Centre Parcs was a great weekend away with Cords, Noah, Craig, Jodie and Henry. It’s a resort that offers the chance for babies/toddlers to be completely unleashed amidst hundreds of other babies and toddlers, which means Mums (Cords and Jodie) can relax and Dads (me and Craig) have license to release the inner child. I had a brilliant time in the soft play centre for the under fives. Loved it – except crawling through the tunnel was a bit of a tight fit. But it was totally accepted I had to supervise Noah – loads of Dads were in there – men were virtually grabbing random children so they could have a go in it. Craig and Henry were in the thick of it too and Noah loved rampaging through the obstacles, although he was much quicker than me in getting round the course so I didn’t see him much. Outside, everyone races around on bikes (car free zone) with babies/kids strapped on the back, there are huge swimming pools, water slides, swings, slides and climbing frames at every turn and it was in short, a winner trip.

Unfortunately there have only been a couple of weekends between the last shoot and this one. News from home is that my wife, Cordelia, is pregnant again which is fantastic, Lily the dog whose pelvis was shattered and who I operated on before I left for the last trip is walking – a big high, and I had my 33rd birthday present which was a brilliant ride in a helicopter – 30min lesson – allowing me the chance to scare the wits out of the instructor as I took control and swung us wildly across the sky. I’ve discovered helicopters are very sensitive.

Back to business; there is currently a bit of turbulence as I charge towards Thailand but I’m oblivious because I am flying in style. Booked to fly economy plus (those extra inches make all the difference) – I have been magically upgraded. The story is that Abe (my brother in law) told his best mate (Oli) that I was flying today and Oli happens to be a BA pilot. Within about two minutes of sitting down I was moved up to club world!! It’s incredible!! Cases of ale all round!! I have a big dilemma now because part of me can’t wait to let them team know that I spent a lot of the time lying horizontally on a fully reclining seat being served delicious wine in a real glass (rather than plastic) but part of me feels a bit of solidarity with the boys who are flying out economy. Maybe I’ll just saunter off the plane with my little cloth wash bag to meet them and see if they pick up on it…