Cora hits the Pool

Today I attended the St. Edwards swimming gala at the senior school to cheer on Cora during her official swimming debut. St. Edwards Under 9 thru 11 were in the blue with yellow racing stripes and their opponents from Richard Pates donned navy blue.

Cora swam in three heats - the individual backstroke, mixed relay and freestyle relay (which she calls 'forward crawl' - need to work on that one!). Cora swam well and finished 2nd in the first two heats and third with her team in the final event.



Cora waits to start with teammates.



Gone in a cloud of..water - Cora in the middle lane.



In the pool cheering on a teammate.

Skittles Anyone???

One of the best discoveries we have made here in Cheltenham is the game of skittles. It's much like bowling with one less pin, short pins (called skittles) and a smallish ball with no finger holes. The only skill required is the ability to aim your shots - bouncing or spinning (they should bounce withn the first foot of launch but no one checks very often).



Below- the 'winner' of birthday skittles.

The Big Three Niner - Happy Birthday Elizabeth!!!

Well, it will be a tough one topping this on her 40th. Last evening we celebrated Elizabeth's last birthday of her 30s with a loud romp at the Somerset Arms in Leckhampton. The Bolines (minus Patrick), the DeVillers (minus children), the Hunters, the Lewises and the Pattens joined us for a great night of skittles, food and cake. Elizabeth doffed her 'birthday hat' (which is an immediate new tradition in the McMahan house!) and had a great first day of her 39th year on Earth.



After a rocky beginning on the skittles lane (with children and skittles going in all different directions except the correct one) the kids settled into some skittles play with Rebecca Patten winning the first match. The Ladies led by Elizabeth then proceeded to demolish the men in skittles with a 57-50 score. However, they did not realize that a third round still remained after cake and presents, after which the men were triumphant with a 78-75 score. Controversy reigned and I'm sure will be a point of argument among these couples for some time.



A special thanks goes out to Sharon who did all of the hard work arranging the party quests and baking an awesome cake. We all managed to keep the party a secret (I had her convinced we were going to a pubfest with co-workers from the donut!) and Elizabeth was surprised and excited.