Kids' Quotes

Quotes of the week:

Stone: "I'm going to tell you something so awesome it's going to shatter your bladder!"

I don't think we ever made it to the awesome thing he was going to say - that line made us all laugh so hard, he just kept repeating it.

"I think it is so interesting that onion juice is black."

It took a minute to get to the bottom of this firmly held belief - finally he told me that the evidence was "when you dry your eyes when you're cutting onions, the juice on the towel is black!"

I wonder what firmly held beliefs I have that I base off of rational but incorrect assumptions.

Sophie: "We just shake off."

This was in response to my wondering why the girls were wanting packages of tissues for their backpacks. Come to find out, the school bathrooms don't have toilet paper!! I asked what they've been doing so far this year, and that was Sophie's answer. "We just shake off. That's what everyone does. Oh, and the toilets don't have seats either." Anyone at home in California complaining about under-funded schools can come for a visit and feel better!

Lucy: "Not even one part of me liked it."

Lucy came out of school with furrowed eyebrows and a down-turned mouth, arms folded. It turns out that at recess she had been sitting against the wall chatting with some friends, and a group of 6th grade boys started milling around in front of them, asking Lucy questions. She was starting to feel unsettled when finally one of them said, "we think you're the most beautiful girl in your grade!" and they all ran away. I told her "come on, some small part of you had to have liked that!" but she insisted she didn't, not one bit.

Erik: "If there were a trampoline right here (in the middle of a busy street) and you had to take off all of your clothes while continuously jumping, how many jumps would it take?"

The kids are going to laugh someday about their dad and his constant, hilarious questions. Sometimes they're complicated math story problems, but more often they're something like, "Quick answer: you have to live for 2 years in a non-English or -Spanish speaking country. GO." or "In place of a belly button you have to have either a working mouth or a working finger. Tell which one and why. GO."

I can't think of any quotes for me or Lindsay. We're basically the same person except she's taller and has a better sense of direction.

Happy Halloween!

Weekend Trip: Lisbon and Sintra, Portugal

This past week marked the halfway point of our Semester Abroad!! The clock is ticking, and looking at our jam-packed calendar of family travel nearly every weekend, we decided to squeeze in a trip to Lisbon... without the kids! We found a darling babysitter who took care of Sophie and Stone while I was in Paris, and the kids have been begging to have her back. So she showed up on Friday after school and I left a detailed schedule of ways to keep everyone busy on Saturday and Sunday (including the best treasure hunt I have ever done, leading to a rock crystal kit for L and L, a makeup kit for Sophie and a Spiderman costume for Stone). 

It's Sunday evening now, and we're sitting in the Lisbon airport waiting to go home. It was a HEAVENLY 48 hours. I loved having Erik all to myself, talking uninterrupted, running together, laughing together, and NOT carrying anyone on my back or talking anyone through a meltdown. Also we couldn't stop laughing about how delicious it was to have carpet under our feet in our hotel. I just walked and walked and walked around in circles in bare feet. I hadn't realized how much I'd missed carpet!

MADRID

The Madrid Airport has no good food options... but the best chocolate shop ever!!

We are going to buy a box like that for our family to live in.

LISBON
The beautiful capitol of Portugal, a big city surrounded by water and full of interesting buildings, museums and street performers

Late-night dinner at our hotel in Lisbon. It was so old-fashioned fancy and charming, and we loved the piano guy in the background, playing music like "Mack the Knife" and "The Pink Panther."

In the morning we slept in and then went for a run along the river to this amazing sculpture and back (the massive sculpture is a monument to the people throughout history who made exploration possible).

Movie Star Erik all showered and dressed after running and breakfast. We caught a taxi downtown to explore Lisbon.

A 19th-Century bakery, famous for their pasteis de nata, a vanilla custard with a caramelized top, baked in a phyllo crust. We ordered a few of those, plus several more pastries.

Me and my new boyfriend, Pasteis de Nata. We are outside the Monastery of Saint Jerónimo. Which is more handsome, the monastery or the custard tart? It is hard to say.

"Erik, what are you reading about?"
"Robots."
If I were in a Robot Museum I would probably pay attention for a little while but then I might excuse myself to sit down and read about monasteries.

