March 5th: *Dionne arrived at 11pm at the Doha Airport. I was so tired (I'd been up since 2am) that as soon as I showed her her bed, I went to bed!!
March 6th: *Veggie/Fruit Market, *CPC Main Offices, *purchased Dubai tickets, *saw Alex Williamson (I was there when he came into the world, 1 day ago). *Had Fe's special crab dinner and then went swimming. I think this was one of Dionne's favorite activities while she was visiting.
March 7th: *I had school with Ross and Reid, while Dean took Dionne on a mini quick tour of doha and some of his favorite places. *Dionne and I packed for Dubai.
*Once in Dubai we threw our bags in the room and took a taxi to the Dubai Horse Track Very cool. We had the best dinner we EVER had in our lives in the GRANDSTANDS! The horses were nice too, ha! *Went back to the hotel after midnight and watched a Ben Stiller movie, he was a Rabi...someone help me with the name!?! (1am)
March 8th: *Tried to go to Global Village. *Ended up at City Center, bought groceries, clothes and looked at carpets. *Took a taxi to Sharjah, took all afternoon to find the souq we were looking for...Blue Souq. Loved it!! *Also had the perfect cup of mint tea. (picture 1) *Headed to the Gold Souq next and bought SISTER RINGS with camels on them. *Went back the hotel for some Mexican food and later watched another movie as we fell asleep (2am)
March 9th: *Woke at 5am, to walk to the nearest grocery store to purchase some pork to smuggle back into Doha. *Another perfect tea during our free breakfast in the hotel. *Took a taxi ALL THE WAY to the Burj Al Arab (tallest hotel in the world, (picture 2), it was something I've been wanting to see since we moved here. *Headed to the Spice Souq (picture 3), *then airport. *Dean was late in picking us up then drove us around Doha WITH the kids on another mini tour to see some Qatari's palace. *Had homemade pizza for dinner, past out by 8pm.
March 10th: * Swimming, *spend time with Alex Williamson again, *played tennis, *showed Dionne Electricity Street (tailors, framing, clothing warehouse shops) & more *swimming.
March 11th: *Al Shanhania Nursery school field trip, *drove by the camel races (closed until April 6th, but saw some heading for practice, picture 4). *Showed Dionne the Emir's Palace on the way to the grocery store for a quickie lunch of arabic bread and cheese. * Got stuck in traffic on the way to Reid's dance class, had BAD children in the truck. *Later that night Dean took us out for EXCELLENT spicy Indian food at Maharajah.
March 12th: *Went to the American Women's Assoc. *Meeting at the new Italian Hotel (Moevenpick) and had the BEST Italian Ice!! Remember the Italian Ice Dad? *Went to the City Center and did some quick shopping and exchanging. *Went swimming and later had a girl's night out.
March 13th: *Swimming, had a playdate at our house while Dionne napped the afternoon away. *Later Dean drove us around Doha window shopping, he wasn't happy about it.
March 14th: *Al Shanhania Horse Farm,* shopping and hair cutting at Landmark Mall. *Picked up the birds we were babysitting for Spring Break, *found Amirah some Indian outfits at Lulu Ctr and *Dean went to a Team Building Dinner for Phillips.
March 15th: *Went to the Old Souq, Turkey Central (one of our favorite resturants) for arabic salads and drove out to Dean's work site. *Made Dionne climb a SMALL (ha) sand dune, I think it gave her a mini heart attack (picture 5).
March 16th: *Made Ross' whale cake, *took Dionne and Fe shopping at some quaint Indian stores and perfume bottles stores (picture 6). *Played tennis, *Dean took Dionne and I out for my birthday. *Introduced Dionne to the Juice Stalls (another one of her favorite things about Doha), she wasn't happy I waited as long as I did, ha!
March 17th: *Shopping at Toys R Us (skates and speed boat), bought myself some new sunglasses, *developed film & grocery shopped, *later went swimming. *After the kids went to bed Dionne and I went to a nice "on the water" coffee shop and then went in search of Dick Cheney (found him at the Ritz along with the MOST beautiful chandelier I've ever seen).
March 18th: *Drove Dionne by the Wood Souq, Gold Souq and the "Doha Walmart". *Took the kids to Palm Tree Island, like a kid's beach resort). *Dinner at the Majellis (picture 7) where we ate Arabic style on the floor, talk about the way to eat, it's perfect for those after dinner naps!
March 19th: *Took the kids to Toby's and finished developing our pictures. *Spent the rest of the day watching Dionne pack and play with the kids. *We took her to the airport around 9pm (via the Juice Stall). The kids were falling asleep so we left her there. Reid is still saying she misses Aunt Dionne...she's not the only one!
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