So we left you on a cliff hanger and I know all week you have not been able to think about anything else apart from were they surprised? Did it work out? and What have they been up to since? Well for you to get the full picture we need to take you back on the day they left for the airport Thursday 10th December….

The Adventure begins…
Well they started to pack at 2pm, they were meant to be leaving at 3pm by 4.30pm they were only just loading up the car. When they finally got going the excitement was building and they thought it was an easy journey from there on in, however Tom Tom was not able to find Terminal 4 and neither was the three of them (Joe was the chauffeur!). When they finally made it to check in mummy started the amateur dramatics of how “I’m so very scared of flying erm… is there any chance of an upgrade”? The women kindly replied “I’ll see what I can do”. So off they went to have a pre flight snack and to browse the duty free. After assuming they had plenty of time and then deciding to check the board to see if they will soon be boarding the words ‘boarding gate closing’ was flashing back at them. In a mad panic the travel sweets were forgotten and the magazines were put back. They both had to run to their gate as fast as they could – bearing in mind their hand luggage is the same size of mine and Stephanie’s backpacks and as you can imagine these two running towards you, people were jumping out the way. Arriving at the gate they were both sweaty and out of breath the man at the desk said one moment please, their hearts had stopped and they thought the worst had happened that they have missed the flight. Instead the man came back with a smile on his face and announced that they had been upgraded to business class all they could think was NICE ONE!! They settled into their chairs/beds quite nicely and were handed an array of drinks including champagne which was topped up regularly. Well it has to be said that the fear of flying was fading with each glass of champers. After sliver service a three course dinner and then a three course breakfast a short stopover in Bahrain they then had to slum it in economy for the next flight. The next flight was hot, cramped and full of soft drinks they were just not used to these conditions, however the in flight entertainment was keeping them amused, mummy found a channel with a foreign version of Trigger Happy T.V and was cackling the whole way through, much to the disgust of the couple in front. Once arriving in Bangkok they picked up their luggage and were off to find their transfer. After waiting at gate 3 for 45 minutes they then went to go and find out where the transfer was from the tourist information desk. That’s when they walked past gate 6 with a women looking very tired still holding up a sign which says Julie Parrish and Danielle Parrish. I would like to add that if they had both read the email they would have known to be waiting at gate 6. So they were in the minibus on the way to their hotel thinking, how they are ever going to cope alone for the next few days…

Meanwhile…
Stephanie and I are very excited and cannot wait for the arrival of the rest of our team, so we sit in the hotel restaurant at approximately 7pm and order a drink we have our menus covering our faces but still feel we are not that hidden and we can find a better hiding place. So we get up and hide in a gap between the restaurant and the hotel reception desk. Many tourist and locals are walking past and staring at us wondering what we were up to with our cameras in our hand and our heads bobbing up and down. At 7.30 still no sign we are getting very hot and wondering where the hell they are, after some more head bobbing the man who works in the tailor shop next door finds out what we are up to and says he will be our look out. Before we could say no thanks he gets their full description and what type of luggage they have. After about three false alarms, where our look out man was waving his arms frantically shouting to us there here it was 8.00pm and we really thought this guy is going to blow our cover we didn’t have the heart to tell him not to worry. By 8.15 the tuk tuk drivers, the waiters in the restaurant and the tailor man were all in on the big secret which we had named ‘Operation Surprise’. It was now 8.30 and a crowd had gathered, a minibus was unloading bag after bag, we saw their luggage before we saw them! As they walked towards the reception we jumped out and shouted surprise they were really shocked to see us, they dropped their bags and screamed. We were all jumping in a circle letting out high pitched screams when the people around us started to clap by the look of us they thought we had not seen each other in years, not 6 weeks!

There was no time for jetlag as team leader (Stephanie – a self appointed position!) had organised the night she was still a little annoyed as the late arrival had messed up her schedule and had to be rearranged! We had dinner and then got straight onto the cocktails at our usual joint where Stephanie and I are now well known, as regulars they often put in an extra shots. We were on our third bucket when we decided to go dancing. After a couple of hours of dancing, team leader gathered us up and said it was time for bed. We had been given a bed time as we had to be up early the next morning. The itinerary had no space for hangovers as well as jetlag.

We have been together for just over a week now, having a wonderful time. As this is a long blog we will update you in a few days with what we have been up to! Hope you are all ok and enjoying the snow!!!

Missing you and loads of love to you all xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx