Fun and Games

Before I jump into today's memories, I thought I'd just say a sincere word of thanks to those of you following along, and those of you posting sweet comments along the way...  I read (and appreciate) every one.  I've been following certain friend's blogs, not mentioning (Jen...) any names (...Howell) for many, many moons, and just laugh and laugh and enjoy them so much, but have never once left a comment... I had no idea how encouraging they can be...so thank you to all of you, and sorry to Jen (your blog inspires me).  I think one reason I keep thinking, "People are really reading this?!?" is because my only prior attempt at writing was in my 10th grade journalism class, which my mom would remember was the one in which I cried every night an assignment was given because I thought I was so crummy at it...so, thanks guys...

Anyway, on to the "Fun and Games" of today's edition...so, the kids and I were walking along the "Backs" one day (which is what they call all the green, grassy fields, parks, etc. surrounding the BACKS of the colleges) and we happened upon this park, which instantly made and has remained in the kids "Top 10 Things About Cambridge" list.  Let me just explain about a few of these quite potentially deadly "apparati."  Take for instance the one above.  Yes, the innocent-looking saucer with Victoria in the middle...that's the one.  This contraption can be pushed until it goes VERTICAL to the ground, up and back.  Think about this for a moment.  It wasn't so bad when her head was up and feet down, but when her head was down and feet up, Victoria squealed with delight and Dianne squealed with terror.  An interesting footnote to this photo...do you see the...er...tree-looking growth just behind Victoria?  Yes, 'tis pruning season in Cambridge, and few lucky trees seem spared...just today, in fact, I was walking down the lane at Churchill College (where we live), and the once beautiful tree-lined footpaths we have enjoyed to date are now lined with...um...tree bobs, shall we say.  Looks like the boys tree climbing days here are numbered!

If the first picture scores a "9" on the "Scare-Mom-To-Death-Ometer", this one would be a solid "10".  (I can just hear some of the boys' friends saying, "YEAH,  bring it on!" :))  This is a stand up see-saw.  Sounds innocent enough.  Until we realized the goal was to bump the other one off, just like you would bump a regular see saw, only this one sent the kids soaring off into any number of unpredictable directions (note the soft black padding all around!), much to their complete delight, I might add...Note all the trees in this photo...nice, plump, branches...they better watch out...their turn's coming!

On to the "GAMES" portion of our "Fun and Games" Memory...

So, we saw that Cambridge University's premiere rugby team, the Cambridge Blues (the school color is light blue), were playing at a theatre near us...uh, wrong motto...they were actually playing on a field near Tyndale House, where Brad is studying.  So, we decided to take the kids to their (and our) first ever rugby game.  Oh my.  If only we had known what was happening...we watched and tried to act normal, like cheering when others around us cheered and acting completely offended when it appeared we were supposed to be.  At one point I leaned over to Brad and said, "Any idea what's going on?"  I was glad I was not alone. :)  The kids REALLY enjoyed it, though, so much so, in fact, that they want to play RUGBY at their next birthday party!  I'll need to brush up a bit on the rules before then..actually,.I think our brother-in-law used to play.  If this is true, Tuckerman, please begin preparing your rugby tutorial .   :)

And look what is a VERY common sight on the "Backs" every Saturday morning--rugby practice!  It is a very interesting sport to see for the first time as an adult--kind of like football, soccer and cheerleading (they lift up their players high overhead for some reason every now and again during the game---Tori is convinced they are doing a type of cheer to encourage their team on...maybe...)

On to bed tonight...Brad's horizontal after a day in London (!), and we are getting up early tomorrow to go to the Duxford Imperial War Museum, Europe's premiere aviation museum.  So if history, tanks, artillery, or aviation (Curtis) is your thing, stay tuned, tomorrow's coming...