Here are a bunch of photos and stories of what we have been up to since moving to Doha, Qatar, in July 2006. Enjoy! Brendan, Samantha, Isabelle, Matilda & Josephine
Matilda spent the whole day reading them books, singing for them, talking to them, and showing them pictures. Hmmm... I think she misses our dog.
Well, first things first... we all needed haircuts!! So, Isabelle, Matilda, and I (and four other neighbourhood children) lined up for a quick trim.
Not too short Mormor!
Hugs. Mormor has all the cool stuff... check out this hair wrap!
Finally, someone to sit and play with my Polly Pockets for hours...
Dancing in Isabelle's room to Waltzing Matilda.
Endless hugs and chatter.
Brunch at Movenpick Hotel. Mmmmmdelicious.
OK, so the photos are a big dark, but the performance of Wackadoo Zoo by the year one kids was BRILLIANT! Isabelle was a narrator (big part!) and dressed as a pig that neighs. Note to self: must bring tissues next time, sniff sniff.
Matilda wants to do everything her big sis does, including go to Doha English Speaking School (DESS). AND THE GREAT NEWS IS... SHE GOT IN!!! YAY!!! Well done Titi! You're a clever chicky!
In keeping with the sea-theme... the birthday cake was a sandcastle with shell chocolates.
Well done Isabelle! You're a great 6 year old, and we're so proud of you!
Afternoon cake & tea. Thanks for the marble cake with green icing and pink smarties! Yum!
We had an absolutely awesome time in Let Gets with good friends, the Byrne family. The weather was good, it snowed! The kids had a blast, with ski school, toboganning, or just rolling around in the snow. Lots of funny stories and loads of photos... scroll down if you're up for it.
Day One:
Flying to Geneva. It is early in the morning and the girls are eating vegemite rolls at Doha airport. We're excited! Neither Isabelle or Matilda have seen snow before, and don't know quite what to expect. I promised them fun.
We stayed at Hotel Eden, went for a walk in Parc Barton and along Lake Geneva, ate yummy pizza, and checked out the Merck Serono building.
Day Two:
Arrival at our chalet "Le Boreal" in Let Gets (Portes du Soleil). Not much snow around, but we're smiling anyway and make our way to get skis and lift passes. Dinner is served by our host Adam... traditional Tartiflette, accompanied by everflowing champagne and red wine.
Next Six Days:
The days start with whopping big breakfasts... fresh bread, cereals, eggs and most importantly BACON... endless bacon. Adam can't believe how much bacon we can consume.
Once Emma the nanny arrives to hang out with the little kids, we drop Isabelle to ski school at 9am, and then beat the rush for the chairlift up the mountain.
Ski ski ski for a few hours, and then use the excuse to pick Isabelle up when really our legs are aching, and grab some lunch. Check on the under-3s and either ski some more or we all go out for some sled races!
Mentionables:
****On the third day, we woke up to snow, glorious fresh snow! It was like Christmas morning and we even played Jingle Bells on the iPod!
****Lauren, our ski guide, took us on full day ski trips to Morzine, Avoriaz, and all the way to Switzerland. Wonderful experience, even though we were completely buggered by the end of it.
****All that cream and cheese in our meals lead to exclamations of "Foie Gras!" in the night.
****I had a cliffhanger end to my trip... literally. All I can say is it ended with an (undiluted) glass of Baileys.
After crisscrossing the French/Swiss border, we end up in Geneva again. Good planning puts us in a prime position to spend our last afternoon at the Geneva Motor Show. Placed our orders for the latest and greatest and then headed for home.
See, I can do it all by myself!