mia had to ask why the president had the red dot on her forehead and the prime minister had the pretty blue scarf (turban) on his head. She then saw a statue of Ghandi and asked me who he was. I knew that answer but had trouble explaining in 5 year old language why he was so famous. On and on and on she went... She had all the employees listening and entertained as not only was she interested but she was extremely complimentary. Many kids would say, 'that's weird or strange' but Mia found it all interesting and beautiful. They loved that she thought the turban was pretty, the red dot looked nice on the president and in another very Indian photo the traditionally dressed Indian woman looked so pretty with her gold bangles, henna covered hands, and gold outfit. Phew, I was on the edge of my seat nervous she would say something that might not be so kind. Instead she left them all with a smile on their faces and a very proud mom!

Yesterday (Nov 23, 2007) Terence came up to me and said, "Mom, I know America is one of the newest countries in the world but which is the oldest?" I said, "I'm not really sure but what do you think?" This kid is too much. He replied, "I'm not sure either but I would guess China." Not sure if this is right or wrong but it amazes me that he can even come up with something that is a really good guess. Will google it tonight for sure! If anyone knows, please send me the answer.

Last night (Oct 19, 2007) Terence asked me the loaded question: Do we come back to earth after we die? We spent a long time after the girls went to bed talking about it. I explained how different people believed different things and what I believe is that we do. He then asked me if we'd still come back as a family. I realized he had tears in his eyes with worry that he'd have to be part of another family so I answered 'yes'.

Terence asked me the other day why so many ants were eating our tree. He asked how they got onto our property when we have a fence all around it.

In first grade Terence is working on days of the week and months of the year. I asked him to recite what he's learned in French. After he said the days of the week perfectly I asked if he knew them in English. He couldn't think of them but suddenly I heard Mia's voice without hesitation say, 'Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday... etc'

Ali's word of the day was purple yesterday. Okay, so it didn't really sound like purple but it did sound like 'poopoa'. We were both wearing purple shirts and I pointed it out to her. That's how she repeated it after me.