Soulfest
I still haven't posted about Soulfest. It was awesome!
We went for 5 days, but they passed so quickly! Well, here's all the det.s for those of you dying to know:
I had to watch Madagascar on the way over because the kids we took all voted for it. Annoying. Oh, and on the way I remembered that I had forgotten my pillow and my eyecover. Sure, I remembered every last detail for the youth group, but my stuff I forgot lol. We got there and it was sooooo hot, and of course the first task is setting up tents. We got the canopy up pretty quickly, but the tents seemed to take longer than last year because everyone had to go under the canopy and chug a gatorade every few minutes. I resisted as much as possible. When the tents were finished I went under the canopy and started telling the kids to get their stuff set up in the tent and in the middle of a sentence I almost fainted, literally. It was all the heat. All I know is that I was in the middle of barking out an order when I suddenly stopped, sat on the ground and (here's the funny part) kept giving orders. Everyone got concerned right away and threw me like 3 gatorades and I consumed a ton of fluids in like three seconds.
I was fine after that but I've never been close to fainting so it was really wierd for me. After showers(which were heavenly) and pizza, we headed out to our first concert, BarlowGirl.
It was amazing but way too short. We headed out to the shops during the Jeremy Camp concert where the kids spend 2/3 of the money their parents gave them. Keep in mind that this is day 1 of 5. But I wanted them to learn from their own mistakes, so I let them. I ended up learning from that mistake because in the last few days we had to spot everyone for snocones and ski lifts. Oh and Abner fell on his butt in a crowd of a bunch of people. Later was Audio Adrenaline. It was basically the concert of a lifetime -- they did 4 encores. I promised myself that night that no matter where there last concert was, I would be there. That night was awful. Besides getting used to sleeping bags and the hard ground, the Brazilians next door were loud until late into the night. Darn Brazilians.
The next day we woke up at the crack of dawn, mostly because we didn't really sleep. We had an awesome quiet time and we went to the pool. Pri and I bonded over the Crust who totally kept looking at us, and it was good b/c I was worried Pri was going to be awkward the whole time because she's almost my age. We had a good time though, and soon we were headed to see KJ52 who is always awesome in concert. Back at the campsite, after dinner and s'mores (mmm!) We died our hair pink in honor of the Superchick concert (their colors this year are pink and black). We were on our way over when who should I run into but the Reformed Aborigine and his youth group! Shock! He looked hot, as usual, and quite happy and surprised to see me. The feeling was definitly mutual. Anyway, Superchick was incredible, although too short. Matt had a 'hawk. I heart Matt Dally!!!
We chilled for Newsboys even though the kids slept for most of it. They're encore of Breakfast in Hell was awesome though, and all the kids got in on it.
That night it rained. A lot. Surprisingly, the tent was relatively dry. Outside everything was disgusting mud. Not to mention the later it got, the more disgusting smelling it got. That was probably the least pleasant part of Soulfest.
But it stopped raining before lunch, and we all went on the ski lifts. That was a blast, because the kids just randomly talk to the people in the lifts as the pass, it's really fun. Oh and we got sno cones. Even though it was cold out. While on the ski lifts mom gave me a call. It seems she saw a blast from our past, The Boy From Ipanema. Not only had she seen him, but she invited him to our camp specifically to see me. That doesn't sound desperate. I was horrified, but sure enough, he came over, toting a photo camera. Took a picture of me without asking. Who said Brazilians weren't creepy? It was ok though, because I know he's a nice guy and he doesn't really creep me out. We played mafia for awhile that day because the kids love it. The drawback is that our campsite smelled awful. The funny part is that people kept trying to drive uphill through the mud. Not very successfully.
