Punting and Sunday Roast - OH MY!
Let's just start out by saying all the photos of punting were taken when things were calm, or mostly calm... so they won't depict the mayhem that occurred. It seems there is a bit of a friendly competitiveness between several parties on this trip. Somehow, we were able to turn a pastime which is generally regarded as leisurely and quiet, into an all-out brawl on the water today (ok, not a brawl... but it was intense)... picture Bumper-Gondola-Grand Prix-Surf-Jousting. For those of you who don't remember, "punting" is a boating activity, similar to a gondola except the boats are flatter and lower to the water, see: wikipedia - punting We should have known that this group would get competitive, we should have planned for wet clothing and drenched shoes... but we didn't. Luckily, no electronics were damaged in our punt race (although a camera was dropped and damaged later in the day (mine... not a campers)) but there were definitely wet shoes, soaked pants, dripping shirts, well... let's just say that nobody fell completely in and leave it at that. Sound crazy? It was FUN! We had so much fun on the punts that the competition couldn't sour even the third place (last place) boat. Any sore egos were promptly forgotten when we met up with Woody, Paul and Asa back on shore. On the way home to change into dry clothing we stopped at a sweet shop, so even the most drenched people were cheered up by the tasty treats.
After grabbing a quick lunch to-go we boarded a bus to Soulbury where Henry's family lives and owns a pub called The Boot. I would highly recommend The Boot to anyone in the area, the food was yummy and the atmosphere was incredibly sweet. Personally, I tried my first Yorkshire Pudding and was very happy. Many people chose sandwiches for dinner, a safe bet, so for desert people went out on a limb... Brownie Popcorn Sundaes were a HUGE surprise hit! Have you ever heard of putting popcorn on ice cream? TRY IT!!! It is shockingly amazing! (they used a light caramel corn for extra sweetness and crunch) The creme brulee was also delicious and the chocolate fudge cake was just plain decadent!
Following a hot ride home (the air conditioner in the bus was broken) we all needed a bit of fresh air so we headed out to the back garden for croquet and badminton. Asa, Woody and Paul had to leave after the first round of games but we continued to play on until it was dark and then, we moved to the common room for... you guessed it... more games!
Paul, Asa and Woody - Thanks for making the trip up to Oxford! We can't wait to see you in a few weeks at AC9!!!
Lastly, these quotes will not have the same meaning when they are out of context, but when everyone gets home we will want to remember these moments...
QUOTE BONANZA!:
"What kind of fruit is that?"
"He hit me really hard, that was too hard" (said in the world's cutest English-small child accent)
"
M: "Where's Tommy? Is he up?" - K: "Yeah, he's showering or something." (He wasn't up...not at all) K: "I said 'or something'"
"He had ants on his shoes!"
"It's like a punch in the face!
"That baby was unhealthily huge!!!"
"You were shoving small children out of the way... hoarding two and three rats at a time! Part of the fun of the game is to let the kids catch them too!"
"He was an atheist!"
"The name of our band is The Floating Heads, want to hear our debut song?"
"That lady has it out for us... maybe we should take a child with us so we can get into the princess tower."
"TWO LAPS!"
"Double Purple Dragon"
"I didn't step on it!"
"Chloe is coming for you."
"Shenanigans!"
"I just can't get over how huge that baby was!"
More quotes will come later when I have a little help remembering the good ones...
Cheerio!
