Wine and Roses

After a wonderful stay at Tinga Private Game Reserve, we headed to our next destination. Wish I had thought to take a picture of the van we travelled in...reminded me a bit of the Brady Bunch except that the parent to kid ratio was even. We trucked our way from Kruger to Johannesburg through a scenic route and saw some amazing glimpses of God's creativity.

The Pinnacle

God's Window

God's Gifts

We spent one night in Joberg (didn't get to see much more there than the inside of our hotel room!) and caught a flight the next morning to the Cape Town area. Our first night we stayed in Kline Zalze Lodge, on the grounds of a beautiful winery in Stellenbosch, The Winelands. They were actually harvesting grapes while we were there. Of course, Kristie and I had to take lots of pictures. It was a beautiful place...and the wine was divine!

There was a beautiful garden on the grounds of Klien Zalze. Keith and I strolled through it in the morning.

And I fell in love with this old bench....



The rest of our day included a wine tour...next installment!

On Safari...With a Camera!

There are times in your life when you just have to pinch yourself. Being on safari in Kruger National Park, South Africa, was one such time. We had a wonderful spring break last week, filled with amazing adventures and dear friends. And this was the start of it all.....

March Madness! (Basketball Part 2)

Some weeks back, American School of Doha hosted the EMAC (Eastern Mediterranean Activities Conference) Varsity Basketball tournament. If you recall, Sam participated in the JV version of the same tournament in Dubai in February. Now it was our turn to "pay back" and host some players in our home. We were fortunate enough to welcome Can and Arjun from Dubai to the pink villa. They were absolutely a pleasure to have. And I, June Cleaver that I am, loved cooking, washing, providing snacks, transporting and providing a warm place to sleep for these two guys. I had three boys in the house again, if even just for a few days.

Can (second from left) and Arjun (third from right) with Sam, friend and fellow ASD'er Taylor (right) and his guests

The tournament was great fun. Three days filled with basketball excitement. It was a real treat to have the tournament at our school. A lot of work, but a blessing. We are in a unique situation in Doha. We don't get quite as many chances to get out and show school spirit as schools in the US might have. This was our chance and ADS shined! It was soooo much fun to see the kids really revved (right spelling...I checked Dictionary.com) up for their team. And my darling Sam was right in the big middle of it all, right alongside his buddies Will, Jake and Matt.

Great fun, great memories. I will never look at March Madness the same way!

Zach

....He's Gone!

Our second and last day in London and surrounding areas was a fun one! We started the morning at a streetside cafe with a traditional English breakfast...beans included! Grilled tomato, too. Then it was a stroll through the streets, with a side stop at Harrod's, one of my favorite stores on the planet. We continued on past red phone booths, bakeries, beautiful buildings and of course, through Hyde Park, until we reached our morning's main destination.....Buckingham Palace. Despite arriving 45 minutes prior to the changing of the guards, the tourists were packed in, waiting to see the festivities. My guys jumped up on the wall to claim a bird's eye view, but we still could not see on the other side of the fence surrounding the palace. We did get to see the bands, enjoy the music and people watch. (By the way, the first time Keith and I went to London and we went to Buckingham for the changing of the guard, we saw the Queen and her hubby, exiting the gates in their fancy car! And yes, she was doing the famous straight hand wave!)

Then it was on to Twickenham Stadium for the big game....England vs. Scotland in a Six Nations match. (Wasn't that the point of the whole trip anyway???) Only Keith and Sam had tickets, but Jake and I went along for the ride and to check out tailgating, British style. It was a fun and festive atmosphere. Obvious that the Brits enjoy their rugby, their beer and their sausage! More people watching was in order at this venue....

Jake and I went back into town while the rugby game was going on. I gave Jake the choice of destinations since he had never been to London. He chose Madame Toussad's Wax Museum!! Woo hoo! We had fun "meeting" the stars and royalty. What an afternoon!

We met Keith and Sam at Covent Gardens for dinner and then headed back to the hotel...our London getaway was over! The next morning we arrived at the airport....Jake's gate to board his plane for Houston just happened to be next to ours for Doha! It was sad to see him off, but we had a wonderful time together. Who could ask for more??!!

I LOVE LONDON!!!