Family Camp 2010!

Tuesday (5/25) After picking Gurly up from the Sitter’s we headed over to a Las Fajita’s in Bentonville to eat. She taught me napkin etiquette, played w/ Lionel, and she saw how many times she could bounce a semi-bouncy call and catch it. Next it was off to the Bentonville Library. She got a few book and Lionel got in a lot of trouble. At home we played the game where she is a girl who lives in a tree house located the Forest. This time I pretended to be a guy that lived in the forest too. We became friends and decided we would meet again. She read a chapter of her newest book series, The Bailey School Kids, while I read Judy Moody.

Thursday (5/27) Today we made a quick stop by Braums on the way home to get some vanilla ice cream and fresh cones. Once home we played outside for a little bit. We were kids that just wanted to rock out, but our dad made us husk 1000 ears of corn a day instead. While eating dinner and enjoying the cream we watched part of Shrek Forever After. Then it was back outside for a few minutes to play and then back inside to watch more Shrek. While watching she decided to give me a manicure and a pedicure. She is quite good at both. She learned how to hypnotize and part of how to be a babysitter and the Sitters today.

Friday (5/28) This was the final day for MaryJane to attend her art class at the Jones Center. She came to work w/ me in the morning where she drew a beautiful picture of flowers. I later took her to her class where she did a cool forest painting. After class I picked her up, grabbed her some Donald’s and dropped her off at the Sitters. We made a semi-quick trip to Wal-Mart after work to pick up supplies for our weekend trip to Family Camp.

FELLOWSHIP FAMILY CAMP (MAY 29-31)

5/29/2010 to 5/31/2010

THIS CAMP IS FOR K- 6TH GRADE (FALL 2010) AND THEIR FAMILES. OUR DESIRE FOR FAMILY CAMP IS TO PROVIDE YOUR FAMILY A TIME TO FOCUS ON HAVING AND INCREDIBLY FUN TIME TOGETHER. JOIN US AT NEW LIFE RANCH FOR A WEEKEND YOUR FAMILY WON'T FORGET. WE HOPE FAMILY CAMP WILL BE A GREAT TIME TO CONNECT MORE DEEPLY WITH FAMILIES AND FIND THAT YOU'RE NOT THE ONLY ONE WORKING HARD TO RAISE CHRIST-LIKE CHILDREN. MAY 29-31 AT NEW LIFE RANCH IN COLCORD, OK.

We then headed to pick up MaryJane’s present for her Mommies B-day and grab a bite at Arby’s where Lionel tried continuously to invade her and Kelly’s Girls Club to no avail. At home we played outside. It was a game where Lionel and I meet a girl (MaryJane). She told us about the legend of a wolf that scattered jewels across the land. No one had ever found one…and we were not about to be the first. It is said that anyone who finds them will be haunted by the wolf. Yikes. Hehe. We later finished of Shrek. Despite my perception from previews that it would not be good…it is good. : ) Bedtime; big day tomorrow!

Car time this week included school (even one of my fav’s; Healthy Class), playing with Shrek toys, good conversation, and stinky Lionel. Bed time recently I order a meal and she makes it in the form of gum. It’s totally Willy Wonka style.

