Off we go...

The day before we left for Panama, something happened…teething!! Really!?! Really?!?  Needless to say it made the travel experience enlightening.

The day before we left, our usually great sleeper, refused to sleep all day long (making me very glad that I had packed early) and screamed at her bedtime for two hours.  Now, panic was creeping in…I had suspected the start of teething earlier in the week but this just confirmed it.  Everybody buckle up because this is going to be rough!  When she finally fell asleep, I looked at Luke and said, “Well, maybe she’ll be so exhausted that she’ll sleep on the plane.”  HA!

That night we both barely slept from pure excitement and anxiety over our trip…we were like kids waiting for Santa.  We have never had such an easy time getting things loaded and ready to go (considering it was 3:30) we were like a well-oiled machine moving.  The final step before our departure was to wake up Sutton.  Luke went in her room, changed her diaper, and we loaded her up in the car.  The first 45 minutes were oddly quiet even though she never went back to sleep.  I think she was making her plan for how things were about to go down….

I look so cute now....

This child screamed the rest of the way to the airport….stopped long enough to look cute for the ticket agent and security…and was a restless fussy mess for the first flight! When we got off in Miami, we put her in her stroller. (aka magic sleeping chair) and she was out like a light  for the two-hour layover.  Now, this might sound like “Oh good, you guys got a welcomed break” but really she was just resting up for round two for the flight to Panama and the hour drive to our house.  

Waking up at 3:30 + screaming baby = Extra large coffee!

Resting up for Round two...she needs all her strength!

Fast forward to our drive to the house…

Driving into Panama City on our way to Playa el Palmar

As Luke drove (screaming baby in tow) he missed the sign that said 80 kilometers and was keeping up with the traffic in front of him until a woman dressed in a Policia uniform stepped out into the middle of the road from the median to flag him over.  Now I  speak a little Spanish,  but Luke speaks even less.  After almost 13 hours of traveling I wasn’t the best translator when Luke rolled down the window to speak with the officer.  As she scowled at us and spoke rapidly in Spanish, while Sutton screamed her lungs out in the backseat, all I could comprehend was her telling him to get out of the car.  She was on her cell phone shouting and pointing.  I saw Luke start walking in the direction she was pointing and then turn back and forth  in confusion.  She kept shouting and he just looked and her blankly and then he got back in the car.

“What did she say?” I said.  “I don’t know…She kept pointing to the sign that said 80 kilometers and showing me the gun that said 110.  I didn’t realize that it changed.  She basically said I can go but if she sees this car again speeding, the ticket will be muy grande.”  This is the only time one the trip that having a child screaming in the background might have worked in our favor!

I will NOT speed, I will NOT speed, I will NOT speed....

When we arrived to the house, we meet the couple that takes care of the property.  What was the first thing I did when we saw them???? I hugged these complete strangers and we started conversing in Spanish about how tired we all were and then they started asking about the baby and our trip as we walked around the house.  After they left, Luke looked at me and said, “Where did that come from and where was it when we got pulled over.”  “I don’t know.” I said.   I really didn’t know…I can just imagine that it was the exhaustion that was making me delirious and to be honest, I probably told them something  ridiculous like “Our cat likes spaghetti and Saturdays.”  Who really knows...