Every youth group has it's traditions. Traditions are good, in that you know what's coming up, they create great memories, and they bond a group together.
For our camping trips, a couple of traditions have begun to form when we are at Charleston Lake. They are:
1. Having the same foods every time.
2. A trip to the cottage to jump off the rocks and see who can get cut the least on the zebra muscles.
3. Playing "Tackle Duck, Duck, Goose."
4. Playing keep away football in the water.
Below you will once again see some great pictures from these traditional events. Once again we have some great memories from them, and even though some of you reading this might think this Youth Pastor is nuts for allowing these things, there are huge longer term benefits to having these activities repeat themselves.
We begin with our trek to Brian and Ruth's cottage. You can see that the group of youth quickly separated themselves from the leaders. That too is a good thing. They need time to simply gather together and talk and share and be teenagers without us adults monitoring them.
Here we are behind the group, just walking along. Seems that Ethan is camera shy though. He's tucked in behind Chad. You can JUST see one of his legs.
I tried several times to get a picture of him, but he would have none of it.
Along the way the YP found wild strawberries.
Some picked some and ate them.....gross.....I say that because lots of dogs walk by on this road too, and you never know........
A simple sign creates a photo opportunity.
I needed to stretch, but someone caught that on camera. Is nothing sacred anymore. : )
We finally arrived at our turn off. Last year we went on the trails, not knowing exactly where the cottage was. We were so close, but yet so far away. This year it was easy.
Hannah, being the thoughtful person that she is, decided to pick a bouquet of flowers for Brian and Ruth as a thank you for letting us jump off the rocks. Jeannine helped. There are some pretty flowers around...I hope it was ok to pick them?
You know, I do bug you a lot Hannah, but this character quality of you thinking of others is one that I've noticed a great deal as of late. Keep developing that quality. It will serve you well.......enough of my sensitive side now...back to the issue at hand....rock jumping. : )
After about 1 hour of walking, we arrived at the cottage. It's a steep incline to get there, but worth it.
Bethany (right - in the picture), one of our CIA alumni and daughter to Brian and Ruth, was at the cottage helping her dad with some plumbing. She came with us to the rocks to make sure we didn't step in any poison Ivy.
There are some wonderful views as you walk to the rock.
Once there, the discussion always develops as to who will be first in the water. My son took the plunge pretty quickly.
He then began to show off and do flips, etc.
Megan and Hannah built up their courage once again, holding hands to help each other take the plunge.
Now this picture is the best I've seen in a while. Doesn't it look like Megan is walking on water? : )
Eventually most of the group took the plunge. Here's Michael.
Hmmmm, someone didn't time that picture very well. Sorry about that Son, but it wasn't me who had the camera.
Here's Ben taking the plunge. Everyone seemed to want to pose for the camera in some way. hmmmm : )
As I mentioned before, there are zebra muscles in this lake. Last year several people were cut by them as they came out of the water, and this year it happened once again. Here is Rosy's foot, all bloody...gross. !
No, Rosy didn't bleed to death and is now lying in the water. She's relaxing in the water. We began talking about her to see if she could hear us, and she couldn't. It was funny to watch her eventually figure out that we were talking about her.
I can honestly say that I'm not much of a water person any more. I've jumped off cliffs at Kilbear, and other places, but this time is for our young people. I was content to just sit and watch. Apparently so were all the other adult leaders. : )
After getting their fill of jumping, they made their way back to the dock by swimming there. The rest of us walked back.
After thanking Brian and Bethany for the use of their rock, we headed back to camp. Ethan took the high road. : )
Some of our kids literally took TO the road....Do NOT do this on a busy roadway.
Oh, I forgot to mention another tradition that we have when we go camping. That's for Fontana to start beating me up at some point. Here's where it began........though from the look on her face, I'd say she was afraid of me or something.
I'm not so sure I like profile pictures of me any more. My metabolism is starting to change and my bubble in the middle is getting bigger....hmmmm....gotta do something about that sometime.....but when.... : )
Here's the reason there are more pictures of me than I ever wanted.....Jeannine!
CAR! They don't even seem to notice, they are so involved in conversation. CAR!!!!!
As leaders, we are trying to connect more with our CIA group outside of regular meetings. Here Melanie takes advantage of walking time to engage in some talking time.
