Off we go

Celest and I are heading to Japan for a weeklong vacation. This is the first time that Celest will be away from the children for more than a few hours so it's going to be a tough experience for everyone. However, we felt that we had to do this as this would be probably our only chance to getaway in the years to come as things progress.

Mum and Dad agreed to look after them for this week and I hope they don't run into any unsolvable issues.

We've been telling Nigel everyday about the short trip and I think he understands - I did, however, have to promise him that I would take him to the luge again on Sentosa when we return and I hope that he holds on to that thought.

Shannon would probably make the most noise later as we walk into the airport area - so there's going to be some major distracting going on to make sure she doesn't scream MUMMY MUMMY too loud. I think I need to bring a pack of tic-tacs.

So we'll be in Hokkaido and Tokyo - 3 days each. I'm not sure what we'll be seeing there as Celest did most of the planning. She spent many days and nights surfing around looking for hotels, flights, activities and so on, so now she's the Japan expert.

We'll be calling back almost everyday I guess to make sure that everything is ok and nobody has to be admitted for loss of hearing (talking about the adults) or insanity (also talking about the adults).

Wish us (everyone) luck!