Then we headed to the Inside-Out stage to see Apologetix. On the way, I was talking to Stephanie and Camilla, and Camilla starts freaking out because she found a tick on her forehead. I tried to calm her down, esp. since it really hadn't been on her head for very long, it was still really tiny. Well, like I said, everything's muddy, and we're trying to get to Inside Out, but the place is a swamp. Right before my eyes, Camilla goes down. Her khaki capris are covered in disgusting mud. Sounds like a job for ... dadadadum! Youth Pastor Girl. I had my parents and Pri take the kids to the concert and headed back up to the campsite for Camilla to change. She's pretty upset, but not as upset as she gets when she realizes that a side of her forehead is now twice it's normal size. Oops. I forgot that she told me she was allergic to bug bites. So I try to calm her down, I give her some benadryl and disinfect the bite, but I make sure to keep an eye on her on the way back down to the concert. When we get there she seems ok, so I pay attention to the band. They stink. When the concert's done we go to where my parents are camped out and I hear some commotion. Camilla's saying she feels nauseous and by now she's crying. So of course I take charge, I was made for this (I'm shaking in my boots and praying my butt off, I guess that's what I was made for). I'm telling her I'll take her to the bathroom, but she's crying about how she doesn't want to go. I finally convince her to, and let me tell you, this whole thing became a religious experience. She's already complaining that this is the worst day ever, when her flip flop gets stuck in the mud. Now her foot and flip flop are covered in disgusting, smelly, sludge. She's crying, naseous, and her forehead is swollen. Poor thing! Any other 12-year-old would want to go home too. I would want to go home for goodness sakes. So I try to calm her down, but she's unconsolable as we walk to the bathrooms (the real ones, not the porta-potties, the girl deserves running water for goodness sakes!). I try to convince her that other people have had worse days, but she is conviced hers is the worst ever. We get to the bathroom and I start making her laugh because I just wash her muddy shoe right in the sink, and then I tell her to put her foot in the sink (who would have known that when Jesus told the disciples to wash each other's feet He meant it literally? :-) I have to be honest in that moment washing her feet I felt so blessed for the honor of doing something that Jesus did) And she like, we should be doing this in the sink, (I mean there was a whole line of people watching us) and I was just like, well everyone's just going to have to understand that you're having the worst day ever and you need to wash your feet in the sink. She kindof started to laugh and I knew that everything she was feeling was just nerves, she just needed to calm down. So after that she was doing better and then (God is so good!) as we're headed to the revival stage to see MercyMe, a random girl trips and falls. We laughed so hard, and I told Camilla that God made that girl fall just to make her feel better. She was getting a lot better, and the only thing I was worried about by now was her nausea, so I gave her a test. I saw an ice cream booth and I was like, mmm ice cream, want some? When she accepted I knew she'd be fine. So I bought the kid some ice cream and she was laughing and joking by the time we got to the audience. Then, as one final joke from God, as we're going down the hill, I slip and fall. (thank God it wasn't muddy) We laughed it all off and she was good for the MercyMe concert.
So we headed back to the campground and dad got there first so he lit the tiki torches. When we arrived, this really cute guy was going to the campsite in front of ours (where there were a bunch of young guys ;-)) and he was like, "Nice I love tiki torches", and I noticed that he was wearing a really cool shirt and I was like, "I like your shirt" and he started telling us about how the Christian clothing company was sponsoring him. That's when Pri whispered to me that he was the frontman for August Burns Red. OMG!!! So we acted like total groupies and talked and flirted with him and stuff. Then he headed over to the guys' camp for burgers but we were like, oh man we should have gotten a picture with him! So we called him over and he was REALLY nice and he took a picture and gave autographs and told us all about the band and everything. He was incredibly nice, he shook hands with everyone like three times including my mom who was sitting in her tent. Of course, when we took the picture he made sure to stand next to me and Priscilla. It was really cute because Karen tried to stand next to him, but he was like, "little people in front"...hahaha....sooooo cute! After he left, Pri and I sat outside and chatted, hoping for an invitation to their little party, and Jake tried to get us into the game by shouting some joke at us but it didn't work out. Too bad :-(
The next day was Saturday, we woke up early and got stuff ready for the campsite contest. This year the theme was holiday and we did Easter, Good Friday and Christmas. We did a live nativity, cross and resurrection scene. It turned out amazing, but we waited for the judges for an hour and a half, all dressed up and looking like idiots to everyone who passed by us. And the guys in the campsite in front of us. And the Boy from Ipanema who came by like twice. We were just about to give up and just eat lunch (I was half-way through a hot dog) When the judges showed up and we scrambled to get into place. Stephanie was the narrator. She did an awesome job, as did everyone else, but it was funny because the batteries fell out of the stereo like 3 times, so that wasn't hot.