Saturday (5/29) After a fast and Furious last minute packing frenzy we headed for Colcord. It just on the other side of Siloam (about an hour drive). We got there just before 11:00, got our picture taken, and got half unpacked before it was time to head to the Chapel for our first rally. The rallies consisted of singing songs, a short play, and a short lesson (in rallies 2-4). We had a lot of fun singing and doing hand gestures and she learned a lot from the lessons. We then got into groups of 4 families and went on a Scavenger Hunt. We were w/ the Halls, Archers, and another family we did not know. Brandon Hall leads our community group and the Archers are members of our community group. We never found out who won, but we did really good and had fun doing it. It was then lunch, followed by an hour of free time, and then they opened the creek, pool, and challenge course from 2-4. We spent our afternoon doing various things. She made a cute cup to drink out of, I went down the big water slide a few times, we made an attempt to scale the rock wall, and spent a lot of time canoeing. We started out together and by the end of our canoeing day she was powering her own kayak. Part of the time we pretended that we were lost and being watched and followed by Indians. It was a great time. After attending the cook out for dinner we headed to rally number two. As I said before there was a lesson at the end of this one and the next two. Someone would speak for about 5 minutes then we had Breakout. This was where we went back to our rooms and spent time together as a family doing an in depth lesson based on what we learned at the rally. Our lessons and the theme for camp were based upon 2 Corinthians 5:17 “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come”! At 7:45 we attended a Sock Hop. We thought it was going to be a sack race…hehe. It was a 50’s themed get together where there was dancing, games, activities, and more. We played w/ holla hoops and danced together, she got a strike playing bowling. She danced w/ some older girls, she participated in a “do the twist” competition and a limbo competition, we ate ice cream, and she colored a picture for her new found best friend Julia. At dark she got a glow stick and 3-D glasses and then we watched an awesome fireworks show.

Sunday morning we got up, showered, and headed down to get some breakfast. I don’t remember specifically at what meals we did this, but we would pretend that we were students eating at the school cafeteria. Before our 3rd rally and 2nd break out we made a trip around the big island; both in kayaks this time. Then us parents meet up at the Chapel for a parent seminar while the kids played outside. She said she didn’t really play anything; rather spent time hanging out w/ Julia. After lunch we went back to the cabin where we meet up w/ our group from the scavenger hunt. We were there to build boats. Sunday night at 6:30 we had a boat race. Each team got 4 big pieces of cardboard and 3 rolls of duct tape. Our team built 2 boats. One for adults and one for kids. The adults did the boat work while the kids played and did crafts. MaryJane made a beautiful pillow. We then made out final canoeing / kayaking trip and then headed over to the creek attractions. She spent most of her time sitting by the life guard watching people get wet. I made a trip down the big water slide, 2 trips down the fast slide (a really long, steep, metal slide like you see on an old school play ground), and got launched from the blob (a huge inflatable laying on the water. One person lays on one end while another jumps from a ledge, landing on the other end and launching there victim into the air). After a quick stop at the pool we headed back to the cabin where she finished a second pillow and gave it to Julia. We threw down on some supper, grabbed our boats, and headed for the water. Brandon’s Wife, Windy, drove the adult boat and Brandon skis, Reed, was supposed to drive the kid boat, but he backed out and Matt ended up filling his spot. There were a lot of cool boats there. The race was hilarious. Some, like our teams kid boat being driven by an adult, didn’t last a second, while others slowly sank, and other did quite well. One even made it across the creek and back. Wow. Following the boat race all families meet at the Chapel for games. It was a game show theme called “Minute to Win It”. You get the drift I’m sure. I competed against another guy in playing “Card Ninja”. We tried to throw cards into watermelon halves. He got 4 in a minute while I got a big fat 0. Yup, I was horrible at it, but it was fun none the less. MaryJane competed right after me against another kid playing “Magic Carpet”. Thee scooted on rugs across the floor in a race. MaryJane Won. She did awesome. Finally for the day we attended a basketball game. I watched while she worked on a third pillow and spent time w/ Julia.

Monday was breakfast, rally number 4, breakout, and baptisms in the creek. After packing the car we played at the gym for a little bit and then we were on the road headed out. We made a stop at Donald’s and at Wal-Mart to get a few necessities and some party supplies. She said we would have a party to celebrate the good time we had at camp. Great idea. When we got home we opened our goodies; Pokémon packs, traded, ate cupcakes, and then stuffed animals came out and participated in a game show like we had Sunday night. They won gold medals. Next we played a talking Pokémon cards game. The one where my guy has the stinky cards and her girl has the awesome cards. We made a quick trip outside, I ran her thru the bath, and then after dinner we went back outside. We played a game where she was a girl of ill trades. She sprinkled Lionel and I with soap to clean us and then made me a smoothie, main dish, and a fancy bunny dessert. Yum. Last we played more of our Pokémon game. What a great weekend. We will always remember it.