Bobcats Picnic

On Saturday the Bobcats had their Picnic in Cannon Hill Park.  It was a great afternoon full of hilarity, good food and the odd jug of punch.  There were lots of memorable moments, a few of which I shall try to explain.

The picnic started at 2pm – Debbie and Kate had arrived early to set up the gazebo after collecting the very important camcorder from Jim.  Tad soon arrived and it became clear we would not go hungry.  Chris and his colleague Ashley were next to join us – laden with more pimms, beer and fantastic orderves – followed by Justin, Alex and Jessica.  Everyone tucked into the food and for the first hour the picnic was very civilised.  The sun was shining, the birds were singing and the Bobcats were engaged in polite conversation, situated on picnic rugs, with a glass of pimms and salmon canapés. 

Then came the balloon modelling.  Alex was truly the balloon master, where as Tad made what looked like a snake that had been run over several times by a bike. 

However, Tad made up for it by showing off his skipping skills.  Both he and Debbie were able to skip together for 10 jumps – it was very impressive considering the rope was child’s size. 

Next was the fizz bomb challenge, which simply involved being able to suck a sweet for the longest.  The first up were Debbie, Ashley, Justin, Tad and Chris.  Justin was first out after a few seconds of sucking and then kicking it into the distance with some profound language; followed by Chris, then Tad and then Ashley – who dropped it in her drink.  Debbie was able to eat the entire thing so she was the champion until Will stepped up to the mark and rather disappointingly enjoyed the sweet so he was able to take 2 ½.  This seemed impressive until Jim joined us later who was able to do three!

To recover the Bobcats played some outdoor darts and hula hoops.  Unfortunately Justin and Alex had to leave just as the fancy dress croquet was about to start.  Chris and Debbie were pirates, Kate was a can-can girl, Ashley a monkey and Tad was wonder woman.  

It was at this point that Will, Andrea and Elsey joined us.  Apparently from quite a distance they could spot where the bobcats were.  Will instantly joined in the fun and put on the monkey costume.  Kate won the croquet after a very tight lead with Tad, where as Ashley brought up the tail. 

Next was the egg and spoon race.  Kate and Andrea were neck and neck until Debbie came from nowhere in the last few metres to take the finish line.  It was felt the spoons were too large as no one dropped an egg so smaller spoons were distributed and the course extended.  Within a few moments of setting off both Kate and Debbie dropped the raw eggs, followed by Andrea, leaving Tad and Chris to make it half way across the course.  At this point Chris dropped his egg and Tad collided into him.   

Limbo was next on the agenda, which was great on the slightly damp ground.  The lads struggled with the highest bar leaving Kate and Debbie to take it down to the lower levels.  Debbie won with quite some ease – but then she was the smallest of the group!  Everyone’s faces while doing the limbo was hilarious – so much so Kate could hardly keep the bar still because she was laughing so much. 

It was at this point that Jim joined us – just in time for Balloonatic.  This involved two teams of four who were placed in a line and had to pass a balloon from their chin to the next persons knees and then back to the chin and again to the knees.  This produced some interesting photos!  Needless to say both teams were as bad as each other, but after a couple of attempts Ashley’s team won! 

This was followed by Belly Burst, which involved two people trying to pop a balloon without using their hands.  Will and Andrea were clear winners as they were able to pop it instantly, where as Kate and Jim and Tad and Ashley seemed to be hugging each other for ages!

After a quick nibble, the Bobcats were eager to carry on with the activities – the next of which was the Three-legged race.  Tad and Debbie were masters at this, winning each race with ease.  Kate and Jim were not too far behind, unlike Chris and Ashley.  Will and Andrea had Elsie’s help – who was quite bemused by the day’s events. 

There was then a quick game of British Bulldog, but time was creeping up on us and we had to quickly pack up and head into town.  Like the afternoon the evening carried on in a similar hilarious vein, but was conveniently not as well documented as this is turning out to be a very long post. 

It was a fabulous, crazy day - made possible by all those who attended.  If you enjoyed reading this, please join us for the next adventure on Saturday 3^rd September when the Bobcats will be off paintballing.