W to the P: A Warrior to my Princess

An Ode to My Husband

Today is my husband's birthday. Warren Potter is not your average guy. He is so amazing that I have to sit on my hands to keep from clapping ALL THE TIME! Really. 

In all serious though. I cannot thank him enough for all that he is for our family. 

For Braylee:

-You are the piggy to her piggyback rides.

-You are the Superman that flies high in her skies. 

-You are the pizza delivery man that brings the best pepperoni. 

-You are the upside down to her tickles. 

-You are the adventure to her stories. 

-You are the pat on her back.

-You are the sun on her cloudy days. 

-You are the M&M in her trail mix. 

-You are the do do do do do to her Inspector Gadget. 

-You are the string to her cheese.

-You are the light to her night.

-You are the bandit doctor for her boo-boos.

-You are the kid knife to her Peanut Butter and Jelly,

and, in her opinion, the coolest parent. 

She loves you for the dad that you are. She appreciates your time and your patience and loves your jokes. Thank you for all that you are and always will be in her world. 

For Me:

You are the Starry to my Night.

You are the hopes to my dreams.

You are the talk to my late nights.

You are the balance to my opinions.

You are the warrior to my princess.

You are the support to my goals. 

You are the calm to my storm. 

You are the faith when I cannot seem to find any. 

You are the song to my lyrics. 

You are the Superman to save my world.

You are the push to my pull.

You are the rock to my roll. 

You are the answers to my prayers

and I wouldn't have it any other way.

In case you haven't noticed. YOU ARE OUR EVERYTHING. 

Thank you for the warm, calm, patient, caring, loving, faithful man that you are. 

We love you Warren Potter.

Happy completion of one more year on this planet!

Panamá: Airport Fun (Day 8)

We have had many firsts, seen another small corner of the world and after a wonderful 8 day journey in Panama, we have arrived home safe and sound! I cannot say thank you enough to all of you for reading the blog and I hope that you enjoy this last summary of our trip!

Our last day of our trip began with a wake up call at 4:45 in the morning. We left for the airport at 5:30 with our bag lunches in tow. These middle school students didn't leave anything behind; that we know of anyway. We took a wonderful ride to the airport and said our farewells to Alonso and Paulino and checked-in. The process was smooth and we were on our way to Houston. We arrived in Houston at around 2:15 and that's when all of the fun started! Although we were faced with a 7 hour layover, we made the most of it! Throughout my travel experiences I have been faced with many long layovers, but this one takes the cake! I was dreading this layover because any layover with students who are ready to be home can be tough, but this one was going to be long. Although I had my doubts, this was an amazing group! We landed and ate lunch, spent an hour catching up journals that they had been to tired to write on tour, completed a scavenger hunt in our terminal, had a group singoff (Pitch Perfect style), and ended the time with a summary of our trip haiku challenge. It was a grand time in the airport and it flew by!

We were welcomed home by a wonderful group of parents! I want to take the last paragraph of this blog segment  to thank them for allowing their kids this wonderful opportunity! My mission is to allow my students to see that the world is a lot bigger than the small little town that they live in, the state where they reside, and even the country that they know. I would not be able to accomplish this mission each year if parents did not allow their children to travel with me. I appreciate the trust and patience that they have with me throughout the year and a half process that is this adventure. These parents provide transportation to meetings, navigate through numerous emails of communications, help their students with anxiety and concerns of travel, schedule doctors appointments, fill out  paperwork, but most importantly they allow their students a chance to adventure into the world without them, many for the first time. As a mother, I know how hard this will be for me in the future and I cannot express the thanks, gratitude and appreciation (yes, I realize that those are synonyms) that I feel for these parents. The students are young and may or may not realize the opportunity they were given and the life skills that they received, but one day they will. From their teacher, thank you. Thank you for them and thank you for me. Thank you. I truly love showing the world to your child.

 q

Panamá: Snorkeling, Ruins and Farewell Dinner (Day 7)

"Traveling makes me see things in a whole new perspective and it makes me realize all that we take for granted." - Panama Student 2017

Today we traveled two hours by bus to visit the Caribbean side of Panama.  We stopped in Portobelo, named by the Italian Christopher Columbus, to get on a boat and meet our snorkeling guides. After getting fitted for flippers, goggles and a snorkel, we lathered on the sunscreen and rode a boat to a private island just off of the coast. Over half of the group had never been snorkeling before so this experience was a first for many of them! I have been snorkeling before and these students received an incredible day for it! The weather was beautiful. The sun was shining and there was not a cloud in the sky. The water was gorgeous and we saw many different families of fish, schools of fish, sea urchins, colorful coral and anemones. I think we even found Dory! Nemo is still out there somewhere though. 

 After snorkeling with pelicans and underwater creatures, we took another small boat ride to a place for beach side soccer, shell hunting and swimming. What a wonderful way to end a great trip!

Before leaving Portabelo, we spent some time exploring the town. This included a church with a statue of the Black Christ (important to the history of the New World) and and one of the first forts in the New World. It is interesting to think about the feet that once stood in this fort, the dangers they felt, the missions they accomplished and the people that owned them. 

 

Next, we journeyed the two hours back to the hotel, showered, and get ready for our farewell dinner. As part of my group tradition, students dress up on the final night of our tour. We ate a fabulous dinner at El Trapiche, shared our favorite experiences on the trip and said goodbye to Alonso, our dear friends from Alabama (Christian, Max, Copeland and their teacher Mr. Scott), as well as or EF tour buddies (Jenn and Alex). It is so amazing to hear what the kids enjoyed and see how much they have grown in a week. I am really going to miss this group! I hope that many of them consider applying to be a Junior Counselor for my trips in the future! (Parents, we will talk!)

A Picture Perfect Panama Portrait...

Fun/Funny Quotes from Today:

I flop like a fish. 

Those look like fries. 

I'm so salty today because I drank too much of the salt water. 

I didn't get eaten by a shark.

You created an awkward moment for him. How? By talking to him. 

My life jacket isn't letting me sink. 

I don't know which is funnier, the face that it took me a minute to completely understand the joke, or the joke itself.

NOTE: I will be posting quote a few more pictures tomorrow throughout the day, as we have a lengthy layover in Denver and I am just too tired tonight to wait for them to download. These are by no means the best, only the quickest. I hope you have enjoyed reading my blog for this trip. I will continue to post about other things and will have about 3 more Panama posts before we are all safe and sound in Wichita tomorrow evening. Thank you for reading! A huge thank you to all of you who helped make this journey possible for these kids. You have provided them with one of the greatest gifts on Earth... the ability to explore.

Heather Potter - Student Travel Group Leader