The best day yet.

We have been planning, for quite some time, to go Punting with my brother and Jon and it is something I was really looking forward to. Saturday was the day. Now since we have been here the weather has been mixed but for the most part it is just cold and grey but not wet. As the weekend approached the weatherman kept saying the weekend was going to be wet. I didn't believe him as it just doesn't rain in this area. Saturday morning we were up bright and early and it was wet, quite wet. It just got wetter as our departure time drew closer and my father bowed out. This really upset us as my father doesn't do much with us and this was going to be all 3 of us together.

My sister arrived and we headed off to Cambridge. It rained the whole way there, lashing cold rain, that refused to let up.
We ran into my brothers flat, soaked and sat for a few minutes trying to come up with a B-plan. The wonderful thing about brothers and sisters and brothers-in-laws, is that you don't have to do anything, being together is rare for us and I could have easily sat the whole afternoon and just "been" with them. We ate a wonderful lunch with Jon and Colin whilst still hoping the rain would stop or at least let up.

This is a very handy dandy apple peeler that Colin has. He let both girls try it. I want one.

This is what your apples look like when that machine is done with them.

The rain didn't stop, Punting was off. I was so disappointed. We decided to go to the Folk Museum instead. A few umbrella's, a couple of borrowed raincoats from Grandpa and we head out. It takes 2 cars to get us anyhwere at the moment so Andy drove the lead and Jacob followed him. The museum was a hit, the kids loved it and so did the adults.

The "kids" pretending to work in an old fashioned sweet shop. They were weighing out the sweeties

Rosie fashioning a wig.
Crazy Auntie Sally sporting a beautiful (not) hat and dress
Uncles, Colin and Andy putting on a Punch and Judy Puppet Show
My brother found himself a stylish new bathing suit.

You can see how much fun we had with this nutty bunch.
Once we left the museum the sun was out so we headed at warped speed for a punt. 2 minutes into our walk and the heavens opened again so we dove for cover in a shop front. There was a little commotion across the street so we dodged the rain to see what was going on. It was this.

There was a street busker in the rubbish bin.

The rain let up again and we started to wander through the beautiful streets, another corner another busker. This time my brother started to chat with him and grabbed Lily and introduced her to him. It was uncle Colins friend Jimi. He played, the kids danced, he gave them his money as opposed to taking theirs as they tried to throw it in his guitar case and shared his blueberries. I have a fantastic video of him playing but the internet connection is so slow over here that it I'll post it when we get home.

After chatting with Jimi we realised that the sun was still out and made a dash for a punt. Colin has lived in Cambridge for a kazillion years so he didn't take us to one of the touristy Punts we went off the beaten track to a place where he likes to go. It is still the same river but not the same prices. What can I say. This thing that I have dreamt of doing for months was even better than I anticipated. The setting, gorgeous, the weather, fabulous and the company, top notch. Colin and Jon can punt, Andy is learning and us, well we have no idea. We needed 2 punts so Colin took Jon and Andy and we were chauffeured by a chap also named John.

Waiting for our punt

The ladies
Andy struggling
The mathematical bridge. This wooden structure is not attached to this building it just rests on it. It is safest when there a lots of people on it as the weight of them holds it in place.

Worlds best brother
Trinity College Cambridge
Jacob and Lily kicking back
My BIL jon taking a very laid back approach. At one point Andy was doing the punting and things got hairy, they got stuck in a huge traffic jam, Colin was paddling like mad, Andy was working up a sweat but still Jon remained unfazed.
And my favourite photo of the day:

Look at these faces, such concentration and brute force. I didn't find anything tiring about the punt at all. Bwa ha ha ha.

By the time we were done the kids were starving so it was off to a pub for a bite to eat. Not a bite exactly, a full and fabulous meal.


We had a fabulous day. The best so far since we arrived but really when you spend time in the company of someone who can sit and drink a cup of tea whilst looking like this just because it makes his nieces laugh, a lot, how can you not have fun. Thank you Jon and Colin for a truly lovely day.

DISCLAIMER:

I almost called this post, I've done this before, as I have already written, and I thought published this post. My brother made a comment that he was surprised I hadn't blogged about it and my initial thought was, Helllllo, I have but then I actually looked at the blog, something I rarely do and it wasn't there. With the internet being what it is here I have now spent 2 hours on one post, but it was worth it as this was such a fabulous day.