No... Like really...this is it!

So here we sit... in the airport... and we have made our calls... I feel extremely nervous. Did I forget something?  Will everyone have fun?

The reality is all will be fine.  We have our passports, and everything else can be purchased.  We will have fun and at some point... We will yell at one of our kids. Char will pout and Andrew will boss us around because he knows everything.  This is an adventure and every part of it will be worth it. I hope not to loose sight of this at any point and more than anything, I hope my kids can see this. I know when I took Drew last time this was hard for him to get, but when he came home, he realized it.  I know he is ready and I know I have tried my best to make this cool and easy for them. But the reality is that we are together and this is the first family trip we have ever taken that is longer than a week.

So just for future reference... Allow me to introduce you to the crew:

From left to right:  Andrew, Johnny, me and Charlotte

As we continue, you will meet a whole host of characters; all of whom are amazing, funny, creative and simply brilliant.  

PS... the filght we were on was going to be delayed by an hour or two causing us to lose our connecting flight...so we are still on American soil and waiting for a direct to Frankfurt at 2:00- see, the adventure has already begun!  Now Char and I can tell you the names of every shop in the international terminal;)