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!!!

...He Experienced London...

It's not everyday that your husband says, "Let's go to London for the weekend!" So, when he does, you better take him up on it! A little background here...Keith and Sam had tickets to see England vs. Scotland in a Six Nations rugby match this past weekend. It's one of those bucket list things, as far as Keith is concerned. He has always wanted to see a big match at Twickenham Stadium. It just so happened that the weekend of the rugby game was also the last weekend of Jake's Spring Break. So, we decided that we would route Jake's return ticket through London and see him halfway back home, while also seeing a few of the sights of this fabulous town.

It was a whirlwind tour, to say the least. Friday found us...

....hanging out at the Marble Arch (made famous by Jerry Jeff Walker's song London Homesick Blues, of course).

....strolling in Hyde Park and enjoying the beautiful flowers.

....admiring the beauty of Westminster Abbey.

....setting our watches by Big Ben.

....catching the view from the London Eye.

....winding our way through the Tower of London and....

....checking out the Crown Jewels. No pics allowed. This guy made sure of that!

What about Saturday?? And where does the rugby game fit in?? Next installment.....

He Came, He Saw......

Jake came back to Doha for Spring Break for the second year in a row! We did most of the "big stuff" last year, so we basically just chilled and enjoyed each other's company for the biggest part of the week. (Okay, so we ate a lot, too!)

Lunch at City Center



Lunch at the Golf Club

St. Patrick's Day, Arabic style

strolling the Corniche

Jake by the Giant Pearl and buying a watch at the souqs

brothers in green

All of this followed by dinner (of course!) on the roof of an Arabic restaurant. Much to my dismay and every photographer's horror, my camera battery was dead by then. So, no pics! We also had fun going down to a tailor and having a suit and some shirts made....cheaper than a suit off the rack at Jos A. Bank! No pics of that either, but no excuses that time.

checking out the Pearl, a HUGE new reclaimed land development in Doha

We topped off the week with a couple of days in London...should be blogging about that tomorrow. Today I am looking at pics, washing sheets, laughing ....

I miss you, Jake. Hope your trip back home was good! Call your mom!