Sunday, August 11, 2013

Nearing the end of an enjoyable summer

Its nearly mid-August and the end of Ramadan and Eid and so things are starting to return to normal here. During the holy month of Ramadan (people fast during daylight hours) there are limited things open and its so hot outside that's it a challenge to find things to do. Having said that though its funny how I think we have acclimatised and now think nothing of going to the swimming pool when its 40 degrees outside. We went to the beach yesterday but had to get there at 7am and leave at 9. Summer has been really great here because a lot of people leave to go home to their home countries and so its been quiet on the roads and the pace of life seems to slow down. Andi has been able to finish work slightly earlier over Ramadan and so we've spent some lovely family time together. Emily has been going to a summer camp in the morning as her nursery closes for a few months over the summer and she has done lots of painting, sticking, singing and dancing and seems to have great fun. Since I last posted we've had a visit from Nanny which Emily and Dylan loved, had a few beach days at the hotels and enjoyed the swimming pools and yummy food, been to our first Brunch (which basically consists of spending hours at one of the hotels eating and drinking), been to Disney on ice, seen the Barney show and tonight Emily is at the circus with daddy! We live on a lovely friendly compound and all the neighbours regularly get together for BBQ's and nights out and we're meeting some really lovely people. Dylan started crawling at 6 1/2 months and so keeps me very much on my toes! He spends lots of time chasing after Emily who isn't so convinced having a brother is so great now he can take her things off her! Having said that she is still really lovely with him. She loves going to wake him up in a morning and quite often you hear her say to him 'good morning lovely little boy.' He's enjoying trying lots of new food and I think his highlight so far has been his ikea hotdog at the weekend ; ). Emily seems to be 2 going on 12 and loves painting her nails, singing and dancing and generally being the centre of attention. She starts dancing lessons in September and so will have lots of new moves! She's enjoying swimming and Andi is doing a really good job teaching her. She has almost swim a couple of metres now. Her summer has really been spent at the indoor soft plays, summer camp and going out for tea and cake (her favourite thing to eat) - not a bad life really. I'll try and attach lots of photos.
A visit to Snow World! 

Night-time cuddles with dolly. zzzzzz

A real girlie!

Got to love the Ikea hotdog

and the Ikea ice-cream!

The two girlies

Exploring the beach

My crazy boy trying to walk at 7 months

Peekaboo

Getting good at swimming

Baking a cake for daddy - this is the best bit!

Loving my broccoli 

Not sure who is cleaning this up mum!

Having fun in my ball pool

The troops getting ready for swimming

Storytime

Enjoying mocktails with nanny

Ahoy there mateys -
pirate and princess day at nursery

Cheers to a fun day at the pool

Bundling my brother

Cuddles 

Loving my first balloon 

My beautiful boy

A night off for mummy and daddy

Painting - one of Emily's favourite things

Mummy leaves me for a second and Emily
dresses me up in her princess crown - how embarrassing 

Tea and cake at one of the hotels - yummy

Taking in the view with Uncle Will and Uncle Steve

The coolest place to have a lunchtime nap!

Fun at the compound pool

Watching TV with my brother 

Chilling out with a tired daddy

Gorgeous girlie

Lost in the balls

Frozen yoghurt - yummy!

My turn to feed Dylan mummy

Chilling out at mummy's favourite cafe

Smile

Enjoying an indoor picnic

Another perk of baking with mummy

Tuesday, June 11, 2013

Long long time no post - update on life in Doha

I cannot believe it was March when I last posted something!! The weeks are just flying by! I cannot possibly do justice to everything that has happened since I last posted so very briefly I guess the following have been highlights:

1. Visitors! We love having visitors and showing them a snapshot of our life over here and we've had visits from Nat and Lily, Lindsey and Simon and Will and Steve - hopefully they all had as much fun as we did.

2. We've been back to the UK. We didn't get to see everyone we wanted to but its impossible to do that in 2 weeks. Emily wasn't sure about the aeroplane to begin with and kept telling me every 10 mins that she was getting off but now she is a seasoned traveller. Travelling with both of them on my own was an experience but we all survived and had a lovely time in England.

3. Dylan is getting bigger! Emily is getting chattier! I'm not sure where the time has gone but Dylan is nearly 6 months old. He's loving trying his solid food and has just learnt to sit up by himself and he babbles away lots. Emily adores him and he adores her and its so lovely to see them together. Having said that Dylan is just beginning to assert his authority and reach out for her toys and so I see stormy waters ahead! Photos of them are below.

We're staying here this summer and so its going to be a long and hot experience - thank goodness for air-conditioned shopping malls! I will post again shortly but just wanted to highlight (for anyone still reading!) that I haven't given up!
Me and my bro

Happy boy

The Harris clan waiting to board to come home to Doha

I love my brother 

The two girls

Saturday, March 9, 2013

Normal life is resumed

After all the hectic things that have happened recently, its been nice to just get back into a routine and we've been to the beach, spent lots of time at the parks having picnics (making the most of the cooler weather!) and Emily has braved the swimming pool a couple of times (its freezing even in mid 20 temperatures). Emily is continuing to dote on Dylan and he spends most of his time smiling and laughing at her every time she goes near him - he is certainly a fan of his big sister. Emily had cultural day at her nursery which involves all the children attending in their national dress and taking a national dish from their country. The parents all then attend for a picnic to share the foods and the children do a little parade. Emily dressed in red white and blue and I made a victoria sponge. We had to do a collage about England and Emily was fascinated by the Queen. We're starting to get to know people on the compound where we live which is nice and apart from being inundated by Ants at the moment we're really enjoying our new home. The other most exciting news to happen....we have finally got an ikea which opened this weekend! Yippee! I've attached some recent pictures of what we've been up to. 



Escaping the heat with an OJ

Having lovely smiley dreams 

Princess Emily - dressed up for World Book Day at nursery

Dylan having cuddles with teddy

Feeding Mr and Mrs Duck

Princess at the park!



Meet the telly addicts

Just catching some rays

Happy little boy at the park

I scream for ice-cream

Dylan having a 'relaxing' bath!

More parks and more ice-cream

Having henna 

The garden at Emily's nursery all ready for cultural day