punting in Oxford

Andy and Charlie have made it to Oxford, UK! After being left in my purse for several days, they finally crawled their way out onto the River Thames and went punting. Before we went punting, everyone was putting their cameras in plastic bags just in case we toppled into the river. Fortunately, we didn't tip or fall in (I would have been sorely displeased if we had), but if we had fallen in, Andy and Charlie would not have drowned. Apparently, cockroaches can swim and hold their breath for 40 minutes. They breathe through their sides--not their noses--which makes it tough to come up for air.

Back in the day, cockroaches were common stowaways on the wooden adventure ships. Sir Francis Drake once captured a ship that was overrun with million of cockroaches. Gross. Another ship, the H.M.S. Bounty, was so infested that Captain William Bligh (who apparently had a bad temper), rid the entire ship of the crawling "menaces" with boiling water. Thank goodness everyone in my punt enjoyed the company of Andy and Charlie : )

This weekend, they're going to London and (hopefully) Stonehenge!