After that we finished eating and gladly went to take showers (esp poor Leo who was covered in fake blood, b/c he played Jesus) We went to find out the results. We had to watch John Reuben, who's awful, but it was ok, b/c people from my church, including Buff Engaged Guy were there so we were entertained. Then time came to announce the results of the campsite decorating contest. In first place for the holiday theme...SB25!!! That's us!!! We jumped up and down and yelled and hugged each other. It was awesome. Sure, we didn't win best overall, but there's always next year.
So after that we had some pizza with the ppl from church. I talked with the Fiance (she's the sweetest person ever, I'm totally convinced that my crush on him was just a phase), then we headed back up to the campsite. Marcelo was there and he talked with the kids about his girl problems, I tried to stay out of it. Then it was time for Hawk Nelson. Abner and Marcelo were there with their respective girlfriends who they didn't un-glue from the whole concert (seeing little 14-year-olds grope each other is just not hot). Hawk Nelson was awesome though, in spite of that. There was a guy two people ahead of me who looked just like the Shrimp from behind and I was actually getting quite convinced that he had converted to punk and really was jumping just ahead of me enjoying Hawk Nelson. Until he turned around. DEFINETLY NOT the Shrimp... Oh well... After Hawk Nelson was Pillar who were pretty good, but I spent half the concert worried someone was going to trample Karen. A lot of people kept breaking out into moshing and every time it would give me a heart-attack that the short one would be trampled. At some point someone hit their elbow on Karens shoulder and she fell to the ground, so it was time to move back. The concert was much more enjoyable from a distance anyway, because before we were so packed we couldn't even jump, and now we could, so it was a good decision. After that we headed back to camp and passed out for 12 hours...
Next day we started getting ready to go and then some of the guys from the campsite in front of us came over and started talking to us and they invited us to go have worship with them. Me, Sam, Deyse and Pri went and it was cool, although I am totally behind on the worship song world thanks to Gordon's insistance on hymns. After the service, Pri and I chilled with a couple of guys and got email addys...yeah we're pimps. Then we went to finish putting the tents away, Leo would not leave the guys camp -- they were already all buddies. Leo becomes buddies with people really quickly because he's little and cute. It was funny, we're like, "You all stole our only guy!!!"
After that we headed down for one last sno cone and perusing the stores. We were beside the African charity booth when the Reformed Aborigine finally made another appearance. I ended up giving him info so that we could contact each other. If he wasn't so hot, he's be really wierd...
Oh and me and Stephanie sumo wrestled. It was awesome, I would do it again, even in the hot sun that burned our poor feetsies.
Anyway, so we saw Casting Crowns VIP, which was good, but not as good at Superchick last year. I snuck Pri in because we only had 7 tickets and 8 people so we asked the volunteer dude and he was like, whatever if you get caught I didn't let you in. During the concert Camilla has to go to the bathroom and Pri offered to take her, so I gave her my VIP pass to make sure she'd get back in. SO then at the end of the concert we left from a different route from how we got in. We start thinking, maybe we're going the wrong way...until all of the sudden we pass the violinist of Casting Crowns! We were backstage!!! So duh, we totally took advantage of it and got as many pics with people as possible. It was awesome. Then Sarah Iverson called out to me, she was just outside the gate and she's like, how'd you get over there? And I went over and got some stuff of hers to sign when this big security guy looks at me and he's like, "I don't see any VIP passes on you". I was sure I was deadmeat. Sarah starts explaining how I was with the group the whole time and I start making some stuff up...then he got distracted by something and I ran away!!! I got away with it though! :-)
On our way home we stopped by McD's...they had the mango milkshake it was heavenly. We all shared what God had taught us that weekend and it was awesome because everyone really shared from the heart. The week was basically incredible in every way!!!
