I had the kids help me collect all their clothes and miscellaneous items for Kanakuk and we got them packed up over a couple of days. The boys didn't want to do anything for the parties, but Ellie was all about it and worked on her outfits for several days with a little help from me. She looked through Pinterest to get ideas, came up with her outfits and gave me a list of what she needed. Her first party was Space Slam and she wanted to be an astronaut...that was suited for the Branson heat. So, we got some white shorts and a t-shirt that I put the NASA logo, her name and an American flag on along with a NASA hat. Then she spray painted a couple 2 liter bottles (the kids were happy we had some soda at the house) and made flames coming out of them with red, orange and yellow tulle. She used some elastic that she sewed together to make a waist band and shoulder straps to attach the bottles to. Then the plan was to use those same bottles to make oxygen tanks for a scuba diver outfit for the Finding Komo party. She used black shorts and tank top, made fins out of blue poster board for her feet, brought a face mask and made tubing for her oxygen tanks out of fish tank tubing, duct tape and a water bottle lid. She also brought blue duct tape to cover the bottles after she was done with them for the Space Slam party. And the last party was a Mystery party where she just wore black shorts and a black shirt that we put SPY on along with a mustache and dark sunglasses. She worked hard on them. And I was kind of grateful the boys didn't want anything, because it was more work. Lincoln said when he wore his Superman outfit last year, it just kept him from being faster :-). Along with the packing and party outfits, I put together all the packages for them. Instead of mailing the packages, you just drop them off at the office when you drop the kids off and just have them labeled with their name and what day you want them delivered. It takes some time to pull it all together, so I can't imagine what next year will be like.
Along with getting everything ready for kamp, I had to get things ready to celebrate Lincoln's birthday early. We did a baseball party, which was helpful because I did one for Jackson a few years, so I was able to use a lot of the same decorations. I just had to print off some stuff with Lincoln's name and age to replace a few items from Jackson's birthday. Lincoln had a friend party in the morning/early afternoon and a party for the family in the evening and he loved both of them. We did wiffle ball and swimming. It was actually a very nice morning, but maybe a little cool to swim, so we did wiffle ball, snacks, opened presents, and cake and then made swimming the last activity of the party. Ty gave Lincoln $20 worth of bubble gum and he was so excited. Lincoln was so thankful for everything.
We went home in between parties to finish packing stuff up for kamp and gave Lincoln one of his presents, a new bike.
Then went back to my parents for the second party in the evening. My Aunt Debi came with a few of her grandkids and they all had fun playing together. We just ordered pizza and everything else was pretty much the same...wiffle ball, swimming, presents, cake, etc. He had a great day of celebration and enjoyed every bit of it.
When we got home, it was time to unload the birthday stuff and load up the trunks and duffle bags. Then we were off to Branson a little after 7 the next morning. We stopped for lunch at the same Mexican restaurant in Springfield on our way down and even though I thought we would get to K-7 a little later than last year, we didn't and were still the first ones. We waited in the car for about a 1/2 hour until others started showing up. We walked down to the check-in area with the Mareks and took some pictures of the kids.
Then a little before two, you could hear the counselors gather and start cheering down the road, then they ran up the road and formed an arch for all the kids to run through. Jackson was about the third kid to be announced and he ended up in Teepee 10. They didn't have the trunks down there yet, so we introduced ourselves to his counselors, he reassured us he could get everything set up, we said our goodbyes and we were on our way to K-Kountry.
Thankfully, we made it without any getting sick. Ellie and Lincoln were so anxious to get checked in. They didn't have to wait that long in line and they came up together. I saw Andy before they got announced and found out Briley was in Barn 11, the same as I knew Ellie was going to be in. Ellie didn't realize it until she saw Briley walking up the path and they asked each other. They were super excited. And we knew Lincoln and Baylor wouldn't end up in the same barn with their age difference, but Lincoln did end up in the same barn as Noah Marshall and Bright Cleaver. I got Ellie set up while Andrew did Lincoln. We weren't as rushed as we were at K-7 and got to stop by the store and I dropped their packages off. Then we ended up meeting up with Andy and Autumn, the Marshalls and the Cleavers at another Mexican restaurant at the Landing. It was great to get to chat with all of them and a nice meal. But it did make for a long day since we didn't leave Branson until at least 6 for the drive home. I'm so grateful Andrew does all the driving. And the twins were super excited that I let them move their seats up to the middle seats when we stopped at a gas station.
