Sunday, September 21, 2014

Family Picnic

It was Richie's 23rd birthday during the week, so I asked him if he would like to celebrate it by having a family picnic.  He thought that would be good, so we sent out the word to everyone and we all came together at Jells Park today.

Lizzy, Richie, Nick, Mum, Jack & Phil















There was Wayne & I, our three kids Victoria (Torie), Richard (Richie) and Elizabeth (Lizzy), Torie's boyfriend Nick, my Mum Dawn (who had travelled all the way up from Phillip Island by bus on Friday for the occasion), Wayne's sister Debbie and her husband Phil, and Wayne's brother Mark, his son Jack and Mark's new girlfriend Suzie.


Phil, Debbie, Jack & Mum


Mark & Jack



















Everyone brought something, so the load was shared nicely between us all.  We had cheese and biscuits to begin with, while we waited for everyone to arrive.

Mark, Torie & Mum











Lizzy, Richie & Nick

Then Wayne and Phil fired up one of the electric barbeques that are at the park and cooked up a whole load of different meats - steak, lamb chops, sausages, chicken wings and salmon fillets, while the rest of us laid the table with four types of salad, bread rolls, mustards and sauces.


Richie, Nick, Lizzy, Torie & Phil

Wayne, Jack, Debbie, Mark, Suzie & Mum
















The weather was just perfect!  Sunny and warm and about 18 degrees Celsius, which was a relief because it had been overcast and raining all week.


Suzie, Mark & Phil in the foreground

The only family member who couldn't join us was Wayne's Dad, Geoff, which was sad and we missed having him there.  But hopefully we will be able to do something similar in Stratford next time and he will be able to be with us.

Torie with Daisy
















We brought the dogs too - our two spoodles, Jarrah & Daisy and Debbie brought her schnauzer Schminke.  Mark said his dog was too smelly to put in the car today!

Richie & Lizzy throwing the frisby
















After lunch, the kids had a bit of fun throwing a frisby while we cleared away the mess into big garbage bags to take home.

The birthday cake




Then we put the kettle on a little portable gas stove that we had brought and made coffees and teas and brought out Richie's birthday cake as we all sang "Happy Birthday" to him.  Everyone gave him their presents.










Earlier in the day, when they were able to have some quiet time together, Mum gave Richie her present which was very special ... it was Dad's wedding ring.  Dad passed away a year ago last weekend, so to give Richie his ring was a very moving thing for both Mum and Richie.  He was rendered quite speechless by such a special gift from Mum and gently tried it on each of his fingers until he found the one that it fit perfectly.  Then he wore it all day, but said he would put it away safely afterwards and only wear it on special occasions, as he wanted to take great care of it.

Richie wearing Dad's wedding ring
It was a lovely family day and everyone said they enjoyed themselves.