PreTeen Camp

We were home from Destin for 4 days before Makinley and I left for PreTeen Camp with our church. Camp is something that Makinley has never been interested in at all, but she agreed to go if I went as a counselor. So we boarded the church buses on a Thursday and headed for Riverbend Retreat Center in GlenRose. The next 4 days were the hottest, sweatiest, most tiring days of my life! We started at 7:00 a.m. and were outside and at scheduled activities until 11:00 p.m. In addition to multiple bible studies each day, we had rotations that included crafts, pool time, lake time, paintball/archery, BMX biking, and zip line. The kids were so good about participating in everything! To everyone's surprise, Makinley's favorite activities were paintball and BMX...who knew! Both of these required her to step out of her comfort zone and experience something that she had never done before. I swear, I think she could take our all of the stray cats in our neighborhood if we turned her loose with a paintball gun! Of course we both loved the lake! There were lots of things to do there as well, but I liked falling from the trapeze the best. You stood on a deck that was about 2 stories high and swung out over the lake and let go! It was a nice free fall and made your tummy turn every time! Makinley really liked the slide and the blob. The blob is a huge inflatable that requires 2 people. The first person gets on the end of the blob, while the other jumps off the deck onto it, sending the first person up into the air and into the water.

The last day we did the zip line, well, I did the zip line. Makinley tried REALLY hard to do it, but she just couldn't go that far "out of the box". We both got harnessed up and climbed to the top of the tower despite the fact that she was really scared. Once we got to the top and the lady hooked her tot he line, she freaked! I don't blame her, I would have too if I were her age, it was pretty intimidating! She walked back down the tower, but I took the leap of faith and did the zip line. I will say it is an adrenaline rush! I had never done anything like that before so you just have to hope the line is going to "catch" at some point. It did though and it was a cool ride. Makinley was upset with herself for not following through, but I assured her there is always next year!

Camp was a ton of fun! I loved being with the other counselors, watching Makinley interact with her friends, and just getting to know the kids in our church. We have some REALLY good kids in our midst and they have true hearts for God. It is so awesome to watch young kids celebrate their love for Christ together. I am so thankful I was given the opportunity to witness the great things that happened at camp, and can't wait to go again someday!