Surprise Baku Trip

When we left Baku in summer 2018 we hoped there'd be a chance to visit again. Madi constantly talks about the friends she misses there and we still had lots of people there we miss. So when we saw an amazing sale on weekend holiday packages (including airfare) cheaper for less than half the price of a single airfare ticket we jumped on them! We decided just Madi and I would go for a Mother-Daughter trip and we kept it a surprise to Madi and to her friends in Baku (but we told my friends, their parents of course, haha). 

It was such a sweet weekend. It was a very stressful time when we left Baku as Jason was already living in Doha and there were quite a few challenges happening simultaneously with travel logistics, health, etc. I hadn't realized it, but it sort of tainted my final impressions of Baku so going back and seeing everyone and focusing on the positives helped me tremendously to remember the good we had in the unique city we called home for two years. And of course Madi had the time of her life and you can see the joy in her face! 

My friend Kathleen surprised me with airport pickup and after dropping our stuff at the hotel we grabbed a coffee and then headed to school pickup to surprise Madi's best buds Cooper and Jaxon with her arrival. 

We headed back to the hotel for our amazing nanny Ms Meri to come over and play with Madi and take her to dinner while I headed out to meet some girlfriends!

The next morning I visited my beloved Bina shopping center with my good friend Emma followed by lunch with friends and then the rest of the afternoon hanging in our old compound letting the kids run around and play with one another for hours upon hours. 

Saturday was our last day in Baku and we started with a traditional Azeri breakfast in Old City with friends before walking around Fountain Square with our friends Aubrey and Joy. 

We headed back to the hotel to pack up and spend some time saying goodbye to my friend Mellissa and her daughter Amelia. 

We headed to Hard Rock Cafe for the remainder of the evening until it was time to head to the airport. We had friends come and go throughout and it was amazing to see so many friends and enjoy the time together. 

When we left it was a teary goodbye for sure as this girl misses her friends something fierce. We are so thankful for the chance to come back and see friends and can't wait until the next time we get to catch up in person!

Sweet flowers her friend Jaxy gave her and she hauled all the way back to Doha (despite airport security trying to confiscate them). We put them in the beautiful Baku vase we received as a going away gift from friends.

Here's a video of our entire trip with some additional pictures and video. :-)

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Oh October!

October came and went with lots of fun, a trip to Greece in between, and finished with a fun Halloween evening.

The first weekend of the month my friend Michelle and I (who both share a love {bordering obsession} for Hamilton), hosted a girls overnight to listen to the soundtrack, do fun face masks, and spend the next day relaxing by the pool.

Here's the rest of the month's memories for October. :-)

1. Water beads and color-changing cars. Entertainment for hours!
2. Playdate at her favorite indoor play with a good friend.
3. Oktoberfest came to Doha and we enjoyed having a night out!
4. Birthday party fun with face painting.
5. We squeezed in one final water park visit with friends before the weather changes.
6. The girls have started enjoying painting their own nails.
7. After school playdate with her bestie.
8. Baking cookies for their classes!
9. There's a delicious vegan pop up at the girls' school and we've been enjoying the popsicles and donuts. 

1. Laughter with friends is the best on a Thursday night. 
2. Along with pizza and a movie with friends!
3. Created a new chore chart for each girl to help with household responsibilities.
4. Reading with Daddy.
5. Moms night out with these lovely ladies!
6. Sprinkler fun on the new playgrounds the compound has added.
7. Panda masks our friends brought us from South Korea.
8. Zoey the meerkat wanting to be let back inside.
9. Reading to pass the time before gymnastics class.

1. A fun brunch with friends and delicious food!
2. We've been carpooling with friends and they love getting to ride in each other's cars.
3. Pretend school after real school during their playdate.
4. Swimming and South African braai with friends.
5. Dinner date night with this handsome guy.
6. And a good excuse to get frozen yogurt afterwards. 
7. Olivia: "Mommy I made you!" Thank you sweet girl, ha.
8. More carpool fun with these guys!
9. A standoff between kitty cat and okapi, hahaha.

1. An apple for each of their teachers at their 3-way parent teacher conferences this month.
2. Cooking class to learn how to make Enny's amazing noodles and spring rolls.
3. Zoey protesting the suitcases and packing cubes being pulled out...vacay is coming!
4. Singing "You've got a friend in me" with her class for Performing Arts.
5. Grade 1 has presentations on Who We Are with books they made of celebrating their culture. Madi's book included her American celebrations like Fourth of July, as well her her Norwegian Constitution Day celebrations, Azerbaijani Novruz celebrations, and Qatar National Day.
6. Packing prep for the airplane ride entertainment.
7. 8. and 9. Painting boxes to collect and organize their artwork and papers coming home from school.

We are ready for November and {hopefully} cooler weather soon in Doha!

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Halloween 2019

This Halloween came up quickly for me and while I had every intention of making shirts for the girls (the design was even made already!), the actual execution of printing and ironing them on did not happen after we returned from holiday in Greece.

I had about one hour on Wednesday, the day before Halloween, before school pickup and decided what the heck, let's just see if there's anything. I headed to H&M in the mall near the girls' school and - jackpot - Halloween shirt on sale for 15 qar and buy three get three free. That means we snagged these headbands and shirts for around $12.50. WOW!

As our neighbors started to see decorations put up they were quite disappointed with our modest collection of them at home. They also decided our house was not "snoopy" enough and Madi took it upon herself to make a "snoopy" picture to put up on the front door. Love it.

 We had friends over that evening for pizza and compound trick or treating. There was lots of candy and scary houses and the kids had a blast. Marli surprised me with fun earrings her hubby made with his 3D printer - how cool!

Happy Halloween from these three cuties!

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