Lazy-F
So I am totally insane. Seriously. Because even with the crazy teaching schedule and nonstop work/plan/prep/teach/grade I do every day, I somehow thought it would be a fantastic idea to be an advisor for the Junior High youth on their retreat this weekend to Lazy F in Thorp. I truly love this retreat and try to go every year, but I am now feeling VERY old because I am so incredibly exhausted from the weekend!
Anyway, the retreat was awesome and unexpected. The theme for the weekend was "The Power of Sex" (I know I'm the WRONG person to teach about this topic) and the discussion was so interesting! I thought our youth director did an excellent job creating a curriculum about a tough subject, appropriate for 7th-9th graders, and completely bible-based. I think I was just as squirmy as some of the 7th graders, as the conversation was often detailed and frank. I think this curriculum will be totally useful for the kids, but I do believe that the 7th graders were too young (and just plain immature and inexperienced) to really apply their learning.
Friday Night we arrived late, unpacked, and had a little group game and got to meet briefly with our small groups. I really lucked out with my group… although several barely spoke during our discussion time, there were no difficult kids in the group at all (I think this may be a first)! Then we had campfire which was good. Of course it was ridiculous trying to get 40 junior high girls to actually go to sleep at 12:30, but we did it and beat the guys by about half an hour (so I heard).
After Saturday morning session and small group, we had a big chunk of choice time on Saturday, much of which I spent in the girl's cabin (because I don't like sports) with a bunch of girls who also don't like sports and instead did impromptu talent shows, gymnastics, and a silly game of "taboo." I also got about an hour of planning (for my real job) and took a nap. Most people spent the day outdoors (because it actually wasn’t raining) playing sports or just generally being rowdy. Before dinner we had a fishing derby (which I think is boring and gross, but lots of people enjoyed). For session tonight, they separated the girls and boys into two big groups and the girls answered the questions “what do boys look for in girls?” and “what do you look for in a guy?” The guys answered the opposite questions. Then we did a fishbowl activity with those questions and squashed some stereotypes and preconceived notions about the opposite sex. I thought that session was pretty interesting. Saturday night we played "Counselor Hunt" which is similar to a scavenger hunt, but when they find the counselors, they must answer a question correctly in order to get that point. My question was "name the seven dwarfs" and I was surprised that so many boys couldn't do it. Campfire was good on Saturday as well… not too long, but really cold. Pastor O’Neal joined us on Saturday, too… I can’t even remember the last time he went to Lazy-F.
Sunday morning of course came WAY too early, but at least the sun was out for our exciting day. After morning session and small group, we all got ready to go rafting (an annual event at Lazy-F) even though the river was high and faster than usual. We crammed 70 people onto our 40-person church bus and risked our lives yet again driving to the river in such a hazardous bus (but of course it was fun). I was slightly concerned about rafting because we only had 3 guys in my small group (you raft with your small groups) and I didn’t think many of the girls would want to row. They did make a rule that no one could push people (or voluntarily jump) in the water this year because of the current and the chilly weather. This blessed rule turned out to let everyone have a fabulous time on the river… how wonderful it is to river raft without being soaking wet and miserable for 4 hours down the river!!!! My group was also fantastic (yet again) and everyone actually wanted to row (I never even had to) and the guys especially were pretty good at guiding the raft to the appropriate places. I think my group got sick of me, though, because I am really a “backseat rower” (instead of driver) and am generally paranoid about running into a rock or a tree (probably because I’ve done that once too many times before). Anyway, about halfway down the river, two other rafts launch just before us, with about ten 20-somethings who were totally DRUNK! We often chat with people we meet on the river, but our first experience with these wakos was their offers for us to have some of their beer. I told them that we were one of eight rafts from a church, but they didn’t seem to mind. They then proceeded to be generally unsafe in their rafts, spinning them, nearly toppling them, and hooting and hollering at the same time. Of course then they brought out a funnel and a hose and one guy stood UP between the two rafts and was fed beer through the contraption. Lovely. We paddled faster until we were a safe distance ahead of them. Later we paused our raft to have our picture taken (one of the advisors was set up with a camera along the river route), and we yelled at him to ignore the next two boats because they were DRUNKS. At this point, the “drunks” ALL turned their heads and looked at us, and of course we thought “ahhhh, they’re gonna come and get us” and we proceeded to raft a bit faster again. Anyway, the whole rafting trip ended without incident, and our boat never once got stuck (just one close call) or ran into anything. I really should have listened to my campers when they asked me “don’t you have any faith in us?” Haha. All in all, the rafting trip was a huge success… there was one water fight between two boats and one injury (not too bad). We all shivered back to the bus and back to camp. Session after dinner was difficult… I kept on almost falling asleep, and I felt bad for that… evidently the entire camp was almost falling asleep. Too much river fun that day. Sunday evening we played a game called “Chaos” which I still don’t quite understand. So I guess it’s a good thing that I volunteered to set up snacks during the game instead of playing the game! One kid got injured during the game because he was running, at night, in the dark, with FLIP-FLOPS and of course rammed his toes into something and peeled the skin right off of two or three toes and came into the snack room with blood pouring out of his feet… gross. I was glad I wasn’t the medic! (he was fine after he got bandaged up) Campfire Sunday night was too long because they did communion one group at a time (before, all the groups did communion at the same time and the counselors administered it and the blessing… this year the counselors still gave communion, but the pastor and youth director wanted to give the blessings to every stinkin’ camper there). Everyone was freezing by the end of campfire!
