The Clements Family Life

Thursday, July 10, 2008

We are in Kansas

We are having a great time in Kansas. Arrived to Kansas City on the 4th of July (happy birthday America). We had a great time staying with Curt's Uncle Mike and Aunt Sally in Overland Park. Overland Park is a great new area in Kansas City. Their home was just perfect for all of us. Every morning, after we all woke, we'd walk over to the nearby Starbucks and grocery store with the kids.

It was so great catching up with family and spending a lot of time with Curt's Aunt Sally, Uncle Mike, Uncle Jim and cousin Julie. These are the family members we saw the most. Also saw, Aunt Mary Margaret, Uncle John, Aunt Karen, Uncle Tim, Aunt Katrina and cousins: Megan, Brad, Ben, Matt (all their wives and kids). Lots of fun in a great city.

Last night we arrived in Wichita after a 3 hour drive with the kids. We are now staying here with Curt's mom and dad. His 2 sisters, Sheila and Paula, are also here. Tonight we are going to a baseball game and eating hotdogs for dinner. The kids love America!

For those of you who may not know where Kansas is, here it is on a map:

Terence and Mia got these on our first day and have been cruising around everywhere on them. They are fast and really good at them. Ali has her little moto.

Wednesday, July 9, 2008

Terence Cornwall Photos

After surf camp, Terence wandered off by himself to explore a bit. He likes his alone time to explore and contemplate about life and the world. He found this great spot to watch the waves crash in. The funniest is that he sits like this all the time now. I call him Chinese when he does this as I always see the Chinese in China on the side of the roads squatting in this uncomfortable (for me) position.

Curt went out there and they sat and talked for almost an hour. Unfortunately the photo is a bit blurry as it was on my max zoom and from quite a distance away.

Group Photos

These are the few group photos that were taken during the week in Cornwall. Unfortunately, we never got around to organizing a full group photo with everyone. It was only the first day (Monday, June 30th) that we were ALL together. After that, people started going off in different directions: applying for new passports up in London, golfing adventures, boating trips, girls nights out, early departures, etc.

These are some of the girls. Ali, Mia (sisters of course), Harriett holding Tilly (sisters) and Daisy

Many of the kids after breakfast on Wednesday morning (July 2). I thought it was funny that Terence and Mia both did peace signs.

Another kids shot.

Adults - photo by Terence

Moms

Babysitting Fight

Mia and Ali both adore babies! The strangest thing is that Ali is still pretty much a baby in my eyes, however, when another smaller one is around she turns into such a big girl. Here they are fighting over taking care of (and lifting) baby Leah (1).

Then Terence comes down and scares them all:

Tuesday, July 8, 2008

Curt is always entertaining the kids. How does he carry one on the shoulder while running and pulling the other? At 40+ years of age? What a stud!

The girls loved this surfing in the watery sand.

Girls in the Waves

I love these 2 photos of the girls giving each other courage to hit the cold water and the big waves.

Daisy (8); Harriet (10); Mia (5)

Their chain is broken.

Monday, July 7, 2008

A Night out at Rick Stein's Seafood

Believe it or not, this night out was planned about 3 months ago.

On Kim's back deck

Drinking our Veuve champagne in Kim's kitchen.

Lobster time at the restaurant!

The Responsible Adults

Curt and me

Harry (Kim's dad); Jock and Jon

Kim after body surfing; Jock offering grub

Tracy and Jenny with their fancy wine cups; Jon on little disposable bbqs

Tracy; Jenny (playing Cricket with the kids)

some of the girls; Charlie dreaming

Kim with her mom, Carole; Curt and Matt

1st Day on Beach in Cornwall

As I mentioned in my previous post, Cornwall is a very special place. I'm going to have to share over a few posts as there were many pictures taken during all the fun in the sun, rain, clouds, wind, etc. The weather is never predictable in Cornwall.

This first set of photos and 1 video is just to show you one of the beaches we spent a day on with our very large group of friends.

Ali posing in front of the beach backdrop. We had to climb up to the cafe to use the toilets. On the way, we took this photo.

On the far end of the beach you can see our big group's beach party.

These last 2 are a few more of our crazy, big, fun group.

A short video during clean up. The sun felt great as it was slowly setting.

We had to clean up, get the kids home to showers and pjs as everyone was heading over to our house later for a house party. It was a great beach house party with pizza and spaghetti bolognese (Nicky's homemade) plus lots of wine and dancing. I love when the kids and adults (usually just the moms) all dance together.

