Time crunch.

It's awesome having Judi and Shauna here, and we're managing to find time for some killer memory creation.

Shauna and I at happy hour at Picasso.

Judi, Karen, Shauna, and I at Picasso

Shopping at Westland Mall. And Lola the cow.

Making margaritas at Locos Backyard Grill.

Shauna and Judi with blue margaritas -- made fresh from scratch. By me.

Out to dinner at a restaurant I don't care to return to with Larry, Brent, Shauna, and Judi (taking the photo).

What sucks, though, is that we're busy right now.

Which is what you want when you move to a new place and you've been there for a few months. We've worked hard to find some opportunities and have taken them as they've presented themselves -- and it just so happens that now they're demanding a lot of us right now.

I go back and forth on this -- I'm still relatively new to the real estate work with the Bahia, which is going to be here after Judi and Shauna leave, so I'm not at a place where I should be slacking off. We also help with property management, and we have no control over when guests arrive -- and we have to be there to check them in. But Judi and Shauna aren't going to be here for very long.

And then, randomly, this is the week that some friends of ours have friends in town who want to look at property. I don't typically show property -- I'm a one-building girl. But they asked specifically for me, so I found myself driving around Coronado ALL DAY on Tuesday, making Spanish-language phone calls, and looking at houses that meet their price point but not their expectations on quality. Just a confirmation that full-time real estate is not my kind of gig.

And more Panama City with Judi and Shauna.

Dusk in Casco Viejo, looking back toward the city.

Judi, Shauna, and I in the hotel lobby.

Crossing the street via the overpass to start our walk down the Cinta Costera.

On the Cinta Costera -- a gorgeous waterfront path.

Panama City -- it did not rain on us.

Relief from the heat in the form of a delightful brew pub.

Sampling beers at La Rana Dorada.

More up my alley: white sangria at La Rana Dorada.

Brent, Shauna, and I in Casco Viejo.

Sampling masks at the market.

Shauna, rocking the mask.

Fantastic day in the city.

Fueling up: breakfast at our hotel was awesome.

Judi taking a break.

Mural on the Tantalo rooftop, Casco Viejo.

Casco Viejo

More Casco Viejo, as seen through my super-amateur lens during the photography tour.

Panama City, family style.

They're here!

Judi and Shauna arrived on Thursday night. We went to the city, checked into the DeVille, a lovely boutique hotel, and hung out with Doug on his last night in Panama. He was staying at the Marriott a short walk away, so we met up with him there at the sports bar.

Though they had instructions about where to meet us, enough time had passed since their landing that I went back to our hotel to see if we had any messages -- and I ran into Judi and Shauna at the stairs!

On Friday, we walked the Cinta Costera -- a long walk on a hot day, and we enjoyed it, but we were ready for La Rana Dorada when we saw it: a brew pub that happened to be open even though it was only about 11:00am. (The Sides folk are early risers.)

After some sangria (for the girls) and beer (for Brent) we set out again for Casco Viejo. We strolled around this incredibly charming old part of the city for several hours, before stopping for lunch.

We were ahead of schedule, so we tooled around a bit before heading to a hotel/bar, Tantalo, where we were meeting up with a photography group.

I had signed us up for a photography tour of Casco, where we got some photography tips from a professional while exploring the very photogenic area. There was also an actual tour guide, who offered a lot of historical insight and fun information about the various buildings.

It was a fantastic time. Even though we had seen the entire area that day, it was nice to get some of the facts from the tour guide, and to see it at dusk. We also had a great time looking at it from a photographer's viewpoint -- I found myself intrigued by things I wouldn't have really noticed if I weren't out to get pictures.

On Saturday, we went straight to the Panama Canal. Even though we've been here for several months, we still hadn't visited the Canal, and I was sort of expecting nothing much more than, well, a big ditch. To my surprise, I was DELIGHTED to watch the little ship go through. Watching the locks in action, the water rising and falling to get the boat through....it was pretty cool.  The museum was equally fascinating, and I wished it hadn't been quite so busy so I could have spent a little more time reading everything.

And Judi bought a shirt that ended up not fitting so well. Turns out it was a kids large, not a ladies large.

We made it back to the city in time for a late lunch at the FABULOUS Beirut restaurant: a definite favorite for me.

On Sunday we drove back to the beach -- relieved to be exiting the city on a quiet, quiet Sunday, instead of having to deal with that Thursday traffic we came in on.

Wally Dooglas in the house!

That's the text I got on Friday night, when our friend Doug landed at the airport. (The Argentinians very regularly mispronounced his name, and their variation remains a favorite for all of us.) Brent drove to the city to get him, and they stopped by Locos on the way home.

We met Doug in Argentina -- he became one of our closest Casa Bar friends. He moved to Denver just a couple of months before we left Argentina for good, and we spent New Year's Eve with him when we pit stopped in Denver before coming to Panama. And now he's HERE and we love it!

We've been enjoying the beach and happy hour and whatnot, and he has just left for the city, where he will spend the day exploring before we go in to see him once more before he goes -- and to greet my aunt and sister when they arrive!