Letter to Santa

The boys were getting tired after leaving Katara, but I wanted to show my dad the Pearl while we were so close by.  It's a high end retail and housing area right on the water lined with yachts.  Truly spectacular, but the boys were pooped.  We only made it to the Ferrari and Maserati store ... the boys were done for the day.  Before leaving the store, Jaden found a "really cool teddy bear" that he "had to have."  It was a generic teddy bear, nothing special, except it was wearing a Ferrari jacket.  So of course it cost a fortune!!!  I told him no that I wouldn't buy him a 400 riyal teddy bear (over $100).  He was most distraught!  Being tired certainly didn't help me here.  So we went home and he was on a one track mind for the the rest of the night.  He just had to have that bear.  He decided he was going to have another art sale and save up for the bear. 

Then the following morning, I wake him up for school and he pulls out a note from under his pillow.  Apparently he woke up in the middle of the night (4:10 according to Jaden), found paper and pencil from the room my dad was sleeping in, went to the downstairs bathroom so he wouldn't wake anyone up, and wrote a note to Santa Claus!! 

Here is his note asking Santa for 400 riyals (so he can buy that silly bear) ... enjoy the spelling!!

Dear Sanacos (Dear Santa Claus) Pes giv me 400 (Please give me 400 riyal)
Love Jaden

Katara

We started our Saturday morning at swimming lessons.  Jaden has graduated from Level 2 to Level 3/4 and I can’t wait to see his progress.  Nicholas still needs to gain a bit of confidence, but he will get there soon enough.

Nicholas entertains himself with my camera while waiting for Jaden's swim class to finish

After swimming lessons we took Papa to Katara.  The boys wanted to play on the beach playground, so that’s where we started.  Wish I had remembered to take pictures … they had a great time playing on the playground while we watched from outside the fence.  Kids are free, adults cost nearly $7 per person to enter … didn’t see any reason I couldn’t supervise from the fence.  (Maybe I’m just cheap.)  The boys enjoyed playing outside on a glorious day and then we wandered around Katara … a cultural village.  It’s a fairly new part of town designed to look historical with the intention of preserving art and culture of the middle east.  It’s really pretty, but not much to do except look at architecture and eat. 

The boys in the ampitheater

In front of "Harnessing the World" statue

Would be really cool to see a show here ... wish I could ever find a schedule of events!

Traditional dhow boat historically used for pearl diving, now tourism

The Golden Mosque ... is it real gold?  Don't know.  Sure does glitter pretty!

Ahoy mateys!

   
We found a delicious Egyptian restaurant with bread being made right next to us and I was able to order Kosheri – one of my new favorite dishes!

Lady making bread right next to our table.  Yummy!!

Qatar Car Show

So this posting is for any guys that follow my blog.  Ken took my dad to the Qatar Motor Show this weekend while I stayed home with the boys.  Apparently you have to be 12 years old to attend the car show.  Forgive me if I get some of the names of the cars wrong, I tried to remember what Ken told me … this is just a small sampling of what they saw…

Aston Martin

Bertone Nuccio - it's the only one in the world and goes for 3M Euro (roughly $4M)

Bugatti Vitesse

Ferrari

A concept car called Hypersport (might be my personal favorite)

Lamborghini

Shelby

Mclaren

       

MIA

While the boys were in school, I took my dad to the Museum of Islamic Art (MIA).  A free museum located on the water with views of both the old and new parts of downtown Doha.  It was a remarkably beautiful building, but I definitely enjoyed the building and views more than the actual exhibits.  We saw a lot of pottery, calligraphy, Korans, and astrolabes (ancient tools for mathematicians and astronomers).  I think the ancient Muslims used them to determine the direction of Mecca, now they use an app on their iPhone.  :-)

Here’s dad in front of the museum.  It’s designed to look like an Arabic woman with her face covered and just her eyes show.  Can you see it?

   

Another view of the museum with the fountains in front…

This is the main entrance to the museum looking up.  So pretty!

This is that same area, looking down on the circular light and staircase.  Stunning!

Here is another fountain inside the museum in the cafe.  View out the window is of all the skyscrapers downtown.

So if the museum is designed to be an Arabic woman wearing her Abaya, and looking up in the center of the museum would be her head ….

Then what are these straight down from where her head and chest would be?  Really??  Not very subtle!

And here are two views from the museum grounds.  It was a bit hazy, but in one direction are some dhow boats and the Emir’s palace (place of business, not residence) in the background, and the other direction are the sky scrapers.

     

Torch and Villagio

The boys wanted to take Papa back to 360 - the fancy restaurant at the top of the torch tower that revolves while you dine.  So lunch at the torch followed by a leisurely stroll through the Villagio mall including a gondola ride and ending with a 3D movie.  A great Saturday for sure! 

All dressed up for lunch at the torch.  Piano playing in the background

Silly poses in front of Ferrari parked at the Torch

Happy faces when Daddy says he will buy the boys a Ferrari



Nicholas' reaction when he realized Daddy was only joking!

 

Gondola ride at Villagio mall

 

Drag races

After church on Friday morning, we went to check out the drag races.  We weren't sure what to expect, so we packed some snacks and headed to the race track.  Turns out it was completely free!!  We were maybe the 4th car in the lot and had the stands nearly all to ourselves!!  We watched motorcycles, street cars, and dragsters.  We saw cars blow their engines, nearly crash into the side wall, and parachutes open at the end of the track.  Cars and bikes were from Qatar, UAE, Kuwait, Saudi, and even a few from the US.  I've never been to drag races before and must admit, it was pretty fun to watch!!  The boys are a bit sensitive to loud noises and wore their hearing protection off and on, but they loved it!  After a few hours, it wasn't holding their interest anymore and the stands were starting to fill up, so we made our exit.  All in all, a great afternoon ... and again, totally free!!

Dragsters ready to race

Having fun at the drag races!

 

Papa West has landed!

After school on Thursday, the boys and I headed to the airport to pick up Papa West.  I brought dinner for the boys (not much food available in the arrivals terminal of the airport).  After they finished dinner, they were happy to play on the iPad and iPhone while waiting for Papa to clear immigration and customs.  What did our parents do without apple products to entertain us for hours??

Waiting for Papa's arrival...
 

Papa's here!