lots of stories

Buen día… translation… Good day 🙂

(Can you find Waldo… Can you find Easton among the other kids :- )

(Pinata time… this pinata would not crack it took adults to take swings at it)

(the boys were covered with sprinkles as well as candy when the pinata finally broke)

The Multicultural Festival finally arrived. Emma’s class practiced for over a month Saturday mornings and during class time to prepare for this show. The Oxford school took this event very serious and it was great to be apart of it. Each class represented a different county and put together a display booth showing what they had learned at the convention centre. At each booth they had food and very interesting decorations. The concept reminded me of EPCOT centre if you have ever been there in Florida.

Here is a funny story…. We were told there was a Canada booth but there was not, however they had a Hawaiian booth and a USA booth. I asked Easton’s teacher ” is not one aware that Hawaii is apart of the USA?”

Each student had a tailor made costume for the show… that alone blew me away… when the Panamanians party they put on an amazing show.

(Emma with her buddy Luiza… Luiza is from Brazil)

(Easton’s country he represented was JAMAICA and they sang the song … daylight comes and me wanta go home… watch the video)

(East’s class in front of their booth)

(East sang his heart out… no stage fright with Easton)

(Emma was nervous but did her moves very well. She was nervous about one part but pulled it off beautifully, I think she really enjoyed the stage also)

Halloween was quite exciting here for us… I found a pumpkin, a very expensive pumpkin but traditions are meant to keep. The kids had a lot of fun carving the pumpkin, Emma decided the eyes, Ev the nose and Easton the mouth. Elia really had no part of this activity since alot of Panamanians do not like Halloween. The more educated ones are open to it but there is still alot of them who will not par-take in it.

I bought Halloween candy like I was still in our Killarney house (expecting lots of kids) Well here in Panama our door bell rang at 3:00pm and this little boy storms in our apartment to the boys room, drops off his candy and flies out. Trent was scrambling to find our candy to give him during this time. The little boys name is Kzos and he lives in our building. Kzos was our only visitor that we know about… now I have all this candy and not even good candy. You can not get licorice here, nibs, wine gums, peanut butter cups… all our staple candy at Halloween. Trent and I usually raid the kids bags for those candies, not this year.

We went halloweening JACKETLESS (first time for us) to Albrook, an area with a high population of foreigners. It was a very nice night.

(Emma was Alice in Wonderland… Easton a JETI and Everett a MCQEEN pit crew member. Emma insisted I wear my mask… it was fun, but I was the only adult out dressed up at all. In Calgary Trent & I always dress up in something)

Here in Panama on November 3rd & 5th it was National holidays. That means parties and parades around the city. We decided to leave town and take advantage of the kids having an extended long weekend. Up to Bocas del Toro, an hour long plane ride north from Panama City. Bocas is on the Caribbean side of Panama and is quite close to the Costa Rican boarder. In the early 1900’s three brothers came to Bocas and started the “Snyder Brothers Banana Company” This company helped this sleepy province with building infrastucture around the islands. Because of this company many locals speak English especially the older generation in the 70’s & 80’s. One of the taxi drivers we had on the island spoke excellent English and he said his Gramma taught him.

The hotel we stayed at was called Playa Mango and it was an American couple with a two yr. old running the place. It was a great location for us, it had a nice big pool, it was on the beach and I enjoyed their food. The kids were in a perfect playground.

Oddly enough The Day family was up in Bocas the same time as us… this was not planned in advance so it was a very nice surprise for the kids. We spend a very nice day with them out on an adventure to Starfish beach and at our hotel. The kids never skip a beat when they are together.

I do have to mention that the Friday we left Panama City I was extremely ill and almost did not go on this trip. I was at a point of heading to the hospital but I could not get any other flight out to Bocas because of the holiday weekend. Needless to say I do not remember most of the trip out, I just went through all the motions to keep from being sick… how fun for me :- )

(this is the plane we flew on, Trent said a good 30yrs. old. It held 32 people and I was glad just to land and head to our hotel)

(a snap shot of Bocas del Toro mainstreet. This town reminds me of a Caribbean island alot. It seems to have a lot of a Jamaican influence)

(these cute little kids on their own heading into town… that would be the day any of us let our possible 4&5 yr. olds walk through town on their own. But it looks like big brother is taking good care of his little sister)

(BEER delivery … I sure hope he made it to his destination… On this particular holiday no alcohol was to be sold on Friday because it was the “DAY OF THE DEAD” a day to respect the deceased)

(Trent said he is HOME… a perfect office. If you look on the right side of the cabana Trent is at his computer checking a few things out, loving the peace and quite of mother nature)

(my munchkins loving their playground)

(Everett showing off his moves dancing around the beach)

(Island living… you have to love it. This was our first taxi to Starfish Beach with the Day family. The road that we travelled can not even be called a road, it was more like a small river with some dry ground to drive on. During the rainy season not many vehicles can make the trip unless you want to float down the road :- )

(smile our adventurers)

(this is a small road we drove on to get to the beach… I love little paths like this)

(here is our Survivor Tribe on a quest to find Starfish Beach… walking into the unknown. It was about a 20min or so walk from where the taxi drivers dropped us off at. It was a very beautiful stroll)

(we found STARFISH beach… it was quite amazing to see large star fishes just laying on the shallow ocean floor. We had to watch were we walked and when we stepped down in the ocean because there were so many starfish scattered all around)

(new fashion statement honey?)

(this was a really great experience together)

The following day after our Starfish beach adventure we ventured out on a tour to see dolphins, go snorkelling and hit the beach. It was a nice day. We were the only ones on the boat which was good since our kids like to keep moving. I have to admit though we are getting quite spoiled. We went snorkelling and it was pretty sad compared to other places we have been to and the beach was nice but nothing like Thailand. I hear Aruba beaches may compare to Thailand so hopefully we get there next year. The diving and snorkelling is ok here in Panama but there are forsure way nicer places to explore under the sea.

(Emma took this great picture of this little boy at a resturant we ate at that was over the ocean. I had some delicious lobster which did not have a chance)

(here is the bathroom at the resturant… it would be a good idea not to have to many drinks before venturing out to the bano— bathroom)

(here are the kids going on a boardwalk through the mangroves to find RedFrog Beach)

(our baby boy catching a nap while his guard dog watches on… (the dog in the back ground). Ev’s philosophy is PLAY HARD OR GO HOME — he played hard and crashed)

We spend three nights in Bocas del Toro and we had a great time. It was nice to get a break from the city to let the kids run wild on the beach and play in the ocean.

Sunday night our plane left Bocas at 5:00pm it is an hour flight to Panama City. When we took off never in our wildest dreams did we think we were going to have the night we did. As we approached the city Trent turned to me and said “Did you see that lightning?”, I said “don’t be silly it is the lights on the wings of the plane” Trent was right we were flying in the middle of a lightning storm. We flew home in the same plane we flew to Bocas, the plane that was at least 30yrs. old this is not the kind of plane you want to fly through a storm.

As we approached the city we flew over the domestic airport we were suppost to land at, the Albrook airport. We kept flying for 30 more minutes and tension was growing on the plane. Emma & Everett were asleep, Trent was scared and I could not believe what what happening outside. People on the plane were getting sick, including myself and Easton from the turbulance as well as the fear of the unknown. We have now been on the plane for two hours. Finally the flight attendent who spoke very little english told us as well as the other 30 passengers that we were flying to the International airport to land.

Our plane was in que for another 20min or so and we finally landed … our prayers were answered. There was no room for our plane at the main terminal so we were taxied to the cargo shipment section in rain like I have not seen before. We disembarked off the plane running through the rain and we all waited in the cargo area unsure of what was to happen next.

As we waited we met another Canadian who had two small children with him (he lives here also) and a few other foreigners. Word was that we could not have our luggage until the following day and that taxis had been called to take us back to Albrook airport, a 40min drive or so. We waited and waited then the captian came out and told us that the storm had let up and we were going to fly back to the domestic airport which would be a 10min flight.

We boarded the plane and we were missing passengers… I said to Trent “no locals are on the plane just foreigners, what is up with that?” Out of 32 people 20 got back on the plane. It is now past 8:30pm, the kids are doing great, but not very keen on flying again. We start down to get in line to take off and close to the runway the captian radioed back to the flight attendent. I could tell by her face that something was up…. Everyone is asking and not one is really saying anything, finally through translation we find out that the domestic airport is closed again and that we are going back to the cargo area.

As you might imagine tention is really high now… I was extremely relieved, I did not like the idea going back in the air and I should of followed my gut in the first place. I was estatic to get off this plane. We taxi back to the cargo area and the engines were still running on the plane and the door is not opening. Trent stands up and say “hey open that door right now, my family is getting off this plane, open the door now”, this other American lady is going crazy and is yelling at the captian down the plane demanding the engines to be turned off to get us off the plane.

Finally the captian came out of his little door and instructed the flight attendent to open the door. We were again told we could not have our bags until the morning at the other airport and that the airline was sending a bus to take us all back to the domestic airport. The time now is about 9:20pm. Again we all load off the plane and wait for the bus while being told we could have our bags once the employees arrived to unload them (CRAZINESS)

I waited with the kids until just after 10:30pm…. no bus, no sign of anything. Someone called a taxi to explain how to get to the cargo terminal so the kids and I could take a taxi home. Trent stayed behind to wait for the bus and get our bags. 11:00pm the kids were in bed, just after midnight Trent made it home with our luggage. In what should had been an hour journey it was a 7 hour night we will not forget.

The kids are not so keen on going on old small airplanes anytime soon…. but they seem not affected at all by what took place. They are AMAZING kids. This story is not intended to scare anyone it just shows how unperdictable life really can be… and next time we will fly the other airline :- )

Emma opted to have a very quite birthday, she had Luiza over after school on Thursday and we went bowling. Emma told me yesterday that her eighth birthday was her favorite birthday yet. I could not believe my ears because she has had some pretty cool birthdays. Em said she liked it nice and quite. It is amazing what we learn about our kids as they grow up.

(Emma got three presents and she was happy as a pig in mud)

(East and I waiting for the party to begin… Everett took this picture, they are learning well : -) If I could just teach their dad ..heehee

(we bowled at this awesome bowling ally at Albrook Mall)

(the boys listening for the ball to come back) 

(we had so much fun… a great birthday Emma love you sooooo much)

(as always our great guy East, doing his kind of pose… he loves to wear his Jamaican hat out with any kind of outfit… you are one of kind Pal… love you)

Time to sign off. Trent said “ENOUGH OF THE BLOG” – party pooper I say to him.

All our love to you and keep in touch. The next blog will be about Easton’s karate tournament and Emma’s play. So I will talk to you next month.

Happy Thanksgiving to our friends in the States and have fun shopping for the Christmas season!

Love Trent * Jody * Emma * Easton * Everett