The Characters!

As mentioned previously there will be 11 adults and 7 nephews taking part in this adventure. Let me introduce the characters of this story to you...
The oldest sibling is Michael. Michael is married to Nicky. They are the very proud parents of 4 children, of whom Will is the only one in this story.
Next in line is John. John is married to Andrea, who, by the way also happens to be Nicky's sister. Talk about keeping it all in the family!!! John and Andrea have 2 gorgeous boys, Josh and Bas who are both coming on this expedition.
Anthony is the middle child, married to yours truly, and we also have 2 gorgeous boys, Sam and Harry, who cannot wait to be part of the adventure.

There is only 1 sister, Catherine who is married to David. They have 2 adorable boys, of whom only Matthew will meet up with us whilst having a year living overseas.
Last in line, but by no means the least, as he is the orchestrator of this trip, Paul, who is married to Samantha, and they have 1 son, the irrepressible Finn.
The last family member to join this motley crew is Maryellen. Maryellen is a cousin to all these siblings, and also a school friend of mine from many years ago.

I have managed to find a beautiful photo of all the Cross siblings, obviously taken many years ago. We will meet up with them all again as this adventure unfolds and then have some up to date photos, but this will keep everyone entertained till then.

Michael, John, Anthony, Catherine and Paul

The idea!

My brother-in-law Paul and his gorgeous wife Samantha have been visiting Istria for many years. Istria is in the northern part of Croatia, the largest peninsula in the Adriatic Sea, and is located directly opposite Venice, Italy. Samantha's parents migrated from there many years ago, and Samantha is always keen to go back and visit her cousins, aunts and uncles and her elderly grandparents. Paul has raved about the beauty of the country and thought it would be a novel idea if his siblings, their wives/ husbands and nieces and nephews were to travel together and share the wonderful experiences that he, Samantha and their young son Finn have been so fortunate to have had so many times.
Sounds simple doesn't it.
Paul is one of 5 children, and each sibling is married. Each sibling has at least 2 children, some of these nieces / nephews are still in school, some are studying at university, some are working, and there is a cousin or two that would like to join the fun. This equates to trying to get 12 adults, and up to 11 children, i.e. nieces and nephews, trying to find a mutual holiday when everybody could attend. Obviously this was NEVER going to happen; some are studying for looming exams, some can't get away from work, so the final count is 11 adults, and 7 nephews. Pretty good really, NOW the fun will begin.