An advance apology

We went to the Caribbean side of Panama for the first time this past weekend. As the pictures show...it was stunning. White sand. Turquoise water. Tropical fish for the kids to muck about with. Coconuts to kick. Etc. Etc.

And I would like to add to this post that I'm sorry. I'm sorry I'm putting these up at this time. I know full well that there's 30 centimetres of snow in Canada and that the city of Ottawa (where many of our loved friends live) is facing a harrowing transit strike. So no buses and piles of slush. Sorry. Again. Truly.

But if it helps it wasn't all sunshine and roses on our tropical island. The hotel had bugs and mould. Max pooped all over his legs and the floor. Twice. Zella scraped her shoulder badly on coral encrusted concrete. And Rob and I didn't sleep at all on account of Max waking up at 1am, silently walking to the front door of our room and only yelling for help, (waking us up), when he couldn't unlock the door so that he might "take a walk by the ocean". Save us all from 2 year olds.

So just wanted to throw in that dose of reality with the gorgeousness of this location. It wasn't quite as bad as 30 cm of snow and a transit strike but perhaps it paints a more realistic picture than the photos may offer on the surface. I think we may face this problem quite a bit in the months to come. Panama is getting warmer and sunnier as many parts of the world get wetter and colder and darker. Again, sorry 'bout that. I do promise, though, to try and take photos of the less pleasant aspects of life here. So stay tuned for shots of Max throwing temper tantrums. Zella announcing she's bored. Rob and I doing the dishes. Panamanian store clerks looking at me like I'm pond scum. Those sorts of things. Riveting blogging abounds!