New Kids' Scooters

Here they are testing them out...

Having Fun in Kansas City

We only arrived on the 10th of July... actually the 11th of July at 1:30am. This is the time we arrived at Curt's Uncle Mike and Aunt Sally's home in Kansas City. We calculated just under 23 hours of traveling door-to-door. The kids were absolute stars. The toughest part was our connecting flight from JFK to Kansas City. We were all so tired that we boarded (at about 9:30pm local time) and all passed out. However, we were very uncomfortable in the small Delta plane and it was very cold. We still let our heads bob all over while we gave in to the exhaustion.

Since we've been here we've had non-stop fun. We spent one day at a water park, one evening having pizza in with Curt's other aunts and uncles and cousin. Then, a couple of evenings out. Today we went out to get the kids scooters for their US trip. Here they are posing with their new scooters.


This next picture is Uncle Mike and his dog, Blossom, Aunt Sally and our trio standing in front of their home in Overland Park.

America's Birthday

Our 4th of July plans were a bit, well, non-traditional. After thinking about it, and hearing the kids moan and groan, I realized that we have been lucky enough to spend the last few years celebrating in the US. Before that, we've always seemed to either have a huge bbq with friends or attend one. This year, slightly due to too much already on our plates and also a lack of many American friends, we decided to just do a very non-traditional lunch at TGs Italiano. I know, it doesn't make sense to eat at an Italian restaurant on America's Independence day but c'est la vie, this is what made us all happy (including the kids).

Here are a few snaps from the day. At least the kids made a decent attempt at picking out some red, white and blue attire.... They did this without any of my assistance!



Mia then looked up at our red leaf tree and noticed the blue sky and white clouds behind it. She exclaimed, "mom, look up! Red, White and Blue!" I thought it was really cute and imaginative so I clicked a shot.

Here we are at the restaurant sitting outdoors in the beautiful sunshine with are dear friends the McGanns. They were visiting from the USA and it was a long, great catch up!! One of several that week!

The kids all entertained themselves and sat and behaved through our 4 hour lunch!!

It was lovely! Now, we are just about packed and ready to head to the US tomorrow!!! We can't wait to see everyone.....

Out in the Field

Today when we went out to the field with the dogs, we discovered that all the tall grass had been cut down and rolled into bails. It was so cool. I took a ton of photos but here's one sample that I thought was cute....

WIMBLEDON 2010

Lucky me. I recently had the opportunity to go to Wimbledon and enjoy an experience that I have always dreamed of... And, it exceeded my expectations! The best part is thanks to my friends' tennis family (including family members who have played in Wimbledon) we were able to experience it all in VIP style! And, cost free!

Kim jumped the queue to pick up our VIP / members enclosure entrance passes.

With her dad who holds 1 of 350 VIP access tickets. That is 350 individual tickets in the entire world! They cannot be sold, traded or lended out! By the way, they are buying a pitcher of Pimm's.

A delicious lunch in the members enclosure / VIP area.

My 2 dear, dear friends who always make me giggle like I am 15 years old!

Kim's mom, Carole, meeting up with some of her Texan friends who she also hooked up with Wimbledon tickets.

Getting ready to experience Centre Court! Centre Court is where the top players play. There are approximately 14 other courts in the Wimbledon tennis arena but Centre Court is the most important court...


Sort of dark photos but posing in our seats while enjoying Lleyton Hewitt and then Roger Federer playing (and both winning).

This is my view (without a zoom lens)

Inside the Members Enclosure they have the Wall of Fame - past winners... It was great and brought back so many memories as I have seen the majority of them win on TV.

Other photos around the Wimbledon tennis area - including lots of the flowers in Wimbledon's colors.

Getting ready to head home (to Nicky's home in Aldbury).

Below are 2 photos of Nicky, Kim and I on a recent trip to Cyprus to celebrate my birthday.