We went for 5 days, but they passed so quickly! Well, here's all the det.s for those of you dying to know:
I had to watch Madagascar on the way over because the kids we took all voted for it. Annoying. Oh, and on the way I remembered that I had forgotten my pillow and my eyecover. Sure, I remembered every last detail for the youth group, but my stuff I forgot lol. We got there and it was sooooo hot, and of course the first task is setting up tents. We got the canopy up pretty quickly, but the tents seemed to take longer than last year because everyone had to go under the canopy and chug a gatorade every few minutes. I resisted as much as possible. When the tents were finished I went under the canopy and started telling the kids to get their stuff set up in the tent and in the middle of a sentence I almost fainted, literally. It was all the heat. All I know is that I was in the middle of barking out an order when I suddenly stopped, sat on the ground and (here's the funny part) kept giving orders. Everyone got concerned right away and threw me like 3 gatorades and I consumed a ton of fluids in like three seconds.
I was fine after that but I've never been close to fainting so it was really wierd for me. After showers(which were heavenly) and pizza, we headed out to our first concert, BarlowGirl.
It was amazing but way too short. We headed out to the shops during the Jeremy Camp concert where the kids spend 2/3 of the money their parents gave them. Keep in mind that this is day 1 of 5. But I wanted them to learn from their own mistakes, so I let them. I ended up learning from that mistake because in the last few days we had to spot everyone for snocones and ski lifts. Oh and Abner fell on his butt in a crowd of a bunch of people. Later was Audio Adrenaline. It was basically the concert of a lifetime -- they did 4 encores. I promised myself that night that no matter where there last concert was, I would be there. That night was awful. Besides getting used to sleeping bags and the hard ground, the Brazilians next door were loud until late into the night. Darn Brazilians.
The next day we woke up at the crack of dawn, mostly because we didn't really sleep. We had an awesome quiet time and we went to the pool. Pri and I bonded over the Crust who totally kept looking at us, and it was good b/c I was worried Pri was going to be awkward the whole time because she's almost my age. We had a good time though, and soon we were headed to see KJ52 who is always awesome in concert. Back at the campsite, after dinner and s'mores (mmm!) We died our hair pink in honor of the Superchick concert (their colors this year are pink and black). We were on our way over when who should I run into but the Reformed Aborigine and his youth group! Shock! He looked hot, as usual, and quite happy and surprised to see me. The feeling was definitly mutual. Anyway, Superchick was incredible, although too short. Matt had a 'hawk. I heart Matt Dally!!!
We chilled for Newsboys even though the kids slept for most of it. They're encore of Breakfast in Hell was awesome though, and all the kids got in on it.
That night it rained. A lot. Surprisingly, the tent was relatively dry. Outside everything was disgusting mud. Not to mention the later it got, the more disgusting smelling it got. That was probably the least pleasant part of Soulfest.
But it stopped raining before lunch, and we all went on the ski lifts. That was a blast, because the kids just randomly talk to the people in the lifts as the pass, it's really fun. Oh and we got sno cones. Even though it was cold out. While on the ski lifts mom gave me a call. It seems she saw a blast from our past, The Boy From Ipanema. Not only had she seen him, but she invited him to our camp specifically to see me. That doesn't sound desperate. I was horrified, but sure enough, he came over, toting a photo camera. Took a picture of me without asking. Who said Brazilians weren't creepy? It was ok though, because I know he's a nice guy and he doesn't really creep me out. We played mafia for awhile that day because the kids love it. The drawback is that our campsite smelled awful. The funny part is that people kept trying to drive uphill through the mud. Not very successfully.
