Off to Preschool!

The day finally arrived. We had been trying to get the girls into a preschool program. We had been on the waiting list since December. But the problem was that we were having to wait on 2 spots to come open. We had passed up a few single spots and finally 2 opened up last week. So we are off to school!

It was slim pickins' in Doha for school supplies this time of the year. But the girls were happy with what we were able to find. The backpacks are almost as big as them, but they don't seem to mind.

They will only be going 2 days a week, Monday and Wednesday. But it's a start! Here are pics from their first day.

(Lil H and Lil N)

(Lil N)
(Lil H)
(Lil H and Lil N in the school lobby)

They were excited about going to school, but not about Mom and Dad leaving them there alone. There were a few tears shed when we left them, but when we went to pick them up, they were all smiles and happy playing with the other kids and not ready to leave. So that's a good sign!

A Whirlwind of a Week

Where do I begin??? We've been busy. My dad and step-mom came to visit at the end of February. They were here for a little over a week. I saw more of Doha in that week then I had in a whole year. Here is a list of what all we did and some pics too.

Mr. D and I attended the Women's Tennis Tournament that came to Doha. Mr. D actually attended two matches. He got to see Venus Williams play. And then we both went and watched Maria Sharapova play. It was pretty incredible. We were like 3 rows from the court. They are magnificent players. Sharapova ended up winning the tournament. She's definitely got talent to go with those looks.

Here is a pic of Sharapova playing:

The next day we ventured out to the zoo. Last year the girls and I went. But we found new things this year. There is a whole section of tunnels that have all of the scary animals as the girls like to call them. Snakes, bats, lizards and such. But there were cute owls too. We had a good time. I think we were literally the only visitors there that day. We packed a picnic and made an afternoon out of it.

(Lil N, Lil H, GranCee and GranDad)

That night we went out for some authentic Arabic food. We went to a restaurant called Al Majlis. Mr. D has been a few times, but it was a first for me and the girls, and of course for our guests. It was a lot of food. And the girls ate like crazy. We don't know what got into them. Here are some pics:

(Mr. D, Lil H and Lil N)

(all the food we ate!)

Other things that we did during the week: went to Jungle Zone at Hyatt Plaza, went to the Russian circus, toured Villagio mall and went on the gondola ride (again), visited the souqs and shopped, walked along the corniche, went to Sea Line beach and finally saw the sand dunes, had an early birthday celebration for the girls since GranDad and GranCee were in town and finally...we topped it off with the Doha Aggie Boot Scoot. Here are a few pics:

(Lil N and Lil H at Jungle Zone)

(Lil N, Mr. D and Lil H looking at the falcons at the souq)

(Lil H riding a donkey at the souq)

(all of us at The Pearl on the corniche)

(Lil N and Lil H blowing out their birthday candles)

( Mr. D and me at the boot scoot.)

It was definitely a great time!