Rest of a Great Panama Visit

 

 

 

Cozy being with family

 

 

 

and friends (Mila with Gwen. Today is Gwen's 8th birthday--congrats to our girl!!!).

 

 

 

Clarice arrived the day before we left.  Here's the early morning gang (Simon still asleep) to wave us off as we depart, including Nibbles the rabbit and George the slightly sad dog having to wear his post-spading collar for a week..

 

 

 

 

Later, Simon trying on that collar. 

 

Sarah modeling her new magenta shirt at the Panama airport just before flying out.

 

 

Boat Ride

 

We all signed up for a morning boat ride up the Panama Canal, an excursion I suggested after reading about it on-line.

 

Had the kids skip school because we thought it would be so exciting.

 

But from the first chug of the engine we knew it wasn't going to be so great--tons of stupid jokes by the tour leader--plus seeing hardly any wild life.  Gwen even asked to go back to school because she was missing long division.

 

What was good: on off-shoot of the canal was this pretty nifty houseboat where we had lunch, and

the ride back back to Gamboa was fun (this time without the tour leader)--wind in our faces as we raced down the Canal past huge cargo ships.  

An up and down day but that's life!

A Rainy Rain-forest Day

 

 

On Sunday we drove down Pipeline Road for a fish fry lunch.

It was POURING rain--lovely for us southern Californians who have been starved for rain.

 

 

 

"Fish Fry" meant the whole fish!  But totally delicious. 

 

 

 

A brief walk up the road and an effort to get a perfect Page/Bethel family photo.

 

 

 

Silliness!

Hello Gamboa!

Two weeks ago we flew to Panama to be with the Page Bethels and meet some new members of the gang:

Nibbles, the soft, sweet rabbit,

George, the recently adopted, very well-mannered stray,

and Darth Vader, a tiny fish in the kids' fish tank.

We walked to the Gamboa Discovery School with Simon

and Gwen and George.

Evidence of arrivals: bike, backpacks

and shoes.

A nifty school--the kids love it!!!

Parents Night at Edison School

(grandparents too)
(forgot to post this before we left Burbank)

 

Madddie's 2nd grade--Sam and Max admiring her work.

Praise for Maddie who says she loves half smiles

but here's a sort of whole one.

Max's first grade fan Ella writes glowingly (and phonetically) about him.

and he creates free-standing, bending, leaning sculpture much like I remember Sam making when he was young.

Shocker--just last night we learned it will be their last week of school next week.  And we'll be off to Panama and the east coast. Our time out here and with our PK family has flown by--but been so good.