We got up early on Monday morning to pack (I had to be a mean “teacher” to a group of girls who were totally dawdling… haha). Then the counselors were amazed when a few of the girls already began to clean the cabin… such fabulous females! After the camp was cleaned and our stuff was packed up, we hiked to the cross. I do NOT hike. I CAN NOT hike. So I volunteered to take up the rear and encourage the other campers who are also not hikers. Most of the hike was spent pausing for water breaks (or just to “look at the view”) and to grumble about those darn athletic folk who practically ran up the stupid mountain. But it was all in good fun. One group of kids (and a counselor) decided to be PSYCHO and climb directly, straight up the mountain (instead of staying on the path of switchbacks). Evidently it was outright dangerous towards the end of their hike/mountain climb because they were literally rock climbing the last fifty feet or so (without helmets or harnesses or anything!), but thankfully they made it in one piece. At the top of the mountain we had a mini-session with our small groups and then took pictures and hiked down. I was wearing my pedometer (I’ve been doing the May walking challenge with the teachers at school) and we walked 12,000 steps on the hike (normal people walk 10,000 in an entire day), so woohoo! On the way home, we stopped at a rest stop for “linner” (subway sandwiches that we pre-ordered and picked up on the way). I was having serious Mexico flashbacks… I think I will always hold a fondness in my heart for rest stops after Mexico!!! On the ride home, some of the campers thought of a great joke to play. One camper plastered his face against the bus window to look as if he was totally asleep and drooling. The others taped a sign on the window above him that said “I’m a nerd!” So vehicles that passed us thought that the kids on the bus were playing a joke on this poor sleeping kid… haha!! As usual, we had a TON of Memorial Day traffic and so we were stopped or crawling along often. There were SO MANY people who passed the bus, looked at the kid and the sign, and were laughing in hysterics, pointing, and/or honking! There was even one car whose passengers (probably in their twenties) were leaning out of the windows, snapping pictures of the bus, the sign, and the sleeping kid!
All in all it was a wonderful trip with a strange topic. I had fun, but I am more tired than I ever thought I could be!!! Could I be getting too old to go on retreats???
Anyway, the retreat was awesome and unexpected. The theme for the weekend was "The Power of Sex" (I know I'm the WRONG person to teach about this topic) and the discussion was so interesting! I thought our youth director did an excellent job creating a curriculum about a tough subject, appropriate for 7th-9th graders, and completely bible-based. I think I was just as squirmy as some of the 7th graders, as the conversation was often detailed and frank. I think this curriculum will be totally useful for the kids, but I do believe that the 7th graders were too young (and just plain immature and inexperienced) to really apply their learning.
Friday Night we arrived late, unpacked, and had a little group game and got to meet briefly with our small groups. I really lucked out with my group… although several barely spoke during our discussion time, there were no difficult kids in the group at all (I think this may be a first)! Then we had campfire which was good. Of course it was ridiculous trying to get 40 junior high girls to actually go to sleep at 12:30, but we did it and beat the guys by about half an hour (so I heard).
After Saturday morning session and small group, we had a big chunk of choice time on Saturday, much of which I spent in the girl's cabin (because I don't like sports) with a bunch of girls who also don't like sports and instead did impromptu talent shows, gymnastics, and a silly game of "taboo." I also got about an hour of planning (for my real job) and took a nap. Most people spent the day outdoors (because it actually wasn’t raining) playing sports or just generally being rowdy. Before dinner we had a fishing derby (which I think is boring and gross, but lots of people enjoyed). For session tonight, they separated the girls and boys into two big groups and the girls answered the questions “what do boys look for in girls?” and “what do you look for in a guy?” The guys answered the opposite questions. Then we did a fishbowl activity with those questions and squashed some stereotypes and preconceived notions about the opposite sex. I thought that session was pretty interesting. Saturday night we played "Counselor Hunt" which is similar to a scavenger hunt, but when they find the counselors, they must answer a question correctly in order to get that point. My question was "name the seven dwarfs" and I was surprised that so many boys couldn't do it. Campfire was good on Saturday as well… not too long, but really cold. Pastor O’Neal joined us on Saturday, too… I can’t even remember the last time he went to Lazy-F.