He was really supportive of me exploring the whole gorgeous building, walking along and talking with me, though old buildings are not his thing. And then upstairs we actually found an exhibit on the history of the world that was fascinating to both of us. 

I loved this architecture!! It was different from anything I'd seen before, with plant, rope and nautical motifs typical of 15th Century Portugal.

Erik noticed these doors: "They open the top ones when the giants come for a visit."

We hopped on a bus tour to see more of the city, and rode past a copycat of the Golden Gate Bridge!! Made us feel at home - even the rolling green hills on the other side were familiar.

What the...? Guess whether Erik had any interest in climbing that building.

We walked and walked and walked some more, talking about our kids and our goals and our future, trading all kinds of great ideas and acquainting ourselves with the entire city of Lisbon. Then to dinner at an Indian restaurant.

SINTRA
30 kilometers outside of Lisbon, a green mountain town by the ocean, home to fairy tale palaces, crumbling castles and the cutest cobblestone streets. One of our favorite cities in Europe... or anywhere in the world we've seen!

Pena Castle, a delightful hodgepodge of colors and shapes, perched atop a giant foresty mountain

So much about this is scary.

Big cities are fun every once in awhile, but being near trees and rolling hills and ocean and sky fills our souls.

If Sleeping Beauty had been a Moor, this would have been her castle

Painted tiles all over the exteriors of buildings all over Portugal.

Hiking down from the palace to the crumbing Moorish fortress ruins. Note sweet Erik carrying my purse for me.

Nothing says "American tourist" like running shoes with jeans. I will never forget that hike and that view (and I was glad I wasn't wearing heels or even cute little ballet flats! I'll take dorky but comfy!).

This site was still in process of excavation - they recently found lots of 11th century graves

One of our favorite days and favorite places ever. Thanks for the recommendation, Elayne and Noelle!!

And another Indian restaurant. Erik is convinced he doesn't like Spanish or Portuguese food, so we always go with the highest-rated non-Iberian restaurant on Trip Advisor. Actually the Indian food in Portugal has been amazing.

And here is an email from our dear babysitter at home. My recently empty-feeling bucket is now full to overflowing.

Hi Amy!

Everything is doing great over here! Lindsay and Lucy are helping me with Stone and Sophie putting them to bed, they take turns scratching their backs and singing to them. And specially Lindsay helps a lot cleaning without me telling her to do it.

Sophie misses you so much, but she is always happy to play with Stone o to do some art. She helped me a lot teaching Stone some Spanish. They loved the books you bought!!

Stone is up and down with his Spiderman suit! He says that nothing hurts everytime their sisters punch his cushioned arms and chest.

They always are constantly showing love to each other, its really easy to take care of them!

Right now we are at the Maria Luisa park. Its sunny though there is cold air. Lucy and Stone are playing in their "club house" tree and Sophie and Lindsay are next to me waiting in the sun, making each others a portrait, respecting that Lucy and Stone want to stay for a while, since its kind of chilly.

I hope you are enjoying your trip!

Besos,

Carolina

A week with the Clarkes

Ari, Lindsay, Avery, Lucy and Asher in 2005

LIndsay, Avery, Ari, Lucy and Asher in 2012

I hugged the Clarke kids goodbye last night and went into the kitchen and cried as I washed the dishes. I remember a similar night weeping as I washed dishes 6 years ago when Pete graduated from Business School and they moved off campus. I love those kids so much – they are like cousins, and the thought of not having them in our house and in our lives makes me so sad. They are settled in Amsterdam and not planning to move back to the States, so we have vowed to meet again for a vacation some day.

We arrived home from Granada on Monday, and the week flew by!! It was amazingly not stressful to have 12 people in the house - Lucy and the twins would disappear into one room; Lindsay and Avery into another; Sophie would float between groups (causing some friction, but not too bad), and Stone and Aaron jousted joyfully with foam ninja swords and clubs, played Lego Star Wars, and ran around together every day without a single argument.