Here's the sign at the entrance to our group campsite. I dare say we've broken that rule, especially when some of our girls discovered the spider in the washrooms in the next picture.
This spider seems to have been around last year as well, but bigger now. To me it looks more like a tarantula, not a spider. Needless to say, the girls used another outhouse on the group campsites.
Ethan did a lot of walking, and seemed tired, until he got back to the campsite. He seemed to find his second wind and wanted to play soccer. : )
The YP decided to have some fun making human pyramids.
While the YP were playing, I got lunch going. Soup and bread and juice. Here's everyone enjoying our lunch.
I didn't know that Kevin was a masterful sandwich maker, but apparently he makes a mean one. : )
A four sliced sandwich with three layers. One was peanut butter, one jam, and one Nutella. I'm going to have to try that.
After lunch it was time for tradition #2. Tackle duck, duck goose. Over the past couple of years, this has become something of a highlight during our camping times. As this group has gotten older, the battles have gotten more interesting. This set was certainly entertaining. Here are Megan and Leah battling it out. NOTE: No youth or youth leaders were hurt during the game...well, not much. : )
Michael and Chris going toe to toe.
Jeannine duking it out with Megan. Jeannine can be very competitive, I've discovered. : )
Yes, that's me pulling Ben along the ground. He wouldn't get out of the way for me to get by him, so I had to take him with me. He's actually laughing through all this, but I apologize for the grass stains I caused him on his clothing.
Ben wouldn't give up either...maybe it's in the family or something, and the result was that Michael ended being in the wrong place at the wrong time. He survived unscathed.
I think that there are two people that scare us when we play this game. Kevin would be one, because he has such great moves to keep us from getting by him. The other would be Fontana. I call her a locomotive in this game because she just comes at you and doesn't stop. Here Rosy felt the brunt of that locomotive. The funny part is that as soon as she plows through you, she's so apologetic about doing it. Yet, there's no way she's going to lose. It's funny to watch, except if you happen to be the goose trying to get by her. : )
Here's Chris suffering some humiliation from Fontana. Go Fontana......I think he lost this battle.
Once again the locomotive is on the move, and I think Jeannine got in the way somehow, or is just laughing herself silly while watching Fontana play the game.
Now there was a round where Alex and Kevin had to try to get past each other. It seems that Kevin met his match in this game. Alex held his own for a good 5 minutes and eventually ended up winning. He was patient and methodical. Way to go Alex. Video of this will be at the end of entry #3.
Poor Leah ended up getting a booboo during the game. Too bad because she really gets into it. Good thing I brought along a solid first aid kit this time. We used it a lot this weekend.
Megan doesn't play fair. She picks all sorts of grass, and then throws it in your face as you try to prevent her from getting past you. You can't see anything and she just runs past into the spot. Well, after having that happen once, I wasn't going to let her get away with it again......
...however she cheated AGAIN against me. Me a helpless 45 year old man. That hurt!!!!! : ) Well, two times at this means it was time to get even.....
Enough of being Mr. nice youth pastor. This was war!!! : ) Megan didn't win this round.....!
Even though this picture looks "cute" it isn't as it seems. Fontana made sure Ben knew who was boss in this game. Michael ended up NOT getting hit this time around. Whew.
This game is quite tiring. Lots of running. Time for a rest.
This is a nice braid Rosy. But my son!? Who's idea was it anyway?
After coming back from getting water it was time for tradition #3. To the beach for some keep away football in the water. But first, a strange picture from Megan and Hannah. The usual fair for this group.
We arrived at the beach, and Kevin made sure everyone got into the water rather quickly. Way to go Kevin.
We soon began our game. I soon began swallowing water as it was splashed at me.
Here is Alex showing his skill in the game. That football got waterlogged fast, and was heavy to throw. I think it's time we get a new one.
Melanie was unable to join us for the game due to a leg injury, so she watched Ethan while Janine and Chad got involved in the game.
Kevin plays for keeps in this game. Seems the girls were outnumbered by the boys, so Kevin played on the girls side. NOT FAIR, as Chad discovered.
Megan, LEAVE ME ALONE! : ) I think I swallowed several gallons of water because of you.
Fontana is brutal in this game too. You take your life in your hands trying to get the football away from her. : ) Great competitive spirit Fontana, I think. : )
We played at the beach for a couple of hours and then it was time for supper. Continue on to part 3 to find out how our weekend ended.......
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