A party fit for a Princess

My beautiful Princess Zoe turned 4 and asked for what all little girls want...a Princess Party!!

I was originally planning on hosting the party at home, but after another cookie decorating class at Carluccio's, I was convinced that having it there (and not having to worry about the mess afterwards) was the best way to go.  

It was such a great afternoon and little miss Zoe had a ball decorating her princess shaped cookies with all her dear friends.  You can see the happiness in her face and the happiness in mine knowing that I could just walk away at the end of the day and not worry about cleaning up :)

Thank you to all who came and helped Zoe celebrate her 4th birthday!!  We all had a great time and I hope you did too.

 Zoe's princess cake, topped with a gorgeous tiara on the top

The birthday Princess in her gorgeous dress from Guong Guong and Po Po 

Ready to decorate 

Gorgeous Safwaan and his cookie creations 

 Spunky Taariq and his mummy who just couldn't help herself

Zoe proudly announcing that she is "four"

When everyone started to sing happy birthday to Zoe, she covered her ears cause it was all too loud for her

Zoe and Jake

Zoe, Daniel and Louie...making angry faces

Susie, Zoe and Nala...childcare buddies

 Zoe and Daniel

A tumble and a fall

Poor little Zoe took a tumble and a fall yesterday over the front of her scooter which has left her a little shaken and grazed and given her one chipped front tooth and another wobbly one.

I didn't see her fall.  I just saw her in the distance on the ground.  She wasn't crying, maybe just a little bit shocked so as I casually walked up to her and it wasn't until I got closer that I realised it was a little bit more than just a fall...oops!!

Blood was pouring out of her mouth (actually it really wasn't but at the time it felt like it was) thanks to one of her front teeth being pushed back.  So we made a quick trip to the dentist to make sure that there wasn't any unseen damage.

My bestie Aamina was telling me about a fantastic dentist that she had recently taken her little boy to and who would have thought at the time, I'd be going to pay them a visit too!!

The thought of someone even going close to Zoe's mouth made her cling to me like a monkey.  She was so scared but the dentist was so patient and put on cartoons for her to watch while they had a quick look in her mouth.  

Her tooth last night and her tooth this morning.  

The one that was pushed back, seems to have moved back in to position this morning but it is a little bit wobbly and I am hoping it won't fall out or die.

Tomorrow we are paying the Paediatric dentist a visit for a second opinion, a possible x-ray and a polish for her chipped tooth to take away the sharp edge.

All in the day of a child and her poor mummy!!

Litlle Angelina Ballerine...aka Zoe Chang

Every time Zoe watched Angelina Ballerina, she would twirl and dance and say that she wanted to do ballet and be just like her.  

So I found a class and even a leotard to wear and off we went.

Zoe was so excited waiting for the class to start.  She practice her twirls and and ballet moves, but when it was time to go in, she would even walk in to the room and definitely wouldn't even let go of my hand.  Even though parents weren't allowed in the room, I was given the go ahead just to stay and help Zoe relax and feel comfortable.  It only took her 5 minutes for her to find her comfort zone and let me go.

Such a clever student.  Look at the position of those feet!!

Relaxing while the other kids have a one-on-one

Even though the class lasted a whole hour, Zoe did a fantastic job concentrating and participating the whole time.  My little ballerina...

Facciamo la pizza

So the New Year begins with a pizza cooking class at Carluccio's.  It's so nice to be able to take Zoe to these activities as it is certainly something that she wouldn't be doing if we were back home...and it gives is something different to do on the weekends as well, rather then just trawling through the shopping centres!!

These events are not only fun for the kids, but also a great way to meet new people and expand on your social network.  Today I was lucky to meet a fellow Australian mother who has girls around Zoe's age...yippee, so hopefully we will be seeing them around town a bit more.

Some of the ingredients for the delicious pizzas to be

Step 1: Write your name so everyone knows who you are

...with the addition of two smiley faces

 Step 2: Put on apron and oversized gloves

 Step 3: Pour in flour

  Step 4: Prepare wet components

  Step 5: Combine dry and wet ingredients

  Step 6: Mix, mix, mix

  Checking out the neighbours dough

  Step 7: Flour the board

  Step 8: Flatten out the pizza base

  Getting some help from the pizza pro!!

 Waiting patiently for the next instructions

 Step 9: Spreading out the tomato paste.  Very important not to go to the edges, so we were told!!

  Step 10: Sprinkling on the cheese

  Step 11: Adding the pepperoni

 Sampling the produce

 And of course a photo with mummy

  Step 12: Cooking the pizza

 Waiting patiently

  Waiting, waiting, waiting

 Wow, I made this??

 Last but not least, EAT!!

So what do you think, a contender for Junior Masterchef?

Starry Nights at Singing Sand Dunes

The Starry Nights at the Singing Sands Dunes was definitely one of my most favourite events that I have been to since arriving in Doha.  It was such a simple event, but I just loved the location.  It reminded me very much of the time spent climbing Dune 45 in South Africa...but this sand dune was much easier to climb!!

 The start of the climb

Barefoot was the way to go 

Zoe and Mummy

We just got there as the sun was setting but next time, we will avoid getting lost so that we can sit on top of the dune and watch the sun set.

Future visitors to Doha, this will be on my "must see" list

My happy little Zoe

Zoe and Riaz, her new best friend

 Okay so the side of the sand dune doesn't look all that steep or all that tall but when you are standing at the bottom of it looking up, it is far more menacing.  We went down it once and climbed, well more like clambered our way back to the top and then went down again, but we were too knackered to go back up again

The set up below.  The tent with the colourful lights is Santa's Grotto where we patiently waited in line to see Santa, but once we made it there, Zoe just clung to me leg and refused to talk.   

The paper lanterns surrounding the bonfire. 

Zoe and her pretty pink camping chair.  

Next year I'll invest in a tent and we will camp it our in the middle of the desert under the stars!!  Anyone want to join?

 The bonfire

 Since Zoe wouldn't smile for me, I had to get her to pull faces instead

 These camping chairs were so worth their riyals!!  

Toasting marshmallows proved more difficult then expected.  The heat from the bonfire was so extreme that we couldn't get close enough.  We waited for it to die down a little and found a small flame towards the outside that we could use, but even then, it felt like we were toasting ourselves along with the marshmallow!! 

The night trek up the side of the mountain again and bum sliding her was down again.  Who needs bootcamp when you have the sand dunes to climb up!!