Winnipeg SERVE Day 5 - The Amazing Race.

Day 5 of Serve.  I'm writing this on day 6, actually, but that's because we had such a long day, I could only get the pictures up for the blog and then I just had to get some sleep.   I awoke this morning and ran some errands, and as the mentors are now in training, I have a bit of time to put the text with the pictures...enjoy!  : )

Day 5 began like any other day so far.  Waking up everyone and watching them wake up.  Here's Rosy sitting up, but I don't quite think she knows where she is.  : ) 

Fontana looks like she's having a terrific start to her day.  Jacob actually took these pictures, but with the flash going, everyone thought it was me, and they gave Jacob a REALLY hard time.  I loved it.  

Ben awoke with a case of the sleepies and grumpies.  But he came around as the day progressed.  

Chris and Jacob volunteered for breakfast duty (yes, dear, Chris actually volunteered).  Here they are having lots of fun making some pretty good pancakes for us.  

I started packing up, and someone took a picture of my head.  Once again, I can see that thinning line in my hair.....oh bother.... : ) 

I asked everyone to pack up and get their stuff upstairs to pack the van for a 5 minute drive.  We have lots of stuff.  I'm still amazed it fits, but I have a system now, so things pack much faster.  

I mentioned earlier that Fontana wasn't starting her day off well.  It kept going as she tried to navigate all the luggage.  As she was JUST about through the maze, she tripped over Chris' backpack.  I laughed....sorry Fontana...but you would have laughed at me too.  

Here is the final pancake from Jacob and Chris.  They are splitting it.  

Jacob and Chris sitting down to enjoy their meal.  Thanks for making breakfast for us son #1 and son #2.  

It was only a matter of time before Annette and Hannah, her daughter got into a tussle.  Hannah tries, but really, does she think she's actually going to beat her mom?  Really!  

Nope.  

Ron: "Hey, Hannah!"  

Hannah: "...huh?!"

Hannah and Fayth looking at my blog.  Well, actually, it's Fayth correcting my blog.  I've gotten them to edit some of the past entries.  They are also fixing things via email from Joycegina.  Gotta love editors......

Kyle loves to watch all the antics of the group.  He will be spending the day with Annette today.  

This may seem like a nice picture from Fontana, but when she gets that sly look in her eyes, as you see here......watch out!  

After loading up, and taking the 5 minute drive to the church, it was time to unload and settle in.  

Here is Hannah getting organized.  

Each Mentor and Participant are assigned a room.  

Some of the kitchen staff that will be serving us this week. Thank you in advance for all your work.  

The mailbox where nice comments can be shared, as well as words of encouragement.  I'm hoping for at least 1 note this year.  : ( 

The end result of Hannah's organizational skills.  I'll bet you $100 that her room isn't this neat....... : ) 

Fayth is finishing off the edits that didn't get done at Shellie's house. Thanks Fayth....what's so funny???  

The group was quickly put to work drawing and cutting, etc.  Jacob got right into things.  

Joanna and Amber, the final two mentors, arrived in Winnipeg via airplane on Thursday evening.  It was good to see them again.  

Ben being quite creative.  

Our theme this year is the Amazing Race.  I was to be a checkpoint person, so I came prepared with two water bottles and my sign.  Larry can still see, which is very important. 

A group shot before we begin the race.  

We had 6 teams.  Chris and Hannah. 

Fayth and Rosy....BTW, Peter, you will notice that Rosy is now IN the blog.  Sheeesh.....you keep a child out of the blog ONE TIME and you get grief from parents..........  : ) 

Leah and Ben...Ben's still looking tired.

Megan and Amber

Fontana, and Shellie's summer intern Carla

Joanna and Jacob. 

So, who do you think ended up coming in first?  I had my money on Jacob and Joanna.  

I was at the first checkpoint with Shellie.  The first to arrive were Amber and Megan....no I don't think that's right.....

The first to arrive were Ben and Leah.  

Others soon came through

...and were handed the next clue once they gave Shellie some vital information.  

Looks like this is going to be difficult for Joanna.....you can do it Joanna.......

Fayth and Rosy started off so well....and then.......  : ) 

After our checkpoint was completed, we had a bit of time to kill before we had to be at the final checkpoint.  We drove to the Forks in Winnipeg and parked.  We walked up a tower of sorts that looks over the forks.   Here you see the new Museum of Human Rights being built.  

There was a road block at the beginning of the race.  The teams had to find Zorba's and then eat a salad and other item before they could move on.  Only one person on the team could eat the food.....we had just eaten a brown bag lunch before this...so it wasn't easy getting that food down.......Here are Ben and Chris trying to get the food down.  