Then we headed to the Inside-Out stage to see Apologetix. On the way, I was talking to Stephanie and Camilla, and Camilla starts freaking out because she found a tick on her forehead. I tried to calm her down, esp. since it really hadn't been on her head for very long, it was still really tiny. Well, like I said, everything's muddy, and we're trying to get to Inside Out, but the place is a swamp. Right before my eyes, Camilla goes down. Her khaki capris are covered in disgusting mud. Sounds like a job for ... dadadadum! Youth Pastor Girl. I had my parents and Pri take the kids to the concert and headed back up to the campsite for Camilla to change. She's pretty upset, but not as upset as she gets when she realizes that a side of her forehead is now twice it's normal size. Oops. I forgot that she told me she was allergic to bug bites. So I try to calm her down, I give her some benadryl and disinfect the bite, but I make sure to keep an eye on her on the way back down to the concert. When we get there she seems ok, so I pay attention to the band. They stink. When the concert's done we go to where my parents are camped out and I hear some commotion. Camilla's saying she feels nauseous and by now she's crying. So of course I take charge, I was made for this (I'm shaking in my boots and praying my butt off, I guess that's what I was made for). I'm telling her I'll take her to the bathroom, but she's crying about how she doesn't want to go. I finally convince her to, and let me tell you, this whole thing became a religious experience. She's already complaining that this is the worst day ever, when her flip flop gets stuck in the mud. Now her foot and flip flop are covered in disgusting, smelly, sludge. She's crying, naseous, and her forehead is swollen. Poor thing! Any other 12-year-old would want to go home too. I would want to go home for goodness sakes. So I try to calm her down, but she's unconsolable as we walk to the bathrooms (the real ones, not the porta-potties, the girl deserves running water for goodness sakes!). I try to convince her that other people have had worse days, but she is conviced hers is the worst ever. We get to the bathroom and I start making her laugh because I just wash her muddy shoe right in the sink, and then I tell her to put her foot in the sink (who would have known that when Jesus told the disciples to wash each other's feet He meant it literally? :-) I have to be honest in that moment washing her feet I felt so blessed for the honor of doing something that Jesus did) And she like, we should be doing this in the sink, (I mean there was a whole line of people watching us) and I was just like, well everyone's just going to have to understand that you're having the worst day ever and you need to wash your feet in the sink. She kindof started to laugh and I knew that everything she was feeling was just nerves, she just needed to calm down. So after that she was doing better and then (God is so good!) as we're headed to the revival stage to see MercyMe, a random girl trips and falls. We laughed so hard, and I told Camilla that God made that girl fall just to make her feel better. She was getting a lot better, and the only thing I was worried about by now was her nausea, so I gave her a test. I saw an ice cream booth and I was like, mmm ice cream, want some? When she accepted I knew she'd be fine. So I bought the kid some ice cream and she was laughing and joking by the time we got to the audience. Then, as one final joke from God, as we're going down the hill, I slip and fall. (thank God it wasn't muddy) We laughed it all off and she was good for the MercyMe concert.
