"Camping" with the youth group

Monday Morning we left with seven youth for a three day long camping trip at Cedar Hill State Park. It was about three hours away (just south of Dallas). The first day we unloaded and cooked lunch and set up camp. The sun was out and it was warm and great. We walked down to the lake, played cards, went to Walmart, cooked dinner, and had a bonfire. The guys bought this new monopoly game and went to their tent and played, the girls stayed up chatting and finally went to bed. No one had any idea that it would rain, and it sure did rain! It rained all night. I woke up a few times in the night and was a little damp and cold. There were some leaks in our tent and my sleeping bag was a little wet. When the other girls were up we all pointed out all the leaks, and everyone showed how wet they were, and then I went out to go to the bathroom and noticed there was a boy laying on the picnic table bench, I thought hmm, and looked, and a boy was sleeping in a chair, and a boy sleeping on the other side of the picnic table, (photo #4). Then, I looked over at their tent, and it was completely flat (photo #5). We girls thought we had it bad, but at least our tent was still up!


Everything was covered in mud, and it was still cold and rainy, so we went to the mall to warm up and dry off. We actually had to wait in the van until the mall opened. It was actually a hit with the kids. They were all well behaved and enjoyed walking around (oh yeah, there were 4 6th/7th grade girls - and a Dick's Sporting Goods for the boys), so everyone was entertained. We then went back to the camp for lunch, it was still rainy and cold, so we made the executive decision to head back to the church and finish the camping trip there. The kids were flexible with that, and pretty much were agreeable. For dinner that night the boy leading prayer prayed "Thank you God for giving us the opportunity to come back to the church". Anyway, the kids loved running around the church. There is a gym at St. Paul's and they set up tents in there, and actually the big hit of the night was choreographing scooter routines to cheesy songs. Mark and Will (his intern) did one to "Circle of Life" and the kids thought it was hilarious (which it was).



Despite the crummy weather, the kids enjoyed their time, and I think it was a success!!

Photo #1 -Mark accidentally locked his keys in the trailer, so he and Will had to cut the lock with bolt cutters, which they obviously enjoyed.

Photo #2 - Someones muddy sleeping bag (and answers to why we had to come back to the church)

Photo #3 - Every ones hands (especially Todd's) were permanently dirty

Photo #4 - Boys sleeping under the overhang (under the sleeping bags)

Photo #5 - Boys tent (the flat one), and next to it is Will and Marks (perfectly fine)

Photo #6 - The tents set back up at St. Paul, and Lexi dance-scootering by

#1#2#3

#4#5#6

Well, that was our "camping" trip in a summery. We were both totally exhausted by Wednesday night!

Brittany