The 10AM Sunday Mass at St. Aloysius Gonzaga, Cronulla was Cooper's First Communion Mass, and we were there to celebrate this important event, followed by lunch at Thai Rim Nam Restaurant at the end of Cremona Road, Como.
Even though I arrived 10 minutes before Mass, as with most First Communion
Masses, the church was quite full, and the rest of the family were closer
to the front, in an already full seat. Keiran came and sat next to me,
so this was the second wing of the clan.
The choir was mostly composed of youngsters from the school.
They sang a number of hymns quite well. They were last seen following a
box of cup cakes from the church!
Cooper with his First Holy Communion certificate.
All the certificates handed out by Father Thomas and time for photographs!
Father Thomas talking to the new Communicants and their family after Mass.
Still talking!
After Mass, and when the children were all done, many came back in to the
church for photographs.
Second to arrive was Lily.
And third to arrive - Cooper. Parts of the restaurant date back to the
late 1800s, though I doubt it served Thai food then!
The view from our table, overlooking the Georges River to Oatley beyond.
Como Marina is in the foreground.
It was such a nice day, after the many weeks of mostly overcast weather.
Though there was some rain and lightning around 7PM, over the local area.
The table setting - before the mob arrived! The clear rail around the
balcony is new since last time we were here, though I don't recall when that was.
The old one was wood, if memory serves me correctly.
Cooper unwraps his First Communion presents. Lily wonders where hers are!
Cooper holding up his book for Keiran to photograph. So here's the
side view shot.
No recollection of what this conversation was about. But must have been
important to have taken a sequence of photos.
Discussion finished, time for a photograph. Yep, we don't have enough of them!
Following lunch, I chose to walk home. And, indeed, took the route along
the western side of the rail line. That is the more energetic route, as it
climbs then descends and climbs again, whereas the eastern side route
is flat then a steady climb over the rail line. But it was good to take
this route, and burn off some of lunch.
And so the celebration of this special day came to an end - with an afternoon snooze!
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