Sand and pugs

It doesn't take long to start a tradition; you can just do something once and decide to keep doing it. Last year, one of Andrew's sisters decided that seeing as we don't all get together at Christmas, that we should all go away together, Andrew's parents, the four siblings and their families that is, in June. We went to a caravan park in Wollongong, the same distance from Wagga as it is from Gloucester, and we had a great weekend.

This year, we changed the caravan park, to one just up the road, but still all came together for the weekend. There were 21 of us last year, and this year, the oldest cousin brought a fellow, so we are a growing family again!

Our cabins were all in a row, right at the beach. Bethany asked what that noise was when we arrived. I may not like the sand or the water, but I do like the sound of the beach.

There was a lot of soccer played, sand brought inside, tea and coffee consumed and long walks taken. The cousins all slept in each other's cabins (we just had two teenaged boys - win!).

We went out for dinner, with the adults at one table and the kids (that word doesn't apply to all of them) at another. Afterwards, we asked a lady to take a photo of all of us. The patriarch turns 93 tomorrow!

We stopped on our way home and found two pugs! After admiring them from the car for a while, Bethany and I got out and made friends. Seriously, they were so cute I almost burst, but I don't want one. We got covered in hair just from our brief encounter, and they snuffled, snorted and sneezed. The lady said that they sneeze on her food, and she said one of them wasn't very nice! She used a word she had to whisper as Bethany was there. Still, the encounter made a great weekend even better.

Just in case you were wondering, Andrew came at the end and had a pat. Neither Bethany or I have a hairy arm like that.