Sunday morning of course came WAY too early, but at least the sun was out for our exciting day. After morning session and small group, we all got ready to go rafting (an annual event at Lazy-F) even though the river was high and faster than usual. We crammed 70 people onto our 40-person church bus and risked our lives yet again driving to the river in such a hazardous bus (but of course it was fun). I was slightly concerned about rafting because we only had 3 guys in my small group (you raft with your small groups) and I didn’t think many of the girls would want to row. They did make a rule that no one could push people (or voluntarily jump) in the water this year because of the current and the chilly weather. This blessed rule turned out to let everyone have a fabulous time on the river… how wonderful it is to river raft without being soaking wet and miserable for 4 hours down the river!!!! My group was also fantastic (yet again) and everyone actually wanted to row (I never even had to) and the guys especially were pretty good at guiding the raft to the appropriate places. I think my group got sick of me, though, because I am really a “backseat rower” (instead of driver) and am generally paranoid about running into a rock or a tree (probably because I’ve done that once too many times before). Anyway, about halfway down the river, two other rafts launch just before us, with about ten 20-somethings who were totally DRUNK! We often chat with people we meet on the river, but our first experience with these wakos was their offers for us to have some of their beer. I told them that we were one of eight rafts from a church, but they didn’t seem to mind. They then proceeded to be generally unsafe in their rafts, spinning them, nearly toppling them, and hooting and hollering at the same time. Of course then they brought out a funnel and a hose and one guy stood UP between the two rafts and was fed beer through the contraption. Lovely. We paddled faster until we were a safe distance ahead of them. Later we paused our raft to have our picture taken (one of the advisors was set up with a camera along the river route), and we yelled at him to ignore the next two boats because they were DRUNKS. At this point, the “drunks” ALL turned their heads and looked at us, and of course we thought “ahhhh, they’re gonna come and get us” and we proceeded to raft a bit faster again. Anyway, the whole rafting trip ended without incident, and our boat never once got stuck (just one close call) or ran into anything. I really should have listened to my campers when they asked me “don’t you have any faith in us?” Haha. All in all, the rafting trip was a huge success… there was one water fight between two boats and one injury (not too bad). We all shivered back to the bus and back to camp. Session after dinner was difficult… I kept on almost falling asleep, and I felt bad for that… evidently the entire camp was almost falling asleep. Too much river fun that day. Sunday evening we played a game called “Chaos” which I still don’t quite understand. So I guess it’s a good thing that I volunteered to set up snacks during the game instead of playing the game! One kid got injured during the game because he was running, at night, in the dark, with FLIP-FLOPS and of course rammed his toes into something and peeled the skin right off of two or three toes and came into the snack room with blood pouring out of his feet… gross. I was glad I wasn’t the medic! (he was fine after he got bandaged up) Campfire Sunday night was too long because they did communion one group at a time (before, all the groups did communion at the same time and the counselors administered it and the blessing… this year the counselors still gave communion, but the pastor and youth director wanted to give the blessings to every stinkin’ camper there). Everyone was freezing by the end of campfire!
We got up early on Monday morning to pack (I had to be a mean “teacher” to a group of girls who were totally dawdling… haha). Then the counselors were amazed when a few of the girls already began to clean the cabin… such fabulous females! After the camp was cleaned and our stuff was packed up, we hiked to the cross. I do NOT hike. I CAN NOT hike. So I volunteered to take up the rear and encourage the other campers who are also not hikers. Most of the hike was spent pausing for water breaks (or just to “look at the view”) and to grumble about those darn athletic folk who practically ran up the stupid mountain. But it was all in good fun. One group of kids (and a counselor) decided to be PSYCHO and climb directly, straight up the mountain (instead of staying on the path of switchbacks). Evidently it was outright dangerous towards the end of their hike/mountain climb because they were literally rock climbing the last fifty feet or so (without helmets or harnesses or anything!), but thankfully they made it in one piece. At the top of the mountain we had a mini-session with our small groups and then took pictures and hiked down. I was wearing my pedometer (I’ve been doing the May walking challenge with the teachers at school) and we walked 12,000 steps on the hike (normal people walk 10,000 in an entire day), so woohoo! On the way home, we stopped at a rest stop for “linner” (subway sandwiches that we pre-ordered and picked up on the way). I was having serious Mexico flashbacks… I think I will always hold a fondness in my heart for rest stops after Mexico!!! On the ride home, some of the campers thought of a great joke to play. One camper plastered his face against the bus window to look as if he was totally asleep and drooling. The others taped a sign on the window above him that said “I’m a nerd!” So vehicles that passed us thought that the kids on the bus were playing a joke on this poor sleeping kid… haha!! As usual, we had a TON of Memorial Day traffic and so we were stopped or crawling along often. There were SO MANY people who passed the bus, looked at the kid and the sign, and were laughing in hysterics, pointing, and/or honking! There was even one car whose passengers (probably in their twenties) were leaning out of the windows, snapping pictures of the bus, the sign, and the sleeping kid!
All in all it was a wonderful trip with a strange topic. I had fun, but I am more tired than I ever thought I could be!!! Could I be getting too old to go on retreats???