Panama trip

Since we can only stay in Costa Rica for 3 months at a time, we had to leave the country for a while. We found some tickets to Panama, and spent 6 days there.  We enjoyed seeing the canal right after we got there.  We went to Miraflores locks and watched a cruise ship and a cargo ship go down through the locks and out to the Pacific Ocean.  Then we went to a huge mall (we forgot to take any pictures, unfortunately) to find a white shirt for George and eat lunch.  We found such a great deal on pizza there that we went back 3 more times over the course of our trip.  There was a carousel in the food court that the kids went on a couple times, too.  It was quite a mall!  We passed by the temple while we were driving around.  It is quite beautiful.  The first 3 nights we stayed at a bed & breakfast which was nice and homey. 

On Sunday we went to the church on the temple lot.  Both the temple and church building are almost brand new.  The ward was a little larger than our ward in Costa Rica, and had even more English speaking people than ours.  They had translators for all the meetings.  We met a young adult who said she could watch our kids while we went to the temple, which we did on Tuesday.  On Monday we got up early and went bird watching and saw quite a bit, inlcuding a toucan, but it was flying so high up that we didn't get a picture.  After that we headed to the Caribbean side to the beach.  We found a nice place to swim.  The water was pretty calm, a great temperature and shallow, so the kids could enjoy it.  Then we headed over to a fort in Portobelo where pirates used to attack.  I read later that the Spanish would store their gold and silver from South America there, but the English pirates broke their defenses too often, so they chose other safer routes by the late 17th century.  We could just picture the Pirates of the Caribbean firing their cannonballs.  This is how I enjoy history!  That evening we ate a restuarant on an island, connected to the mainland now by the Amador Causeway. It was an Italian restaurant with a beautiful view of the ocean and Panama City. Scott said it was the best meal he ever had and such a nice view. He said he hopes he remembers this when he grows up. I hope so, too! Here is a map of the restaurant:

View Amador Causeway in a larger map

Tuesday we went to a zoo and saw monkeys, birds, crocodiles, turtles, small cats and more. We also moved over to our next hotel on the Canal. It had a playground and some fun pools for the kids to play. George and I went to the temple later that afternoon. It was so wonderful to be there. It is a little larger than most of the smaller temples and has more unique designs and architecture. In addition, I was able to do some work for some of George's ancestors, which was a sweet experience. I feel so blessed to have been able to go to that temple and feel the spirit there. Heaven feels so much closer in the temple. It gave me renewed motivation to be a better wife, mother, friend and person.

Wednesday we went to a beach on the Pacific side. The water was just barely cooler than on the Caribbean side, but the waves were a bit bigger and the currents were strong. Not as kid friendly. There were lots of pretty shells there, so we brought a bunch back home with us. Thursday was our last day. We went up to the top of Ancon Hill, which is a good sized hill that has a large Panama flag on top. It looks down on the whole city. It is named after the first ship to go through the Panama Canal. That sums up our trip, I think. We had a great time together!