Memorable Moments, some with photos, some not:

• I led a walking tour around some major attractions – it was fun to synthesize the info I’d heard and read and show them some of my favorite places, including climbing La Giralda Tower

• We loved their participation in our morning walk to school, and Ari came with me both days to pick Stone up

• Eating at our favorite every-day restaurants: Aladdin’s Jordanian and Mr. Pizza. Sharing our regular lives here was really fun.

• Pete working out at Cross Fit with Erik

• The Festival of the Nations, near our house. Like a travelling fair with booths from all of over the world, and the kids’ favorite part: the bungee trampolines.

I didn't pose the kids - I just saw them trying to imitate this statue at the Egypt booth

There was no line waiting for the bungee trampolines, so the workers let all the kids jump for free and let them stay on for 15 minutes each!

Eating in the Italian restaurant that we always see across the street from the kids’ school (that has a photo of Tom Cruise and Cameron Diaz eating there – apparently they filmed part of a movie in Seville and ate there). The food was good, but the atmosphere was really special – it’s down some steps into a converted ancient Arab Bath House.

It's a shame this picture didn't turn out better - We saw a Flameco show, featuring a different guitarist, singer and dancer than we saw last time. It was one woman dancer, and she was INCREDIBLE!!! It was interesting to see a totally different personality – the other dancers’ performances were much more internal, with pained facial expressions and explosive, almost aggressive movement. This latest one was still powerful and confident, but she also expressed a lot of joy and some flirtatious moves that I hadn’t seen before. And that guitarist’s fingers!!! I wished my brother Scott (he’s a guitarist) could have been there seeing it with me.

• Churros con chocolate, homemade ice cream, long walks around our city (it does feel like "our" city!!).

• Aaron helping me make chicken curry, peeling carrots, setting the table, clearing the table, giving me little kisses and hugs and constantly holding my hand. I told Pete he could leave him with me if he wanted, but they seem to like him too.

• Beautiful sunny weather for the first two days, then a downpour – ceiling dripping water into rapidly-filling buckets, lightning illuminating the skylight, all of us soaking wet as we kept going out when the sky would clear and then get caught in the storm coming back.

We had been saving the multi-person bikes through Maria Luisa Park for the Clarkes’ visit – we walked to the Plaza de España (above) and took some pictures, and then as some drops began to fall we rented the bikes and began our half-hour. It was SO FUN!!! We raced each other, took turns letting the kids drive on the sly (not supposed to do that) and got soaking wet. Then walked home in the rain.

Raindrops beginning to fall...

Sophie took this picture of the park as we sped past in the downpour

Sophie loves walking in the rain!! She got home and hopped in the tub in her clothes - they were already soaked so it didn't matter, and she thought it was hilarious!

The kids have always loved doing Art projects with the Clarkes, and again it was fun to see how much creativity could result from a long table full of plain white paper and lots of markers. Stone has had almost no interest in doing Art (as noted by his school teacher)…. Until he saw Aaron drawing pictures!! Suddenly he was intrigued, and right off the bat he produced the most amazing drawing of our whole family plus bungee trampolines! I’ll post a picture of it later – my favorite part are Erik’s arms made of lots of circles – “These are your huge muscles, Dad!” 

A popcorn and movie night last night (why, oh why did I not grab my phone to snap a picture to bring this post full circle from the top photo!! They were even sitting on a green couch!!) and then sad hugs good-bye.

OH!! And two more things from this week:

1. Yesterday Erik and Pete arrived home from Crossfit in a downpour. They rushed into the house to get out of the rain, and Erik quickly rescued the papers from his soaked backpack, then stepped back outside to bring his bike in…. and his bike was gone!!! Stolen, within 5 minutes, right as it was tipped against our house by our front door. We had heard about bike theft in Sevilla, so we are always careful to lock them up – but so fast and nearly in front of our eyes!! We couldn't believe it. Erik was calm and philosophical about it, and I reminded that Jean Valjean had been a thief too, and maybe the bike thief had stolen it because he was in desperate need or was helping someone else. Who knows? And we might as well assume the best and be forgiving. But it really stunk that it happened. It was not a cheap bike, and Erik is the only one in our family who rides it multiple times every single day. L He took a taxi out in the storm to buy a new one last night, and rode home with 6 pairs of rain boots and matching umbrellas in his backpack.