Fontana has a gluten allergy, so she couldn't eat the food. She apologized over and over again to her teammate, but she didn't have to.  That's life.   

However, Megan could have taken up the challenge of eating the food, but I think she ordered Amber to eat it instead...sheesh....

Seems Chris was taking a BIT longer than Hannah liked, so she started getting a little more forceful and theatrical in the mall we were in to speed him up.  Not sure if it worked....I think Chris started eating slower.  : ) 

Joanna and Jacob couldn't find Zorba's, so they had to make a phone call and incur a 5 minute time penalty.  That would prove costly for them in the end.  

The red river is still high here, but often times it covers all that furniture you see down below.  

Here are Ben and Leah asking someone for help to get to their next clue.  

Shellie and I grabbed a slushie and sat down to wait for  a bit.  A bag piper serenaded us.  He was pretty good.  

We eventually made our way to our final pit stop location.  Shellie's always working.  

The first to arrive were Jacob and Joanna.  They finished in record time, but they did have that 5 minute time penalty hanging over their heads.  If anyone came in under that 5 minutes, they would come in second.  

At the 4 minute mark, Hannah and Chris showed up.   They ended up finishing in first.  Way to go son...and Hannah....I think they would have come in even faster, but Chris was being the gentleman and running slower to allow Hannah to keep up.  I'm surprised at that.  I thought Hannah was in much better shape, being a dancer and all....hmmmmmmm

As the other teams arrived, we relaxed.  Fontana took a liking to this canoe.  

Here come Fayth and Rosy.  They didn't come in first......too bad...but they had fun.  

She's still smiling.  You can't see how tired and sweaty she is in the picture....good thing!  

Now, Peter, Rosy's dad, gave me some grief about Rosy being left out of a blog entry, so here's another picture for you Peter.  Rosy, too, ran a lot and I just thought this picture of her was perfect for the blog.....she on the other hand.......

Last but not least.......

Ben and Leah arriving...second last I think.  Way to go you two.  

Jacob found a new teddy bear to sleep with...and no Jacob, you aren't allowed to take that home with you, so enjoy your nap.  

It took a bit of time, but eventually our final team of Amber and Megan arrived.  Apparently they had some busing issues.  

It was now time to head to the vehicles and back to the church to get our bathing suits.  

We drove to lake Winnipeg and set out for the beach. 

We had a BBQ at the beach, but it had to be carried some distance to get it to the beach.  

Winnipeg is a nice, big lake, and it was calm this day.  The group dived into the water pretty quickly.  

Shellie simply put herself on a sand bar and started to make a sandcastle.  

A silhouette shot of some of the group coming into shore.  

Shellie got a bit wet on that run in from the group.  

Some in the group took to making sand castles, or is that just a mud castle, Leah.  

The boys wanted to make two islands out of one, so they set to dividing things up a bit.  

Rosy made quite a nice turtle.  

After some swimming it was time for food.  

Fontana only wanted one of her two gluten free hot dogs and buns, so I tried the other one. It was pretty good.  

Some of the group took to the sand dunes to relax and drink in the fading rays of the sun.  It's about 8 pm now, but you'd never know it.  

Ben was buried in the sand.  Keeping cool any way he could.  

Chris showing off with his summersaults off the dunes.   

As the group took showers, Shellie took her knife out and cut up some watermelon for us to eat/drink.  

Hannah, Leah, and Fontana having fun, as usual.  Fontana is always the one talking.......

Fayth is enjoying her watermelon.  How dainty.  Your parents have taught you well.  

Fontana trying to frown with a watermelon....  she's weird   

We end the day with a shot of Megan.  I don't want her mom and dad to tell me I forgot to include her in today's blog....though I don't think I did...

We drove back home and arrived back at the church at 10:30.  We were tired, but it was a good day.  The mentors continue to bond together, and through the amazing race, they got to know each other better.  The challenge of that race will be the model of the challenges they will face again this week.  Most of our mentors are returning, but that doesn't mean they won't have challenges.  

During the day, many from my youth group kept asking me questions about the week, schedule, etc.  I have to remind them that I'm not the one to be asked any longer because I'm not in charge.  I think it will take them a while, but soon enough they will get the hang of it.  My role this week will be to drive, help out where needed, and blog the week.  I can handle that just fine this time around.  This afternoon our participants arrive and SERVE begins.  Our mentors are excited, and I bet our participants are equally so.  May God bless this week, those who have planned it, and may all be blessed.  

I'll try to post today's blog entry tonight......until then......