Weekend Wrap Ups

The last two weekends have been been pretty slow and easy. We've been enjoying wonderful weather, similar to the best spring days in Texas. Cool enough to open the windows but not too cold to need a jacket. Last week a dust storm blew through Doha which makes for a pretty rotten day but the days following were the coolest we've had thus far. And the air cleared up pretty fast. So last weekend we spent a lot of time hanging outside. After eating at our favorite breakfast spot on Saturday, "Ric's Country Kitchen" we drove the cornich (bay) and noticed there was speed boat racing. That's all it took for us to make a pit stop. Qataris seem to enjoy daring, risky, high speed sporting...boats, cars, 4 wheelers, etc.

This view is obviously opposite the business area of Doha. What we might call "downtown" but for some reason we don't...in this picture you can see Nick's office building which is green and white (just above the "white water"). Its actually a large building but very small in comparison to the more recent construction.

Brooks hanging on the rocks. The boys LOVED the speed boats.

Just to our left where we were is the world renowned Museum for Islamic Art

Behind where we were watching there are rows and rows of boat slips for dhow boats (pronounced like "chow" but with a "D"). Dhow boats are Middle Eastern boats used primarily for fishing as well as entertainment.



This week I was waiting for Nick as we dropped his car off to be serviced. I couldn't help but take this picture. This is a parking lot. Its hard to describe the actual scene but to the right, there are gas pumps and to left there is a small strip of retail.
All of these cars are coming into the parking lot and cramming each other in to get as close as they can to the retail center. They honk a few times and wait for a man to come out and take their order for hot tea. No kidding. The idea is similar to Sonic but much more chaotic! Crazy mad people, driving wherever there is enough space, blocking other cars and honking for a small cup of hot tea at about 11am on a Monday morning.
I don't get it but apparently its pretty good tea.

This weekend was lots of fun and also relaxing. I guess I've been taking a break with my camera so I missed getting some pictures. The Bees had Jacob and Isaac sleepover on Thursday. We wanted to treat their Mommy, Jackie on her birthday. We spent Friday afternoon at a Canadian cancer research fundraising race and event (similar to Susan G Komen).

THEN...We had a child-free night out at an amazing restaurant, The Spice Market at the W Hotel. We did some celebratin' of our own with Jackie for her birthday.

Birthday girl with her new Red Plate.


Finally, we wrapped up our weekend by staying home all day Saturday. We did a little organizing and more importantly we tested out our monitors for baby Georgia. Brooks has been begging me to do this, because he thought they were walkie-talkies. The boys never fully understood the concept even after testing.
Barrett's waiting to hear something but he's on the wrong end.

Turns out our American Graco monitors work perfectly, even with converters, adapters and cement walls! I hope I have the smile Brooks does in the weee hours of the night when I hear a little something through the monitor :)