Thursday, September 24, 2009

Staycation at the Intercon

This week has been a national/worldwide holiday for Muslims. The 4 weeks of Ramadan ended last weekend when Mecca saw the moon and the end is always celebrated by a 3 day holiday, Eid. All businesses close, therefore Nick had 3 days off connected to a weekend. Last minute, we decided to take a little "staycation" here in Doha. We spent 3 nights at the Intercontinental Hotel. Mostly enjoyed the pool, beach and doing absolutely nothing. Nothing in terms of no cleaning, cooking and thinking :) Pretty sure my favorite part was rolling out of bed and eating breakfast at the incredible buffet. Not only were the homemade omeletts and crepes amazing but a true vacation means not making breakfast for little people. Then at the end of our staycation we just jumped in our car and drove home. Not sure why we don't do this in the US. The boys LOVED it, plus some of our good friends the Duncans, had the same idea so we spent some family time with them as well.

Ocean view out our window into the Persian Gulf

Should it have rained (impossible) Brooks and Barrett could have played simply in our hotel room all day. Here's Brooks working, making calls and taking notes. That desk became a fort and the dishware was quickly a restaurant.

Pool time


Macie and Bear with their gear

Love the Ramadan decor everywhere in Doha ;) They decorate for Ramadan like we do for Christmas in terms of going ALL OUT.
The boys and I before heading out for dinner at Fuddruckers.

After Fudd's we hit the Pearl...similar to the Palm in Dubai. High end shopping, restaurants, hotels, apartments and just a cool atmosphere for strolling around day or night.
Kids in the Pearl's little taxis.

Daddy and the boys

Bees and Macie

Duncan and Junod kiddos

Unbelievable boats that are docked at the Pearl



Beach time at the hotel


The little Mister ordering poolside pasta everyday for lunch.

Kiddos playing on the hotel playground...this hotel really was perfect for the boys.

Junod men and Doha's buisness district/downtown in the background.


Movie watching on the beach our last night




Going...

GONE!

The boys didn't take naps for 3 straight days. So bedtime was a cinch!
Now back to reality and routine.

6 comments:

Sharon said...

Tell me where that resort is in the US and I'll take a "staycation" any day of the week! Ha! I know what you mean, but being there made it sure "look" like you were on vacay!! Just a hop skip and jump away from that means you should do that more often for sure! Love the pics!

shannonmichaelis said...

I miss the Intercontinental! Looks like a blast, and I love the falling asleep photos in the bed. The breakfast buffet sounds heavenly - why did we not do that again? So fun to have friends there as well.

Hillary Kouba said...

How fun is that! I'm ready for one of those!

angie said...

What a great idea!! It looks so FUN. I also love the sleepy boys pictures. There's something about a clean tired child that melts my heart. I hope you have a great weekend.

Shannon said...

SO FUN! I love the idea of just getting away somewhere close and spending time together as a family. Perfect! Your boys (all three of them!) look so happy. So glad you guys had such a great time.

Ashley Hall said...

Great pics and what I would give for a stay-cay right now!! Looks like the boys had a blast!