The Month of May

We had a lot more going on in May than we have in previous months - them out exciting being we took a holiday! It was the first time being on an airplane in over a year and we enjoyed every minute of the trip to the Maldives. 

We also did a a lot of exploring around Qatar before the heat kicked in {currently rocking temps 47 C+ / 115 F+ 🥵}. Our trips included visiting the old fishing villages, Abu Nakhla, and Irkhaya farm lagoons. We stayed busy during Ramadan with afternoon activities and celebrated Mother's Day with my little llama crew. 😍

We had a memorable visit to one of our favorite parks - Crescent Park - which recently re-opened with new art installations all around. We will definitely be coming again with the roller blades when it cools off this fall!

The girls had their first haircuts by a trained professional and their first PCR tests (ice cream bribes were involved). It was the first of three needed for our trip to the Maldives (one to enter Maldives, one to enter Qatar, and one on day 6 of their home quarantine). 

1. Handmade vase and flowers delivered to my nightstand by Madison. ❤️
2. Evelyn helping make French toast for her and sisters. 
3. Olivia and I having breakfast outside before online classes started. 
4. Cuddled with a book and a cat - a favorite for both parties involved. 
5. Roller blade trio. 😍
6. CeCe being awkward in whatever baskets she finds. 
7. Exercise videos together!
8. Celebrating a sweet friend's birthday (slightly early) before everyone leaves for the summer. 
9. A beautiful moon at the end of the month (captured with my iPhone outside out compound) 

We have a lot to be thankful for this May and so many wonderful adventures and memories! We have another month of so of school and beating the Doha heat before we head to America and the countdown is most definitely on. 😁

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Family Photos in the Maldives

 We headed to the Maldives over the Eid break and had an amazing time! When we checked into our hotel they told us that as part of our package we would be receiving a complimentary 30 min photography session + one printed photo. We picked a sunset time one evening to do our photo shoot and were sooo happy with how the pictures turned out!! 😍

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Eid Break in Maldives

 This Eid break we did something we haven't done in over a year... got on an airplane! ✈️ The travel looked a bit different and we were definitely out of practice but thankfully it was a short flight that hopefully jogged their memories for the big one this summer. 😉

We landed early in the Maldives and headed to our seaplane transfer. It was super fun for the kids and we got to the resort around midday. 

After checking in we headed to the pool and over to the kids club where they had a fun waterpark! Throughout our week in the Maldives we let them go to the kids club for fun activities, games, and water fun. 

We were also able to go snorkeling not far off the coast. We did a kayaking and snorkel trip just adults to scope out the feasibility of going with the kids and brought them later in the week. 

The island has a manmade lake that was filled with sharks, sting rays, and turtles! We got to see them feeding the animals as well as see some black-tipped sharks in the shallow water just outside our rooms!

We had some rain in the beginning, which we all loved, and some amazing sunsets in the evenings!

In the evenings we would get dressed up for dinner and enjoyed visiting the different restaurants on the island. When we arrived they hosted a Maldivian-themed dinner with dancing and local cuisine. All of the food during our stay was sooo delicious. 

They had swings in the water of the beach at the resort and the girls enjoyed playing on them almost every day! The girls also became good at ordering virgin pina coladas from the bar! 🤣🍹

We spent our time swimming, relaxing, snorkeling, kayaking, eating, drinking, and most of all laughing! It was such a fun and memorable trip and we are so thankful for the opportunity to travel again and see somewhere new!

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