Ash and Shan visit Doha (part 2)

This is part 2 of our week with Ashley and Shannon. We had such an awesome time. I enjoy having visitors for the obvious reasons but also because we do unusual and entertaining activities. To start off our weekend Ashley, Shannon and I spent an entire day and evening at the Intercontinental Hotel. It was such a treat for all of us. One of my best friends here, Donna kept the boys so we could spend the day at the pool an beach. Then Nick took over Daddy duty after work. Thank you to both of you!

Who posts full length swim suit pictures? ugh!
But I had to...that skyline is pretty interesting. At least 1/2 of those buildings are under construction.


After a day in the sun we took a quick drive over to see the Pearl before the sun went down. The Pearl is Doha's version of the Palm in Dubia. Hot spot for high end shopping, eating, walking, people watching, etc. Its very much under construction but still beautiful and will be even more amazing when its finished. Let's hope we're long gone by then.

Shannon getting ready for dinner.

Incredible arrangement in the lobby...



After dinner at an amazing Italian restaurant we skipped back over to the Pearl for coffee and a little Doha nightlife. Ha! Doha stays up late but the atmosphere is very tame and calm which is nice. Alcohol is only served in hotel restaurants so coffee shops are packed for socializing. We were some of the only westerners but it was fun and a beautiful night. This is the taxi that took us from the parking lot to the area of shopping and restaurtants.



This was our favorite advertisement at the Pearl..."I'd like to buy that"

Most of the time we acted our age...Posers.

Doesn't this look like a place for running...

After a great night sleep at the Intercon without a sweet 3 year old standing at my bedside, we enjoyed breakfast at Johnny Rockets and then went home to pack for a full adventurous day. Started our day with camel rides. Shan and Ash jumped on and headed off for their ride when Barrett started literally crying for "Aunt Sissy" (Ash). So Barrett and I jumped on as well.






Shani and the falcon. I wasn't going near that bird considering my lack of fondness for the devil"ish" animal. Shannon looks great! Falcons are used for hunting in Qatar.

After the petting zoo :) we hit the dunes. Our friends, the Duncans joined us as well as co-worker friend of Nick's. Fortunately for us, Nick's co-worker is well experienced in dune bashing. Well we didn't really bash but we went over some freaking steep dunes. Let's just say there were white knuckles and screaming in our car.

Proof that Nick was around....

After we gave Ash a little car sickness we finally arrived at the inland sea. Saudi on the other side. Unfortunately it wasn't very sunny and the rain ran us off. But we were still able to spend a couple hours in the water and on the beach.




Donna...my Doha Sister!


I love this picture of Bear laughing so hard. Shannon was his mommy while Nick and I came to visit Doha on our pre-assignment trip . They have a little something special between the two of them.

We spent our last afternoon at the pool and enjoying blizzards.
Don't ever assume we don't have the real DQ here in Doha.

Bear loves him some "Aunt Sissy"


This pics describes our evening perfectly...chaos while we grilled burgers and had fun in the kitchen.

Thank you Ash and Shan for an incredible week. I will remember and treasure it forever! The boys will too. Oh and Nick is probably the most thankful, otherwise he might have a crazy homesick wife! I can survive 6 more weeks like a champ!