The house was quiet the next morning as we got ready for church. I found Bennett hiding under some covers on the couch, crying because he didn't want to go to church without his siblings. We pushed through only for both of them to start getting teary-eyed when we dropped them off at kids' church. But they were pretty good the rest of the week once they relearned how to interact with just the two of them like they did before they went off to kindergarten. They spent a lot of time with imaginary play in the playroom and had stuff strewn all over. I let them keep it out as they played all week until the night before we left to pick up the kids and they had to clean it all up. And they were happy to learn that "Lincoln's friends", Ty, Alex and Josh, still came around to see if they wanted to play. Although our house was quiet Sunday morning, it wasn't much after that. They were around all the time and the twins kept busy whether it was playing together in the basement, running around our house or outside with all the others. Andrew staked down the climbing net on the ninja course and it it added a new dimension to it. They loved it when I took them out to run around town to get gift cards for Wade and Laura and do grocery shopping and school supply shopping. They were done by the time I was half-way through getting all the school supplies, but we still had to do the wedding gift. We decided to do a "Date Nights in the Ville" gift from the small group boys and we went around town getting gift cards from Bellacinos/TCBY, Dairy Queen, Sonic, Maxwells, Pagliais, Downtown Cinema 8 and Leisure World. I made a cute box to put them in and it was good to go. Their reward was Dairy Queen that night. Tuesday evening, Annie and Brad drove from Michigan to the ranch and moved into Matthew and Kristin's old house until they know what their next plans are. So, we ordered some pizza and got some drinks to take out there and helped them unload everything. The twins had fun running around with Savannah and Joseph until it was time to go home. They had a pretty good week that included sleeping downstairs a few nights, but they were ready to see their siblings when it was time to pick them up on Friday. I emailed them everyday and anxiously awaited for the pictures to be uploaded each day.
We got to K-7 just a little after 3 and had to wait in line to get to the parking area and get Jackson's luggage. Then it was down the hill to find him at his teepee. It was good to see his smiling face again. He said he had a great time-enjoyed his counselors and teepee mates. He was excited to get a better time on the ninja course there, which he was looking forward to. He mentioned how he just feels more comfortable there and told us thank you for letting him go many times. For the teepee awards, his character qualities were Patience and Intent and he received the Sonshine Award. Then he received his backpack for going 6 years at the all-kamp awards. Keith Chancey did a great talk about being intentional with our kids and brought it back around to phones/devices and how we need to protect them and ourselves from the dangers and isolation they can bring. We had to rush out of there quickly though. Andrew took the twins earlier, while I waited for Jackson to finish up and we walked up the big hill together. He again told me thank you as he put his arm around me-made my heart swell.
Next up was K-Kountry. Again, waiting in line to get all the trunks/bags. One guy started putting stuff in and said it wasn't going to fit. They had signs saying to stay in your car, but I got out and rearranged things to show him how it did all fit :-). We found Ellie and Lincoln waiting by the lower field and got big hugs (and a few tears welling up in Lincoln's eyes) and the excited conversations started. You could tell they both had an awesome week. Lincoln had all sorts of new bracelets on. He told us about his birthday and how great it was. They brought him up at flag and sang the Birthday Rap. Then he got to choose a counselor to belly flop into the pool. His counselors conspired with him and bribed him to choose a counselor from a different barn. They offered to give him 3 packs of gum at the end of the term, a counselor would do his chores for the day and he would also get his desserts. So, he chose a counselor from Barn 5, who yelled out, "This is for you, Lincoln. Happy Birthday!" and proceeded to do the best belly flop according to Lincoln. Then he got to have his "cake" during breakfast-a block of chocolate ice cream with Oreos and chocolate sauce all over it. We had balloons sent to him, but never saw them as they continued their celebration by sucking all of the helium out of them. I was worried about his birthday at kamp because I only saw one picture, but he thought it was the best...so I was relieved.
We grabbed some dinner and found Andy and his family to eat with them. Then it was time to do Barn Awards. We told Lincoln to tell his counselors we would be there later and went to do Ellie's first. They had her go first and her Character Qualities were Dedicated and Selfless. And she got the I'm Third ribbon in her barn. She loved her counselors and Kitchie, who were very sweet.
We made our way over to where Lincoln's group was and he proceeded to hold up his certificate and ribbon-he didn't tell them to wait and he was the first to go :-(. I was so grateful that Leslie noticed and she got a video and pictures for us. Lincoln's Character Qualities were Faithful and Amiable and he got the Barnabas, Encourager ribbon. He had so much fun and actually remembered names this year.