Farewell Sweet Greta

This has been a very tough week on our family. Our Bernese Mountain Dog, Greta, after a tough week of heart failure and only an estimated couple weeks left of life was put to sleep yesterday. We adopted her when she was 2 years old and for the last 10 years she has been my shadow. Constantly by my side through all the good times and the bad, helping me raise and care for 3 babies, and always looking after all of us. We are so lucky to have had her in our life for the length that we did. Most Bernese Mountain Dogs do not live longer than 8 years and she made it to almost 12! She was the most loving, loyal, faithful dog with an almost human-like personality. She was so in touch with all of us and if one of us were sad or ill, she laid by our side until we recovered. This week, we had to return the favor to her and it was tough. She was our rock and now she is no longer with us.

It’s ironic that she left us now as we were really stumped as to what we were going to do with her once we moved to Dubai. We knew taking her would be extremely risky and, honestly, not worth it as she very likely wouldn’t have survived the stress of the journey. And then, the Dubai heat! We had made arrangements for our dear friend and caretaker to live in our home with her. We would come back and visit as often as we could. He grew just as attached to Greta as we all did. He was captured by her loving manners and was with us in the end when we said good-bye.

Saying farewell to her was not the only challenge. Telling our kids, on their last day of school, was also a huge challenge. Their reactions were all very different. Our 7 year old daughter burst into tears right away while our 9 year old son was silent all day until bedtime when he tried desperately to fight back hysterical tears. Greta always helped me with bedtime. We’d clean up the kitchen, round up the kids, go through bedtime duties like teeth brushing or bath and then up to their bedrooms for books. I realized that none of our kids have had a life without our sweet Greta so it is going to take some getting used to.

Our 4 year old daughter who had no reaction initially asked where Greta was 3 hours later once we were at home. We were all stunned and silently waiting for her to register what we had told her earlier. She did. She followed up with, “Is Greta dead? Do we now only have 2 dogs? Is Greta in heaven?” then she cried.

What a sad week it has been in the Clements’ home. We will miss you, pretty girl. R.I.P.

Ali's End of School Year Party

On Tuesday, the parents of the maternelle (5 kindergarten classes) were invited for an end of year party with the parents and students. We were asked to bring a snack or drink. I brought in apple cake and enjoyed chatting to the other moms and Ali's teachers. Here is a photo of Ali with her teacher, Isabelle (on the right), and the T.A. (teacher's assistant) Erzsebet. I found it interesting to learn that Isabelle is trained as a Biology teacher for high school kids, however, she enjoyed the short change of teaching the little ones. She was very good at it as well as she is very nurturing and sweet. Her teaching career at the Lycee Francais Budapest has quickly come to an end as her husband's job is taking them to Milan this summer. She is very excited.

Erzsebet has been at the Lycee for quite some time. She was the T.A. for Mia 4 years ago and is really lovely. She especially bonded with Ali - and vice versa. Thanks to Erzsebet, Ali actually had a really good year. She had trouble at the beginning of the year but once her and Erzsebet bonded (mostly in Hungarian), it all improved. After the photo is a short video that I took while we were on the playground of the maternelle.

My Magyar Mia

Magyar, for those of you that don't know, means 'Hungarian' in Hungarian. Mia is a Magyar girl through and through. She loves the food, culture, language and now that she's been introduced to the folk dancing, she is at home!

Earlier this week, we had the pleasure of watching her and her class on stage dancing in true traditional Hungarian style folk dance. She was so great (I thought)! The teacher did a great job and all the kids on stage seemed to be perfectly in sync and with smiles on their faces. It was so fun to watch and I can tell that they also enjoyed performing!

In the short video below, she is the 3rd girl to come out.

T's Gardening Skills

Been slightly out of touch lately. Just a very quick update on my very proud son as we all admire (and beg for nibbles) his freshly grown peas. He planted the seeds about 2 months ago and they are now grown and DEEE-licious!!!

Here are 2 videos. The girls were begging to have some but he wasn't too happy about sharing - especially after he recently discovered them taking some without his permission. So, he made up a game of questions and when they got the answer(s) correct they were rewarded with a pod.

Albania 10th birthday celebration video

If you are interested, our marketing team put the photos together from the event into a video show. You can view it here.

Latina Fiesta Ball photos

From the last Saturday in May. It was a great night that began at our homes for a drink and photos (like prom) then we took a bus down to the Marriott Hotel where the Charity Fund Raiser was held. This year's theme is Latin, hence, the crazy costumes (again!)