I’m blessed with a fantastic godson, but cursed by distance. We rarely rack up more than 10 days together over the course of a whole year, some of it usually during his expat family's annual "return to Blighty" each August. So when I get my turn, I want to roll out activities that perpetuate my best-godmother-ever reputation.
The last summer before lockdowns, I scored big with his first baseball game as the Yankees and Red Sox came to London. Last summer, I was a hero thanks to the National Motor Museum and its Aston Martin Day. This year, he'd be staying for a whole week. How to maintain my track record? Archery, battle re-enactments and a few more battles on celluloid. With lashings of American pancakes, barbeques and home made pizza.
His favourite, I'm delighted to say, was the archery.
I probably could have found something closer than the hour and twenty minute drive, but online research showed New Forest Activities to have the best mix of instruction, timing and group size for the money. It turned out even better than planned when we were the only people in our time slot, meaning £27 each got us 90 minutes of exclusive use of their range with instructor Tom.
It was blazing hot, humid, and we were shooting at things in a corn field. I was flashing back to my Missouri youth. Those days, of course, were why I'd chosen this. I like to have some credibility with kids when trying to impress them, and this was my high school sport. I was physically unfit and chronically uncoordinated, but I was also keenly competitive. I quickly realised that archery was the only "sport" at which I could stand still, not perspire, and be good enough to win Field Day prizes. The bookworm in me, meanwhile, loved all the literary connections. That still works for kids today, though they're more likely to associate with Hawkeye, the Green Arrow or Katniss Everdeen than Robin Hood.
Tom's instruction was fantastic and Sacha was soon getting most of his arrows somewhere on the target. I was doing better at a further distance but this was the kid's day, so after a third of our time further back we returned to the starting line. Meaning I didn't beat the kid by quite the margin I wanted to. (That's my story, anyway) He had a great time and used up almost every minute of our allocation, even though instructor Tom and I were both clearly ready to quit early if he'd wanted to wrap up.
New Forest Activities is only 10 minutes down the road from Beaulieu with its motor museum and adorable village, so you could easily do a kid-friendly weekend down there. New Forest Activities also do kayaking, canoeing, ropes courses and paint ball.
Earlier in the week we were off to the Marlborough 300 Pageant at Blenheim Palace, marking the tercentenary of the first duke's death. History is always dicey territory with teenagers, who may have had a bad experience in school and whose short attention spans can make traditional events boring. Luckily this one had a military encampment full of child-friendly historical re-enactors who were letting the kids beat on their drums, play with their weapons (under close supervision) and try on bits of their costumes. There was a full-scale battle re-enactment with foot soldiers, cannon, cavalry and a commentator on loudspeaker to explain it all.
But the most captivating bit for teenager and adults alike was the "Meet the Churchills" session, where John and his wife Sarah welcomed you to their pavilion to tell you about their lives and answer their questions. Historical re-enactors are passionate about their periods and part of the game is staying in character, but I've never encountered any as good as these two. It was as if the real people had time travelled for our entertainment. Both were magnificent actors, fully inhabiting the persona of 17th century nobles, but they also both had a staggering knowledge of their subject matter.
This is even harder than you might imagine because they had to place themselves at a very specific time: 1685. Because that was the date of the day's battle; a re-creation of part of the Monmouth Rebellion. (Re-enacting Marlborough's most famous victory at Blenheim would have required a troupe of re-enactors from Louis XIV's army who were willing to lose. Unlikely in the heart of England.) So the couple could only anticipate the victories ahead, the future residence and Blenheim and the falling out with Queen Anne. Between their performance and some very informed questions from the audience, it was the highlight of the day.
I am not above easy teenage-friendly options, however. Take the kid to a blockbuster summer film, buy him whatever he wants at the snack counter and enjoy the air conditioning. Fortunately, the film was Thor: Love and Thunder. My superhero grasp can be sketchy but is better when characters have links back to mythology or classical literature. With his deep immersion in Nordic myth, Sir Kenneth Branagh as an early director and co-stars like Natalie Portman and Anthony Hopkins, Thor has always been my favourite. And then there's the delectable Chris Hemsworth.
Not that you really need much prior knowledge for this glorious romp of a film. I didn't think anything could beat Maverick in the summer blockbuster sweepstakes but Love and Thunder is equally joyous. It's a comedy. A love story. An action flick. And while I might not have needed my context setting, a thorough grasp of mythologies of the pre-Christian world makes one plot-pivoting scene even better. I liked it so much I may be going back for a re-run with the husband.
The teenager is gone, the house is quiet, mountains of laundry await and I am perversely excited to have 13 days stretching ahead with nothing in the social or cultural diary. Perhaps I should use some of them to start researching next summer's godson activities. This trajectory of delight is going to be hard to keep up, even if Hollywood gives me a few more epic blockbusters.
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