Saturday, July 5, 2008

Made it to the US

Today is the 6th day of our travel adventure. We spent Sunday - Thursday in the beautiful Cornwall, England. Our travel journey there wasn't the easiest. Cornwall is very remote and a tricky place to get to - probably the reason why it is such a treasure. We actually flew out of Bratislava airport on Ryan Air as it was cheaper and a bit better timing for us. The drive up was only about 2 hours (we got a lift in the Move One van). We flew to Stansted (one of the London airports) then changed to another Ryan Air flight straight into Newquay (Cornwall airport). Our first flight was about 3 hours and the second was about an hour. We ran into one challenge on the way (a missing passport) but won't get into that now as it's a long story. All was worked out with a one day trip up the US Embassy in London. It was Curt's passport so he went up solo.

At the Newquay airport we rented (or 'hired' as all my British friends say) a car and drove over to Nicky's big rental house where we were staying with her, Jock and their two adorable girls: Hannah (3 1/2) and Leah (1). Our good friends, the Coopers, own a home down there so they stayed there with our other British friends, the Taylors, who were back from their assignment in Panama. Another close family to us were also there as well as Kim's mom and dad (visiting from Glasgow). All together we had a reunion of 6 families - 13 kids all together. It was so fun and the kids loved getting together again and being together on the beach.

We had a big party on the beach two days in a row with wine and a bbq right on the beach. Terence and the rest of the boys took a 1/2 day surf class (with wet suits of course as it is England). Cornwall is famous for their surfing. Also during our stay Curt went out with a business colleague sailing for the day and the 6 girls sans hubbies and kids all went out to Rick Stein's famous Seafood restaurant in the beautiful Padstow.

The beaches in Cornwall are really picturesque. The planning permissions are tough to obtain so there are only a few homes and developments, which add to the charm.

Right now we are at Curt's Uncle Mike and Aunt Sally's home so I haven't yet downloaded any photos. I will do so as soon as I get the right USB cord (I accidentally brought the wrong one with me) and post them soon. We arrived last night after flying up on Thursday to London's Gatwick airport, spending the night at the beautiful Sofitel (attached to Gatwick's terminal so very convenient) hotel and flying from London - Cincinnati - Kansas City. We landed on America's birthday at 5:15pm. However, all 5 of us fell asleep at around 9:30pm before all the fireworks started. The kids were all incredible on the long, long journey and I was very proud of them.

In the meantime, here are the photos of where we just were on holiday.

Map of England. Cornwall is in the southern west tip.

Here's a close up. We were between Newquay and Padstow.

PS Today is Nana's 76th birthday (Curt's mom) so there are 28 of us going out for dinner. It's so great to be reunited with all the family and friends. The kids are in heaven.

PPS First morning of jetlag woke us all up at 5am. It's 9am now and we've already all showered, been for a long walk with Uncle Mike, Uncle Jim and their 2 golden retreivers (Blossom and Molly), had breakfast, played on the playground, watched some TV and now feel like it is lunch time as it's been a long am.

Saturday, June 28, 2008

Off Tomorrow

I will try my best to remain in touch during our travels. However, just to let you all know that we are off tomorrow on our summer trip. Spent today packing and about 1/2 way there. Luckily summer travel with kids is quite easy - light clothes, few shoes, and no jackets. We're hoping our luggage is as minimal as possible! Right now I have it organized that Mia and Ali are sharing one suitcase, Curt and Terence are sharing 1 1/2 suitcases (it was supposed to be 1 but went over slightly. I'll easily fill up the other 1/2 with toiletries, presents, etc). I have my own suitcase! Then, we'll have 1 more extra one that will be for all that extra stuff last minute stuff... (night time nappies, toys, books, pool stuff, etc). Wish us luck with our traveling as it's never easy with 3 little ones. However, it does seem to get easier each year as they get a bit older so I'm remaining positive on this year's flights (there are many!)

We are all really looking forward to it! We plan to see tons of friends and family and so excited about it!

Mia's Artwork

The girls in our family love to draw. Terence also likes drawing but his style is much more simple and less about color and more about his ideas. Mia, on the other hand, loves to draw with lots of color, enjoys drawing people and loves writing her name. This first picture is one that she just gave me today and she said that I was the lady in the colorful dress on the right and Ali is the little one on the left. I thought it was so pretty.

These below I find everywhere! She draws them on scraps of paper - preferably 4 x 6 inches. If she has to, she'll cut to her size preference then draw her little drawings. When I say, 'everywhere', I mean everywhere! I find them in her pockets, in my pockets, in the car, in her room, in my bags, in her bags, around the house, everywhere! I am trying to keep as many as possible as I think they are all so sweet.

.

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.