Our Family Moved from Canada to Panama: Part 1 It is Panama Day

The Day Has Arrived

It is moving day, the day we leave Alberta, Canada to start our new journey as we move to Panama. It has finally arrived. I woke up this morning feeling everything but ready! I wanted 7:30pm to come quick but also not. The upside of a red eye flight is you have all day to get everything ready. The downside, if you are like me, is you now also have all day to over-analyze and be anxious.

We spent the morning almost like any other. Everything normal except mister Hunter running around yelling “It’s Panama Day.” He is excited! Not only that but he was also sure to remind us it “took a long time” for today to arrive. Nova was living off his excitement obliviously not understanding the reason but just as happy purely because he was happy.

Most of the morning I idly check and rechecked the house making sure nothing was left behind and did my final clean. Lunchtime came quicker than expected and we threw together a meal of all the randoms left in the house. I almost didn’t eat because my stomach was not feeling great.  My nerves were all over the place and I was starting to feel nauseous. 

Nap Time Fiasco

Nap time arrived and the kids went down almost without issue. Some stories, hugs and kisses then as we walked out of the room, Hunter sits up proclaiming “I need to throw up.” My heart drops and my mind immediately goes to our flight. Are they going to let us on the plane if he is throwing up? I sit with him in the bathroom, his face over the toilet. He is taking deep breaths but not throwing up. Trying to gauge the situation I wait a couple minutes and I ask if we can prayer together. He agrees and then comes and sits on my lap folding his hands. We pray for healing and for God to put his hands on Hunter and protect him from any more sickness. This seemed to perk him up and we go back to his bed and lay together until he fell asleep.

When I get back upstairs Zach was waiting! He looks at me pointedly, as he confidently says “Hunter is not sick”. Puzzled but willing to hear him out he goes on to ask me…“what have you been saying all day?”. Then it dawns on me. The whole day has been us asking each other how we are doing. Zach has been comforting me, holding me together and saying we’re good, we got this, it will all be fine. I have been saying “I feel sick to my stomach” or “I think I might throw up”. Poor Hunter has heard all this and thought he should feel sick too. I felt terrible and knew I had to change how I was speaking. The realization also made me feel better! I could breath a sigh of relief as I was no longer freaking out about being refused at the airport.

Moving On

We moved on to washing, peeling and cutting fruit, put snacks in the lunch boxes and made sure the iPads were charged and loaded up with games and movies. The last and biggest item was the final pack and weighing of the suitcases. We are so darn close in weight for everything. Three out of the four big bags are 50.4lbs each (praying the scales at the airport round down) but the last one was overweight at 51.5 pounds. We had room in Zach’s golf case thank goodness, we pulled enough out to bring the bag down to 49.8lbs. Nap time was still not over which gave us time to give the house its final clean and time to just sit together without anything else.

After Nap

Hunter and Nova woke up at their usual time and wouldn’t you know it Hunter got upstairs and said he needed to throw up. I sat with him at the toilet again trying to explain that he doesn’t need to feel sick just I said it. I told him I felt better and we were going to pray again. After the prayer he declares “I feel so much better” and emerges from the bathroom his normal, happy, energetic self. Therefore, a quick note to all you parents out there, your kids are listening and watching you so be aware of your words and actions. This was a good wakeup call for me.

The evening was another dinner throw together, a drink for mom and dad and some kitchen dancing to pass the time. We saved one of Hunter’s Christmas gift from Auntie Marissa for today. It was a volcano experiment, linked here! It was a whole experience, from making the volcano out of plaster, painting it and finally the explosion with your classic baking powder and vinegar combo. Thank you to our neighbour for the vinegar as we were fresh out…opps. He loved every minute of it and had been patiently waiting all week to do it on “Panama Day”. It was the perfect activity to pass time and keep the kids happy with no toys and nothing else to do.

The Time Has Finally come

7:30 finally arrived and Marissa pulled up. We packed all the bags and the kids into the van, locked up and said goodbye. We are off. The drive felt like any other with my sister, swapping stories, talking about the kids, our marriages, it was perfect. It helped to act as if this was any other drive so we could kept it together. Pulling up to our doors at the airport the emotions were ready to spill over. We slowly pulled everything out and double checked everything. Lastly it was our turn to say goodbye, the kids gave hugs and then Marissa and I just held each other, both not ready to let go yet. We know it was going to be the last hug for some time. Once we final let go it was a final kiss and we had to watch her drive away. That was hard.

Now to start the journey of actually getting to Panama City and starting our new life.