Happy Birthday, Shane!!

Wednesday was Shane's 33rd birthday! Adam picked out a Mickey Mouse card to give to Daddy, and even signed his name! Of course he wanted to sign it in yellow crayon so it's kind of hard to see. Anyone who knows Adam knows that we have to have cake for a birthday, so Shane decided he wanted an ice cream cake from Baskin Robbins. The only one they had was bright yellow with roses on top, but hey - in Doha you can't be too picky!

Adam sang "Happy Birthday" and then helped Daddy blow out his candle - which, if you notice, is a "3". I couldn't find any regular candles and they didn't have any more 3's, so that's what we used! I guess we should have just lit it twice!

Power Ranger

Adam has been wearing this basket since he woke up from his nap. I asked him what he was doing and he told me he was a Power Ranger. I am not sure where he picked that up, unless it was from school. They don't watch TV there, but they do have show-and-tell, so another child must have brought one in today. I wasn't aware that Power Rangers wore baskets on their heads and carried around tools, but hey....that's the "power" of a child's imagination!

Only in Qatar, NEVER in the USA!

Only in Qatar would this have happened. Shane lost his iPod last week. He thought that he left it on a shuttle bus. We figured it was a goner. I mean, we are from Houston. It doesn't matter what you lay down there, it's gone if you turn your head! Anyway, for his birthday he decided to replace it with an iTouch. We went this weekend and picked it out. Well, guess what was returned to him today at work? We couldn't believe it! I always knew this was a more "honest" country than America, but this still amazed me. As little as some of these people have, they still don't see the need or want to take what's not theirs. Now, what? Well, Shane loves the iTouch and doesn't want to part with it, so now we have an extra iPod...anyone interested?

It should come with the apartment...

This is our friend George. He lives in an apartment building on the 6th floor. After a few trips to the liquor store and to the grocery store, he found it necessary to keep the shopping cart! I can't really blame him, but I really would have loved to see him wheel this thing to his building all the way from City Center!

Qatar makes the World News...

We found out about this from someone watching news in the United States. Apparently, an American B-1 bomber plane caught fire as it landed at al-Udeid Air base. The base is located just south of the airport, so that makes it only about a 20 minute drive from where we live. We were on the balcony at a friend's apartment right on the Corniche at the time it happened and didn't hear or see anything. Thankfully, all is okay and no one was hurt. To read the CNN story, click here.

Dinos in Doha!

We went to City Center mall over the weekend and they had a exhibit of Dinosaurs on the first floor. Adam, of course, was very excited.

Our little Tiger

Shane took Adam out today to use his new golf clubs (they are so cute!). He worked on his grip and taught him how to swing the club. Adam did really well, which surprised me. I was sure that he inherited my "no hand-eye coordination" gene, but apparently not. When he tries, he hits the ball pretty good, and can even putt it through some rings (like croquet).

When we returned home, Shane broke out the putting mat and his putter, but his attention span had diminished. Maybe next time!

Spring Fling!

Our table - Whitney, Russell, Shane, Amanda, Cheryl, Derrick, Susan and Gerry (in the back)

We went to the Pegasus Club's Spring Fling last night. It was held at the Diplomatic Club, which we have always heard was nice, but just never been. It was right on the water, and held mostly outside, so fortunately the weather was pleasant. It has been reaching to about 38C (100 F!) here lately, so we really didn't know what to expect. The evening was fun, but the only problem was the food. Everyone was under the impression that dinner was going to be served, but all they served was appetizers. There was a lot of moaning and groaning about that, but once they turned on the music, everyone hit the dance floor and forgot about it. We had a great time, got to meet a lot of new people, and had a grown-up night out without the little man!

We're so pretty!

The dogs finally got groomed yesterday. They wouldn't pose for me, so this is the best shot I have of them. And, as usual, Bailey looks as if she has been stealing food from Buster!

Swim lessons - Day 3

As promised, I took some pictures during Adam's swim lesson today. He did a lot better today than Friday. He went out into the deeper section of the pool and used the noodle (with the instructor's help) to kick and paddle across the pool. He still won't put his face in the water....he is too scared, I guess. I can tell that he is getting more confident and more comfortable in the water. The weather is really warming up here, so we are going to start going to the pool more often, so I know that will help, too.