Happy New Year, everyone! We had a great time ringing in the new year, even though we were in bed before midnight. We went to some friends' from church for a little party. They are from the UK. I made some egg nog to bring (I haven't seen any here except one carton of shelf stable stuff and that's not worth buying for any price). The hosts had never had it! I didn't realize that egg nog is mostly an American thing. So I'm glad I brought it. It's fun to share traditions with other people and experience their traditions.
Big E and Miss A did wonderfully. We stayed until 11. Can you believe that they stayed up that late? Miss A fell asleep in the car on the way there; so Steve stayed with her to let her sleep. He said that he took her outside at one point and she fell asleep again. Big E on the other hand stayed awake the whole time. He enjoyed watching cartoons on the TV and running around with the other kids. But mostly he just watched cartoons. I'm glad we dont' keep the TV on all the time and that Big E is only allowed one show. Otherwise I think he'd want to watch all day and not do anything.
The rest of the break since Christmas we've done a few things around the town/country. One day we went to Al Dhalouf Park in Al Ruwais, which is a town on the norther tip of the country. Here's a map of where it is. It's about an hour away from us, but it was nice to get out of the house and see something different. The park was very nice and right next to the ocean. It's not an amusement park, because those, of course, are in doors. There was grass and beautiful trees and flowers. If you stood facing the ocean, you'd think you were in paradise, but you'd soon be reminded that Qatar is no tropical paradise when you turned the other way and looked toward town.
But the kids enjoyed playing on the equipment which included things to play in the sand.
Then we walked out to a marooned Dhow. The sand was so high that during low tide we walked on mostly wet sand all the way to the Dhow.
On the left side of the picture below you can see a break in the tree line. There are some columns there and that is where the park is. We walked from there to the boat which is to the right of this picture.
A few days ago we went to the Corniche and went on a boat ride. If you ask Big E what he saw on the ride he'd tell you, "We saw an island with a tree and black birds on it!" It was fun and Big E really enjoyed it. And yes, he is wearing shorts. It's that warm on New Years Day. :) I don't mind that at all.
Wednesday, Steve and I went to see The Hobbit at Villagio. (Villagio is one of the many malls here. It's made to look a bit like Venice. The ceiling is arched and painted with clouds; the stores have an outdoor store front. It even has a gondola ride. If you read any news about Qatar in May, you might have heard that there was a fire at this mall. It made new because common safety precautions were either not there or failed to work.) Anyway, we both enjoyed the movie and dinner at the food court. Well it tasted good, but I got sick from it that night. :( won't be eating at Attila Mongolian Grill again. I'm just glad that Steve was home to take care of the kids.
We've had a good two and a half weeks with Steve home. Starting Sunday Steve goes back to work and I've got kids coming again, and we'll be back to the normal routine.
Big E and Miss A did wonderfully. We stayed until 11. Can you believe that they stayed up that late? Miss A fell asleep in the car on the way there; so Steve stayed with her to let her sleep. He said that he took her outside at one point and she fell asleep again. Big E on the other hand stayed awake the whole time. He enjoyed watching cartoons on the TV and running around with the other kids. But mostly he just watched cartoons. I'm glad we dont' keep the TV on all the time and that Big E is only allowed one show. Otherwise I think he'd want to watch all day and not do anything.
The rest of the break since Christmas we've done a few things around the town/country. One day we went to Al Dhalouf Park in Al Ruwais, which is a town on the norther tip of the country. Here's a map of where it is. It's about an hour away from us, but it was nice to get out of the house and see something different. The park was very nice and right next to the ocean. It's not an amusement park, because those, of course, are in doors. There was grass and beautiful trees and flowers. If you stood facing the ocean, you'd think you were in paradise, but you'd soon be reminded that Qatar is no tropical paradise when you turned the other way and looked toward town.
But the kids enjoyed playing on the equipment which included things to play in the sand.
Then we walked out to a marooned Dhow. The sand was so high that during low tide we walked on mostly wet sand all the way to the Dhow.
On the left side of the picture below you can see a break in the tree line. There are some columns there and that is where the park is. We walked from there to the boat which is to the right of this picture.
A few days ago we went to the Corniche and went on a boat ride. If you ask Big E what he saw on the ride he'd tell you, "We saw an island with a tree and black birds on it!" It was fun and Big E really enjoyed it. And yes, he is wearing shorts. It's that warm on New Years Day. :) I don't mind that at all.
We've had a good two and a half weeks with Steve home. Starting Sunday Steve goes back to work and I've got kids coming again, and we'll be back to the normal routine.
2 comments:
It does look like paradise. Glad there is somewhere to go with trees. and the dhow looks cool.
Looks like fun! Glad we got to chat for a bit!
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