Scotland: the games

Life on the boat was pretty simple, really. One person drove (mostly Gerald, designated skipper, although we all had little turns here and there), one person kept the skipper company, and the rest of us stayed inside the boat where it was warm & dry, until we were needed at a lock. 

We entertained ourselves with games & reading. Simple, brilliant fun.

Have I told you about bananagrams before? It is one of my favourite games. It's a bit like Scrabble, except it's much faster - each person starts off with 11, 15 or 21 tiles (depending on numbers of players), and you have to make intersecting words with the tiles until you've used them all up. At which point, you shout, 'Peel!' and everyone picks up another tile. Keep going until all the letters are used up. I love it.

See my little elf slippers? I am so glad I took these for extra warmth & coziness

Becky introduced me to Skip-Bo, which is an American card game. Very simple, based on luck as well as a bit of skill. The boys weren't too bothered by this, so most of the time Becky & I would play together. 

We played a lot of Scrabble & Uno too, but sadly, there's no photographic evidence.

And lastly, the most fun game to watch was when the boys decided it was a good idea to go for a swim in Loch Oich. We'd chatted to a local lady at Drumnadrochit who said she wouldn't recommend swimming as the water is so cold, but if we really wanted to, Loch Oich was the warmest place (in the mildest sense of the word) to swim, with the water being about 5 degrees! 

Us sensible ladies didn't need to think twice about not going for the swim, but when we moored and were greeted by three lovely Scottish children running off the pontoon & leaping in, the boys had to follow suit. It was so very funny to watch & hear their reactions to the temperature of the water sapping their body heat away from them!

 Gerald approaching the cold waters of Loch Oich

 John's face as he realizes just how cold it really is

 Gerald, by far the most hardy of the bunch, swimming off into the distance. Meanwhile...

 Ready, steady.....

 JUMP!!!!!

 SPLASH!!!!

Tim's face as he let out a roar (quite literally) from the shock

I loved that while you could visibly see the shock & impact of the cold on John & Tim, who swiftly got out and declared how utterly freezing Loch Oich was, Gerald glided through the waters, emerged on shore & pronounced how nice & refreshing it was. The Scottish children we met continued their running & jumping off the pontoon game long after our boys had left the water, and when we revisited Loch Oich on the return journey, they were still there, still jumping in, again & again, making many happy childhood memories.