Desert and Airport Runs

I loaded up the kids this morning for an early morning airport run. It's not just real often that I see Doha in all its glory at 5:30am with the sun bouncing off the bay. It was a beautiful site, not unlike the beautiful Qatari deserts that we trekked through yesterday on our last day with Shea, Dustin, and Kristi.

Shooting pics through the window of the Land Cruiser

Since it was Shea's first visit to the desert, we treated him to dune bashing* and camel riding that every new visitor to the area must experience.

The only thing missing was Kayla :(

Our resident pirate ~ doesn't every family have one?

Great family, great fun~See you on the flip side kids!

*We use Arabian Adventures for dune bashing

(974) 4436 1461

Related posts:
Dune Bashing or Sand Blasting?
A True Desert Experience

(The above posts have more in depth coverage of the experience)

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Kristi Recap

My partner in crime, Kristi, departed Doha this morning, but not without a last request of chocolate chip pancakes for a 5:00 a.m. breakfast reservation. I obliged and am still trying to sort out if that appeasal equals to supermom or super spoiled. I report, you decide. Even though we had no tiger sightings, we had one heck of a whirlwind week. We did it all from facials to picnics on the corniche (in front of famous buildings, no less) to jeep cruising with the top off, WTA tennis, Doha Tribecca Film Festival, and not without tons of great food. It was a special week and we hated to see her leave, but we were running out of money. Smile. Thanks for the memories, Kristi!

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Christmas Reflections

Bless your pea pickin' hearts, another family slide show for your viewing pleasure. Where did the phrase pea pickin' come from, anyway? Well if you claim to know me, you know that you'll know before this post is over! So without any further adieu, pop the corn, sit back, relax, and enjoy our Christmas memories.


And the answer is: Wikipedia attributes the phrase to Tennessee Ernie Ford. "He earned the nickname "The Ol' Pea-Picker" due to his catch-phrase, "Bless your pea-pickin' heart!" He began using the term during his disc jockey days on KXLA." So now you have the rest of the story.

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It Was Fun While It Lasted

Sadly for me, this is the last installment under the label "Kids' Christmas Visit 2008". I have to say the times we shared together has exceeded my expectations. If we had all lived under the same roof in the states, we would never have gotten so much visiting in. We all went to the Qatar Open last night for our last hurrah. It was exciting enough that I'm glad that I originally purchased tickets for the wrong date for the kids. David and I have decided that we're ready to go back for some more action. Kristi snagged autographs from Roger Federer and reigning world champion, Rafael Nadal with the help of an avid tennis fan seated next to us. Thanks, Asma! Kristi has a friend back in Austin that plays tennis for St. Edwards to whom she is going to bestow her signed tennis ball. Now, she wants me to do the same for her tonight. David doesn't make as good a partner in crime as she, so I'm not so sure that will happen. As you can see, you're never too far away from camels in this country, as they even attend the tennis tournaments. And one knows that you cannot pass up photo ops with camels!


It's been a great ten plus days kids, but as they say "All good things must end". We are so happy that you joined us to make our holidays extra special. A special thank you is also in order for Ryan. He was such a trooper in handling everything that was thrown his way. Last but not least, thank YOU, THE READERS for joining us on our family adventures. It's always more fun when you are here with us. Ciao!

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This Is It

This is it...the last hurrah. The kids will be heading to the airport late tonight for their early 1:30am departure. Yesterday was rather mild with a stroll in the mall (a few handstands thrown in), dinner at TGI Fridays, and a trip to the souvie shop for last minute postcards and trinkets. The kids got excited when they saw a display of WESTAR watches on display, a reminder of Ryan's prize for his outstanding water chugging feat from the night before. Oh, we did order Burger King delivery for lunch, so that Ryan could experience the thrill of the BK car driving up to our doorstep. After a late night game of scrabble and declaring Kayla, Word Queen, David and I called it a night. This afternoon we'll head to Khalifa Stadium to catch the Qatar Exxon Mobil Open. On tap for our viewing pleasure will be Andy Murray, world champion Rafael Nadal, and Roger Federer. I had originally gotten tickets for Wednesday not realizing the kids would be gone already, but was able to still snag some nice seats for Tuesday. I don't think anyone in our group is a huge tennis fan, but maybe that will change after joining in the action.















Nothing is sacred: Dustin was upset when he found everyone else donning his newly purchased socks because they were too lazy to go upstairs and get their own.


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Mall Fun

We started our afternoon off at Nando's for some Portugese Peri Chicken. It was delicious, from the lentil soup and rolls to the main course espetada. After that, Kayla and I dropped Dustin and Ryan at City Center Mall's ice skating rink while we shopped. Shopping for us mostly consisted of stopping at Eli France for tiramisu and coffee. The dessert and the girl talk were superb. We met up with the boys, again, and stopped at an art exhibit where a Turkish gentleman named Achmet Ali Cochtan was performing an ancient water art technique. We had watched him a few days earlier and were amazed at his skills. He graciously gave me and Kayla a painting each, after we watched him create them. We headed home for what ended up to be a short break and headed back to the mall sans Dustin for a little friendly competition with other local Doha residents sponsored by Fanar. Kayla joined in for a little game of "sit, stand" which was simply following the commands of the emcee. She couldn't quite hang with the abaya clad winner, but I give her big kudos for joining in. Ryan then entered the competition for what turned out to be a mall scavenger hunt. The first request by the host was for a tissue. Most of the contestants came up with the tissue immediately from their own pockets or from friends in the audience, but Ryan flew off the stage running to a local cafe grabbing one off the table, forgetting that he had tissue in his jean pocket. Next, a bag from KFC was the request. I sent Kayla running ahead of time to help out (which was legal), but Ryan thought better of it and sprinted to the KFC at the opposite end of the mall. He was back in a flash beating out Kayla and the other contestants by minutes. During one leg of the competition they actually had to run to Carrefour two floors down to purchase a Chinese pomelo, whatever the heck that is. Sadly, Ryan fell short in the final round by not being the first in retrieving the hula hoop that was tucked away two floors down in the mall. We were proud, however, of his gallant second place effort. Kayla then volunteered herself and ME for the next competition, which format was yet to be announced. After learning our role in the game, I knew it couldn't get any worse. For those that know me and my "zone" ways, know that bananas are a no no. Six bananas were placed in front of each of us to eat. Now, put a tiramisu, or cheese cake in front of me at any given moment and I will forgo the zone, but bananas, what a waste! After eating three and a half bananas and knowing that there was no way I was going to win, thankfully they finally declared a winner. The emcee said that the day before in the competitions, they had donuts and chili...now that, I would have enjoyed! On to the final competition of the evening. Ryan volunteered again, as the emcee was mouthing to him "You don't want to do this one". That seemed to egg Ryan on even more, so the emcee invited him to the stage along with nine other participants. When the object of the game was announced, Ryan looked over to us with a smile and a big thumbs up. Water guzzling was the job on hand. Ryan is known for carrying around a one gallon container of water for constant replenishing, so this had to be fate. As you can see in the picture, Ryan was declared the winner and can now tell you the time with his newly won Westar watch that he proudly displayed for the paparazzi. The video below is Ryan chugging his way to victory :)



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