Hanging with the Boys

J is in Doha attending a conference so it's been boys time for the past couple of days. J is attending the conference with Jesika who is also a kinder teachers at KIS. They both were lucky enough to spend some time with our friends Kris and Wendy who are currently living in Doha.

Last night Q and I had Hugo and Ben over over for chicken and beer. (Quinn mainly stuck to apple juice, milk and potatoes) Hugo's wife is with J so it only made sense that we hung out together as well. Ben brought some of his homebrew with him which added to what I already had in the fridge. We spent the night chewing the fat and sampling our selection of homebrews which included 2 IPA's, a Belgian and a lager.

Today I awoke to Quinn standing beside my bed telling me it was time to "wake up daddy". So I did. After having breakfast we decided to go for a walk. It was mid fifties and overcast, perfect weather for a hike. There's a wooded area a stones throw from our apartment so we decided to head there. Here are some pics of our walk.

B-day Party

Here are some pics from today's festivities:

This is a puppet show I helped put on. The kids seemed to dig it.

As you can see the noise makers were a big hit.




The party was a combined party for a bunch of kids born within a couple weeks of each other. Each child got a cupcake with a candle. Here is Quinn blowing out his candles.


Yummy...

Haircut

Today we took Quinn for his first haircut. I've cut his hair once before but it was just a trim to reduce the mullet he was sporting. Today he got his first full on haircut. I got my hair cut first so Quinn could see all that the process entailed. Julia was describing things as they happened and he was taking it all in. We chose to go to a hair shop that catered to little ones. They even had a chair in the shape of a car complete with a TV showing cartoons directly in front.

None of this appealed to Quinn when it came down to go time. He was content to sit on my lap though. He did remarkably well I have to say. He actually sat still and let the barber cut his hair while I moved his head this way and that. The barber took it very seriously and really spent some time getting it just right. Here are some pictures from our experience.

The "man's" shop:


Here I am inspecting the barber's armpit:

Notice not only the sweet haircut but the gold scissors hanging from the pimpin' gold chain:


The seal of approval:


Two freshly shorn gentlemen:

Tomorrow we have a B-day party. Pictures to follow.

Rocket Launch Fever

It seems the big news lately is all about the impending "rocket" or "satellite" launch by North Korea. The launch should be taking place in the next day or two. I think the most irked country seems to be Japan as the rocket will be passing through their airspace. They have stated that they have dispatched a big ship or two that could shoot down any rocket or debris that may violate Japanese airspace. I guess we will have to wait and see.

J is heading to Doha in a couple weeks for a conference. An added bonus is that we have friends there who she will be able to catch up with.

I am still stoked on our Hanoi trip and the fact that we got to catch up with our friends there. Here is a link to an article in the NYT about Hanoi. It was as if the author was on our trip. We did not do everything the author did, but quite a bit. If you stand in our friends front yard you can hit the Intercontinental with a stone, or water balloon if you prefer.

I'm still getting used to traveling with a little on in tow but I'm coming around. We have plenty of friends to get advice from in the area which is nice.

In an unrelated note spring is rearing its head. We are starting to see blossoms here and there and temperatures are starting to climb into the 50's F. We are all eagerly awaiting warmer weather.

Another busy week. The school has asked me to take pictures for the school website so I got a day off to do that this week. I also took a day off after going to see Oasis on Wed. night. Although it may sound like I didn't work much this week I was very busy. I was at school on both days that I wasn't teaching and I had to write sub plans for the days I was out. Not super fun. On top of all that report cards are due.

I think J and I are going to do a triathlon with a friend in about a month. I am going to swim, J is going to bike, and our friend is going to run. I guess I better get in the pool.

Adios