2. Stone continued with regular school this week, and it seems that we got over the hump again! I pick him up “extra early,” which means he sees me there waiting for him as he comes out for recess, and his answer to “how was your day?” has been “AWESOME” for two days in a row. On Wednesday his teacher was beaming and told me that he did his work much better, and when he colored a whole tree’s worth of leaves on his coloring page, the whole class applauded. I still have things to say about the exclusive valuing of fine-motor skills for preschoolers, but I’ll hold my tongue and feel over the moon grateful for a smiling teacher and an applauding classroom for my Stoney!! He was just thrilled.

Weekend Trip: Granada

And now, a quiz.

1. The Catholic Kingdom of Spain conquered the Islamic Moorish-held city of Granada in the year 1492 (same year as when Ferdinand and Isabel sent Columbus out), after how many years of Moorish rule?

a) 50, so Muslim Arab culture hadn't really settled in

b) 250, roughly the same amount of time as America has existed, so there is still a faint trace of Arab culture even after this long

c) 400, and Arab culture still persists to this day

d) 800, so imagine a kingdom lasting from the year 1212 until now

2. What are some of the highlights of Granada?

a) The Alhambra - a massive Arab fortress containing four sultans' palaces and extensive gardens

b) The Cathedral and Royal Chapel where Ferdinand and Isabella are buried, and many gory statues which frighten children 

c) The winding, narrow Moorish quarter where you can buy a prayer rug and smoke a hookah pipe and forget you're in Europe

d) Whitewashed caves on a hillside where gypsies have lived for 600 years

3. What does the word "Granada" mean?

a) Grenade

b) Fields of grain

c) Pomegranate

d) "Nothing, Grandma."

4. How was the Allebests' and Clarkes' trip to Granada indeed like a grenade?

a) Because the amount of dog doo on our children's shoes made the fathers of both families want to plan a military attack on the city

b) Because certain members of the family accidentally pulled the pin out of the weekend and it was a ticking time bomb - they shaped up and put the pin in in the nick of time before we all blew to high Heaven

c) Actually no one put the pin back in, and we were each our own grenade and we launched ourselves repeatedly, blasting tears and yelled words at enemy and innocent civilian alike

d) Because the sides of our rental car were torn to shreds resembling post-grenade shrapnel by the narrowness of the streets

Answers:

1. d - you can't believe how Middle Eastern Granada feels. Even after 520 years it still feels both Catholic/Spanish and Muslim/Arab.

2. All of the above. So much to see, and in a mountain pine/palm tree tropical landscape of rolling hills that reminded me of our beloved Northern California

3. Granada has two meanings, unrelated, a (grenade) and c (pomegranate). The emblem of the city is the pomegranate, so pomegranate Art is everywhere.

4. Parts of all are true. The weekend felt at times like an exploding bomb. But luckily the dog doo washed off easily, and the car never actually made contact with the sides of buildings, though it was darn close!! At times we only had a couple of inches on both sides, and I'm pretty sure the stress took years off of Erik's life. 

Tempting (and appropriate) though it is to continue with more exploding grenade analogies, I will now compare our trip not to a grenade, but to the other translation of "Granada," a pomegranate. These fruits are some of the most delicious and nutritious and beautiful on earth, but they are a lot of work to eat! A whole lot of weird white pithy stuff to pop out one shiny, ruby red kernel of juice. I don't usually don't take pictures of the gross white stuff moments on the trip, but they are part of the experience so I will mention a few in between the sweet, juicy gems that usually fill the family photo album.

The Clarkes arrived late (1 am) Friday night, and Saturday morning we rented two cars and took off on the 3 hour drive to Granada. It was a beautiful, sunny day ("A clear blue sky!! How long has it been since we've seen a clear blue sky??" exclaimed the Clarkes, who live in Amsterdam). Stone moaned repeatedly from the back seat "Why did you take me here? I want to go back to Seville!! Actually no, I want to go home to California. I'm tired... I'm hungry... I don't want to be here..." It appears that someone in the family has reached travelling capacity. Upon arrival in rainy, cold, mountainous Granada, we entered the narrowest, steepest, bumpiest cobblestone roads we have yet driven (keep in mind - two 7-passenger stick-shift rental vans). I should have taken pictures - we were in real danger of not only destroying the cars, but getting completely wedged in between the buildings!

