National Sports Day 2017 - my experience

It was not the best Sports Day of my life . It was raining  and the programs outside were cancelled . We visited the Education City  as  the previous years we had nice experience  there .

We found out that there was not much to do for kids there  . However we played bowling ,billiards  , walked in the Oxygen Park   and had healthy lunch at the food court of the  Student's Center . Most of the programs were shifted to the Shaqab and there were no buses available   Though the previous years  there were free QF buses running between the Education City and Shaqab . Walking was not allowed -as we  were informed at the gates of this horse riding facility  .
Also I found strange that 10  rials had to be payed for the bowling per person . Not big thing just the previous years it was free .

  There were a good number of families turning up in the EC   and after all we did not mind that the crowd was somewhere else .Just  the atmosphere was not festive at all to me .

 The illuminated Oxygen Park  was really wonderful  sight ! And it was full of oxygen -after the rain !

Horse Show-Free entrance at Shaqab

AL SHAQAB hosting the 7th Qatar International Arabian Peninsula Horse Show-Free entrance
10th Feb (1:30 PM- 9PM)
11th Feb (10:30-8:30PM) pic.twitter.com/H2BVfxS5PA

— Al Shaqab (@AlShaqab) February 10, 2017

Our Sports Day Experience - 2014

So I chose the Education City for our National Sport Day .It was nice ,sunny day .There was a  big pitch full of bouncing castles and other rides for free .My kids were first disappointed .They expected games and prizes like at the tent in the Aspire during last Ramadan .Or something like at the wheels and  heels day at the MIA . But finally they were cheerfully bouncing ,jumping and sliding for two hours .
Then we had lunch  -  some restaurant stall was selling American bagels with chips and cookies and orange juice . This was my first bagel of my life . I expected it to be heated but they did not have any oven !

Green apple ,popcorn and board games were distributed for free .
Then we took a  shuttle bus to see the famous Shaqab horse  riding facility . We felt sorry we  had not come earlier .Entertainment was free .But we had only 20 minutes left  - the kids were riding ponies , painting plaster horses and got a painted horse on their face from a very talented face painter .
At the end to our biggest surprise we saw Sheika Mozah appearing among us .That was  really something unexpected that The First Lady of Qatar would come to greet  the visitors but t was a very exciting end of the day .

We saw  a gymnastic display after by little girls and teen ones .Then we took the shuttle and had a rest at a traditional Qatari tent near the Student Center .

 My kids had a very deep and long sleep then at night .

I ,myself was tired too  - that was the first day in my life that I had a bagel (cold one ) ,the first time that I visited Shaqab  and the first time I saw a princess from so close ...