Pastor Ron's Deep Thoughts and Shallow Entries: Youth Fall Retreat at Circle Square Ranch

The games continue.......

Here's Zach with his beloved bullhorn.

The next game involved two lines and a t-shirt.

Each person in line would number off, and the same would be done on the other side. A number would then be called, or multiple numbers.......

....and those people would run to the middle where the blue t-shirt was. They would then pick it up and fight for the right to........

....put that shirt over their head and shoulder. Where do they come up with these games? : )

The group had lots of fun with this. There were some pretty good scrimmages. It's more fun when multiple numbers are called. Have a look at the Utube link in the last entry where you'll see Pastor Joe being rather competitive, and agile for his age..... " )

On to the next game.
Maddi likes using the bull horn too.

Our praise team leader, and our "non" chaperone, decided they'd rather go for a jog than sit around and watch/

participate in the games. Here they are warming up.

....and there they go. I heard later that they jogged about 1/4 mile......and then walked the rest of the way.
Way to show off for the larger group. : )

Ummmm, John and Debbie....what's so interesting on the ground? Horse puckies are everywhere you know......

The next game involved paper. I didn't quite follow it, but Simon seems to be following Ben.

Simon and Alex are doing something, but I have no idea what.

Hey, Alex! Get your hands off my daughter.....!!! : )

Now this was an interesting little interlude. Hannah and Jacob having a little "discussion" which I caught on tape. It wasn't an argument, really. More like a "see who can win the discussion, discussion." See the Utube link at the end of the blog.

Hmmmm. Seems that Rosy has had enough for the morning....if indeed that is Rosy.....

Oh, it is. Whew.

On to another game. Maddi and Zack try to get everyone's attention. No small feat with this group.

This game involved smaller groups and they had to do different walking styles and then when something was called out they had to stop and do whatever that was.

So, here they had to sit on someone. The last person/people to do it were out.

Here Megan is supposed to be carried by Anja. Doesn't seem to be working out that well if you ask me. : )

Seems like Dave is having a bad morning or something. Yelling at yet another person. Relax Dave. You're scaring Anja.

When the games were over, it was time to relax before lunch. Seems like this couch is full buddy. Sorry. And what is Maddi doing on the right side of the couch. That looks like it's going to hurt. ouch!

Some took to playing some ball hockey to pass the time away.

And then it was lunch time.
Seems like we just ate breakfast.

Waiting in line for food.
It always proved to be a great social time for everyone.

If I didn't know any better, I'd say that John was starting to look like Dave and John. Interesting...... : )

Someone got hold of my camera. They wanted to get a picture of all the corn muffins I ate. They are soooooo good. I think I ate about 9 this time around.

Andrea decided to pose for me. She's going to give birth to twins in the new year. A surprise for her. Blessings as you move towards your due date.

Seems Kevin and Hannah have too much time on their hands. This is something I hadn't seen before. You tap the other person on the forehead and have them say things out loud. Like, 5 colours in the rainbow. Apparently it's not that easy to do.

Kevin tried it on Hannah as well. Looks painful!

At the beginning of the retreat, I put up schedules all around the place so people will know what's coming up. I also do it so 63 people won't be asking me what's happening next. This enterprising young person decided to become a human scheduler. Again, an "A" for creativity.

Someone got hold of my camera again.
I have no idea what I'm doing here, or why.

Nice hat Gaelen. How many did you and Zack bring along?

After lunch it was time for activities. People could choose from Horseback Riding, Highropes, Improv, Biking, Archery, and skateboarding.
John V and I started by taking pictures of the horseback riding. Here are the stalls where the horses stay.

Here's a group getting a lesson in horse gears. You know: park, reverse, forward, and the "I'll do whatever I want to gear." : )

Here's Casey with his horse.
I'm not sure if he looks happy or not. hmmmmm

It seems that Hannah's horse just had lunch and decided it was time for an afternoon nap. Right there, right now.

If you can't beat them, you might as well join them...which is what Hannah did.

Ah, here's Samson. The horse I rode a couple of years ago; the one that stepped on my foot and wouldn't get off; the one that did whatever it wanted to. The one that has kept me from riding a horse ever since. Good luck riding Samson.

And they're off. All 13 horsepower.

The horses pretty much know the trials by heart. They often stop to munch on things. Before the group set out, the leader told everyone not to tailgate. I laughed. Get it..."Tail" gate. bahahahahah

hmmmm, this horse looks as big as Reuben does. Hang in there horsey, hang in there.

Another activity was archery. This year we didn't shoot into hey bales, but actual hard targets.
It isn't as easy as it might look.

Here's Alex showing us how it's done.

ummmm....Rosy.....nice pose, but.....ummmm...where's the arrow?

Oh there it is. Nice catch Reuben. You should look before you shoot Rosy. Good thing he has strong teeth...BTW, WHAT ON EARTH are you doing near the target in the first place? : )