Good Times, Bad Times: A Grampians Family Reunion

Firstly, lets get the bad times out of the way. Saturday night was a double whammy of sadness for myself, Aunty Sue and Uncle John. Two fantastic games of World Cup 2007 Rugby Union with both our teams (Australia and New Zealand respectively) being beaten by England and France respectively, who just played better on the night....damn Johnny Wilkinson and Whatever-his-first-name-is Michelac (yes I just spelt their names completely wrong I'm sure) for being so damn hot AND good at rugby for the wrong bloody countries.

Anhow...what on Earth am I on about. Well last weekend we had a great half-reunion with my Mum's side of the family. My whole family was there, plus two of Mum's brothers, their wives, and also one of my cousins (and his wife- who also bought along her yet-to-be-born baby). I hadn't seen most of my fam since July so there was a lot to catch up on all around.

So, highlights:

• The food- especially Aunty Sue's french toast (made from french bread cut on the diagonal for extra french-ness) with bacon, banana and maple syrup (Hayley- try it, you will love it, perfect balance of sweet and savoury). The endless cheese platter were also great.
• Star Wars monopoly- Jen tried to find a "clause" in the "legislation" to stop the four de Jong kids ganging up against herself and Michael (she's a lawyer). Epic two hour game with John (with his new Star Wars tattoo) showing off his Star War's expertise, and Jen winning to show us that cheating doesn't pay.
• Grampians bushwalking....Uncle Corey took us on the very long route to the fantastic Hall's Gap icecreamery.
• Catching up with Mum, Dad, Maree, Monnie and John- having everyone together makes me realise how much I miss everyone.
• Dinging my Corolla- needed to get the first scrape incident out of the way.
  

A few pics:

Bacon and eggs were sorely needed after drinking too much cider and watching Australia lose to England for the second World Cup running. Dad, Michael, Uncle John and Uncle Corey man the BBQ (women inside cleaning and preparing food as per usual protocol)

John with the resident Kookaburra. It likes bacon rind.

The de Jong kids altogether...who knows when it will happen again. Not at Christmas, thats for sure- Maree is heading off to Europe with Tom in a few weeks for an 8 week trip, and John in soon off to backpack some of Asia...At least Monnie isn't abandoning me.