One week to go!

October 24th is approaching very, very quickly!  We are checking into the airport next Thurs night for a 1:45am departure early Friday morning!  It is hard to believe we are finally going!  This past week has been a whirlwind of activity preparing for out trip.

Thankfully, just about everything is in order. Air and hotels are booked.  We are just tidying up the little details now.  I have only one shift to go before I have my parental leave....Yay!!!  I like my co-workers but I love being home much more.  It is a wonderful privilege to have another leave of absence from work. 

Steph plans to be off for a total of five weeks...something he is looking forward to as well.  His work gives him two choices of leaves: five weeks of full pay or the trip length at no pay.  Definitely a no-brainer decision for us! 

We have booked apartment-type hotels as they are much more economical and convenient for such a large group.  In Vietnam, many of the hotels are very cheap but they charge a significant surcharge/person after two people or sometimes four persons. When you have seven in the family, the surcharges end up costing as much as the room itself.  We also like the idea of staying in a place where the kids have some space to move, where we have a full service kitchen,and where we have our own laundry facilities!

After our first ten 10 days in the city, we plan to travel up the coast a little ways to a beach town to relax while the paperwork is being processed.  It does not cost anymore to stay there, (less actually) and it will likely be a nice change.  We are both looking forward to a little R&R.  Who knows, though, if the our little Jadon is not well, we will stay in the big city to be closer to better healthcare.  One day at a time...