We finally arrived and dropped our suitcases off - we rented two identical, adjoining apartments, the best feature of which was the loft. At the end of the weekend Stone sobbed "I don't want to leave Granada!!! I hate school in Seville, and I want to live in the attic!!!"

The view from our apartment window. That castle on the hill is the Alhambra!

Aaron, Stone and Sophie walking to lunch/dinner in the pouring rain

What you see in this photo is the pomegranate juice moment. Smiling!  Fun Moroccan restaurant! Otter pops! (The owners are a husband and wife team who live above the restaurant and do all the cooking themselves - they were lovely. They brought the Otter Pops for the kids at the end). What you don't see is the pith of the pomegranate that we had to pick through to get to this smiley moment. Stone and Sophie literally would not leave my lap all through the meal, wouldn't eat the food, cried, whined, were banished from the table, etc. Travelling is really so hard on them - they were doing their best but these circumstances (not enough sleep, very little control over their world, constant transitions from one place and activity to another, unknown place and activity) set them up to struggle. And they have not mastered the skill of struggling quietly.

Day-time tours of the Alhambra palaces sold out weeks in advance, so I had set up a night-time tour. Erik told me there was no chance he would take Stone on the tour (it started at 7:30, so that was a good call)... so Erik stayed home with him and the rest of us set out in the rain to walk to the Alhambra.

That group ahead is us - I was speechless at the beauty around us - it reminded me of Muir Woods, (North of San Francisco), one of my favorite places on Earth.

We arrived at the fortress at sunset - the camera didn't capture it but the sky was brilliantly pink and orange!

The ancient Arab palaces were lit up by warm-glowing lights. Every inch of ceiling and walls was covered in elaborate Islamic carving of flowers, geometric patterns and Arabic script.

We wished we knew more about the people who lived here... not just the sultans but the artisans who created these masterpieces. We always look at man-made artifacts from history and wonder whose hands made them and what their lives were like. You could almost feel their ghosts in the room...

Such a wet, drippy, beautiful night

Late night walk home - this was the street our apartment was on, in the middle of the old Muslim Quarter called the Albaycin

Night-night in the loft!

This was the view out the other window of the apartment - note that that is the building across the "street" - SO narrow!!

Lindsay and Lucy slept in the attic; Erik and Stone slept in the bedroom downstairs, and Sophie and I shared a small futon. After such a busy, exhausting day, she slept really, really soundly and we woke up at 5 am in a puddle. :)

Kids woke up (Erik slept in until I woke him up at 9:30! He was chronically underslept) and we all found a breakfast restaurant that could accommodate our rowdy party of 12. Most memorable moment: Stone gulping a huge mouthful of mango smoothie and then promptly spitting it out all over his shirt. "It has hairs in it!!!" The mangoes were stringy.

We planned to go back to the Alhambra to tour the fortress and gardens, but got lost trying to get to the entrance. - it was a very far walk and we ended up going far out of the way (note to World Heritage Site organizers: put up more signs!!). I was the person in charge, having planned this excursion for 12 people, and I get very stressed out when I plan activities and so badly want everything to go perfectly. Add to that my terrible sense of direction and put me in the role of navigator and then add in 500 x more whining from the children than usual and Erik's bad attitude about seeing old stuff and reminding me that I told him we were going to hire babysitters and not take the kids to places they can't enjoy because they ruin it for everyone and throw all of that into my expectations of what it would be like to finally see the Alhambra after years of imagining it... it was my #1 place I was excited to see in Spain... and I had an exploding grenade moment. The Clarkes got to know me better than they had before! 

Me piggybacking Stone up the hill trying to find the right entrance. Cute Aaron is holding onto my elbow. He and I are buddies. Unfortunately this photo was taken just a few moments before I turned into a mini "granada" and sent everyone away so they wouldn't get blown to bits.