Next, we headed up to the church for the all-kamp awards. As they were getting everyone there, they put on the Avocado Song and they all stood up on the benches and danced along with motions they had learned. It was so fun seeing Ellie and Lincoln both really getting into it. Then they went through each of the verses they had learned throughout the week, with motions. They learned a new verse from John each day. Next up were the awards. The first one was the Unsung Hero which is awarded to a Kamper who is seen in the act of courage, character, or caring for others without seeking attention or recognition just as the widow did in Mark 12:41-44. Lincoln won one along with Baylor, Noah and Bright. Then they went onto the Spike Award and Briley was a winner of one of those. They went through a few more awards until they got to the I'm Third award which is given out to 3 boy campers and 3 girls campers-one for each age division along with a runner up for each division. The I'm Third award is "awarded to the Kamper who most exemplifies the “I’m Third” life. God first, Others second, I’m Third. This is our biggest honor that we give at K-Kountry! A Kamper who wins this award can never win it again." We were so excited to hear Ellie's name called for the oldest girls' division winner. It was hard to get a picture of any of them receiving their award, but they got group pictures of all of them and posted them.
After all of that, it was time to get their last items from their barns, say their last good-byes and head to the hotel. It was so great to see them, but even better was hearing them talk about the awesome week they had. They all loved it...from making new friends, being loved on by their counselors, trying out all sorts of fun activities, having tons of fun and learning more about fanning that flame in their relationship with Christ so they can be a light to others. I loved to hear from Jackson that his favorite part of the week was the talks/sermons and digging deeper...hearing from so many people at K-Kountry that Ellie is such a wonderful, special girl...seeing Lincoln walk around the camp, feeling so comfortable, chatting it up with the different kids and staff around him. I'm so grateful for a place where they can spend a week surrounded by God's Word-whether they are studying it, trying to live it out or being led by those who are. I'm grateful there is a place they can go where they aren't pigeon-holed like how it so easily happens back home and they are given the opportunity to grow and not be excluded. I'm grateful that they love it and in return are grateful again and again to us for allowing them to go.
Andrew debated about whether or not to just go ahead and drive back to Kirksville. He decided to stop for some ice cream and decide after. I think he thought it would wake him up, but he realized he was tired and we already had the hotel paid for. So, after ice cream (Jackson had a cheeseburger :-)), we made our way to our hotel and tried to get a good nights sleep since Andrew said we would be leaving whenever he woke up. He threatened with 4:30, but we ended up getting up a little after 6, getting ready, eating breakfast and getting out of there around 7:30. We went straight to my parents' house where we picked up an excited Buddy, let them share some stories and then went home. I started unpacking everything and tried to get some laundry started and stuff put away before we had to get ready to go to Wade and Laura's wedding. Andrew went to the office for a little bit and took the three younger boys. Then it was time to get all fancied up and make our way to Lancaster. Andrew took the the twins and Lincoln and I took Jackson and Ellie and we picked up Zach and Joe. The wedding and reception were at the new Whipporwhill Acres outside of Lancaster and it was very pretty. Laura looked so pretty and she and Wade were really cute. They definitely had a ceremony that was unique to them from the music, to the vows and everything in between. After the ceremony, we tried to go outside while they switched things out for the reception, but it was sprinkling and then it started coming down a little harder, so we made our way back inside. They did have some fruit and cheese and crackers to eat while we waited. We eventually found our table which was us and Ben and Jessica Austic. The K-Life kids were all upstairs and Jackson and his friends would randomly come down the stairs to check and see if they were serving the food yet. It took a little while to get it going but the wedding party eventually showed back up, a first speech was done and we got to eat. The kids upstairs swarmed down when it was their turn...even more so when we finally got to break into the cupcakes. They had a swingset outside, so the kids would go in and out to that. We got there around 3:40, with the wedding at 4 and by 8:30, the reception was just starting to kick into gear. After the cake cutting, they did the toasts and then were taking a break before coming back for a game and then some dancing. We ended up leaving at that point as we had a pretty tired crew that I knew wouldn't get on the dance floor. It was a sweet wedding though and we were so happy for them.
That night, as we were getting ready for bed, I started noticing a dizzy feeling. We went to church the next day, but I just wasn't feeling that well. I started working on a grocery list when we got home and decided to lay down for a bit since I was dizzy, nauseous, light-headed and feeling exhausted. I slept off and on the rest of the day. There was no grocery shopping which meant Andrew made PB&J for the kids for dinner. He had hoped to have a day at the ranch for all of us, but it didn't end up that way. He still took the kids out though and Ellie was excited to get to see Lauren.
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