But of course, I got no time alone. Stone cried to be with me, so I spent about 25 minutes on a bench with him on my lap while everyone else went on without us. I got a grip and decided to salvage the rest of the day, and caught up with the group to find that Erik had organized them into a game of Simon Says. He is a great husband and dad - I guess all this travelling is not just hard on the kids - it also wears down the adults and makes us on edge. Sigh. Some pithy stuff to get to the fruity gems. Sophie was a darling little Simon Says leader.

We pulled it together and hiked around the fortress. I was cheered up by Erik taking the ball and running with it in a positive way, by the beautiful sun, the amazing castle, and more than anything the rolling hills and trees. Oh! And the Sierra Nevadas had snow on them! It was like being in Colorado where I grew up, and California where my heart is, as well as ancient Europe. And with my dear family and friends. Deep breath. Pop in a whole handful of those delicious pomegranate seeds and taste that tart, sweet juice.

The city below the fortress

Spirit-healing landscape, with snow-capped mountains in the background (they look like clouds)

Kids love to climb and run and explore and be free

We are trying to not think about when we'll see each other next. These friends haven't gone more than a month without seeing each other since they were 2 years old

The walk back to the city - that is Sophie on the sidewalk on the left, chasing a floating seed pod down the tiny river

Shopping in the Arab Quarter near our apartment.

Alycia, Avery, Lindsay, Sophie and I wanted to go to the Royal Chapel to see where Ferdinand and Isabella were buried (and the sword and crown!) and out for pastries and hot chocolate. We were so sad that no photos were allowed in the Chapel, but Sophie and I pledged to remember it always. We had been so excited to see it after reading "Isabella of Castille" and it was everything we hoped for. When I think back on it my main memory is of her little hand in my hand and her face against my face, looking through the glass.

Erik and Stone walked to the grocery store to pick up sandwich stuff - we couldn't bear to take everyone to another restaurant

Our apartments shared a courtyard in the back

That night after sandwiches, Aaron fell asleep early and Erik and I turned a movie on for the big kids while Alycia and Pete went out to dinner and to a Hammam (a hot tub/cold plunge/steam room in an authentic ancient Arab bath house. They use swimsuits now). They said it was wonderfully relaxing! And Erik and I got to chill out and talk, which was much needed.  

The next morning, a long, loooong, looooooong walk to the Gypsy Caves of Sacromonte. Erik had gone on a long, gorgeous run early that morning; I had stayed home and listened to whining, crying and temper tantrums, so I told Erik he was in charge for the day. Thankfully he stepped up again like a champion and told the kids that the "Gypsy Cave" story was all a front for the true story - there are vampires that live in the Granada Hills.

Climbing farther and farther up the hill, the sun getting hotter and hotter, again no signs to show the way and Google Maps on our phones not much help

Finally we arrived! A humble little museum at the top of a cactus-covered mountain, showing what life was like for the residents of the Sacromonte Caves 100 years ago. Gypsies have been living here (they still do live nearby) for hundreds of years.

Shacks on the hillside, and the Alhambra on the opposite hill on the left. Looking at it now I am having a lot more compassion for the kids' complaining about the walking. Our apartment was way over there by the castle, so those sweeties walked all that way.

After the caves the kids were famished. We found this amazingly decorated Moroccan Restaurant. Stone loved the Chess set.

The food quality was inversely proportionate to the ambience quality. The falafel was pre-frozen and microwaved (then burned on a grill) and the milkshakes tasted like goat. But such a fun place to sit and talk, and Lucy was the only one to cry during that hour!

We trudged back up the hill, packed our car and piled into the cars... and then Lucy had a complete and utter hysterical meltdown, and then we got lost among the labyrinthine dead-end streets and were in the white-knuckle midst of a 100-point turn-around when an angel from Heaven appeared (the man who had checked us into our apartment) and offered to get our car un-wedged and back up the hill. We were so grateful!! Our blood pressure eventually returned to normal, I made PBJ sandwiches for the gaggle of kids in the car with my finger (we forgot the knife), and we arrived "home."

Granadas take patience and determination to eat, but those seeds are really really delicious!! (Remaining question: how do you get one of those pomegranate seed packages like at Costco where someone else has already done the work and you just eat the good part? Maybe that's called a nanny.)