So we headed back to the campground and dad got there first so he lit the tiki torches. When we arrived, this really cute guy was going to the campsite in front of ours (where there were a bunch of young guys ;-)) and he was like, "Nice I love tiki torches", and I noticed that he was wearing a really cool shirt and I was like, "I like your shirt" and he started telling us about how the Christian clothing company was sponsoring him. That's when Pri whispered to me that he was the frontman for August Burns Red. OMG!!! So we acted like total groupies and talked and flirted with him and stuff. Then he headed over to the guys' camp for burgers but we were like, oh man we should have gotten a picture with him! So we called him over and he was REALLY nice and he took a picture and gave autographs and told us all about the band and everything. He was incredibly nice, he shook hands with everyone like three times including my mom who was sitting in her tent. Of course, when we took the picture he made sure to stand next to me and Priscilla. It was really cute because Karen tried to stand next to him, but he was like, "little people in front"...hahaha....sooooo cute! After he left, Pri and I sat outside and chatted, hoping for an invitation to their little party, and Jake tried to get us into the game by shouting some joke at us but it didn't work out. Too bad :-(
The next day was Saturday, we woke up early and got stuff ready for the campsite contest. This year the theme was holiday and we did Easter, Good Friday and Christmas. We did a live nativity, cross and resurrection scene. It turned out amazing, but we waited for the judges for an hour and a half, all dressed up and looking like idiots to everyone who passed by us. And the guys in the campsite in front of us. And the Boy from Ipanema who came by like twice. We were just about to give up and just eat lunch (I was half-way through a hot dog) When the judges showed up and we scrambled to get into place. Stephanie was the narrator. She did an awesome job, as did everyone else, but it was funny because the batteries fell out of the stereo like 3 times, so that wasn't hot.
After that we finished eating and gladly went to take showers (esp poor Leo who was covered in fake blood, b/c he played Jesus) We went to find out the results. We had to watch John Reuben, who's awful, but it was ok, b/c people from my church, including Buff Engaged Guy were there so we were entertained. Then time came to announce the results of the campsite decorating contest. In first place for the holiday theme...SB25!!! That's us!!! We jumped up and down and yelled and hugged each other. It was awesome. Sure, we didn't win best overall, but there's always next year.
So after that we had some pizza with the ppl from church. I talked with the Fiance (she's the sweetest person ever, I'm totally convinced that my crush on him was just a phase), then we headed back up to the campsite. Marcelo was there and he talked with the kids about his girl problems, I tried to stay out of it. Then it was time for Hawk Nelson. Abner and Marcelo were there with their respective girlfriends who they didn't un-glue from the whole concert (seeing little 14-year-olds grope each other is just not hot). Hawk Nelson was awesome though, in spite of that. There was a guy two people ahead of me who looked just like the Shrimp from behind and I was actually getting quite convinced that he had converted to punk and really was jumping just ahead of me enjoying Hawk Nelson. Until he turned around. DEFINETLY NOT the Shrimp... Oh well... After Hawk Nelson was Pillar who were pretty good, but I spent half the concert worried someone was going to trample Karen. A lot of people kept breaking out into moshing and every time it would give me a heart-attack that the short one would be trampled. At some point someone hit their elbow on Karens shoulder and she fell to the ground, so it was time to move back. The concert was much more enjoyable from a distance anyway, because before we were so packed we couldn't even jump, and now we could, so it was a good decision. After that we headed back to camp and passed out for 12 hours...
Next day we started getting ready to go and then some of the guys from the campsite in front of us came over and started talking to us and they invited us to go have worship with them. Me, Sam, Deyse and Pri went and it was cool, although I am totally behind on the worship song world thanks to Gordon's insistance on hymns. After the service, Pri and I chilled with a couple of guys and got email addys...yeah we're pimps. Then we went to finish putting the tents away, Leo would not leave the guys camp -- they were already all buddies. Leo becomes buddies with people really quickly because he's little and cute. It was funny, we're like, "You all stole our only guy!!!"
After that we headed down for one last sno cone and perusing the stores. We were beside the African charity booth when the Reformed Aborigine finally made another appearance. I ended up giving him info so that we could contact each other. If he wasn't so hot, he's be really wierd...
Oh and me and Stephanie sumo wrestled. It was awesome, I would do it again, even in the hot sun that burned our poor feetsies.
Anyway, so we saw Casting Crowns VIP, which was good, but not as good at Superchick last year. I snuck Pri in because we only had 7 tickets and 8 people so we asked the volunteer dude and he was like, whatever if you get caught I didn't let you in. During the concert Camilla has to go to the bathroom and Pri offered to take her, so I gave her my VIP pass to make sure she'd get back in. SO then at the end of the concert we left from a different route from how we got in. We start thinking, maybe we're going the wrong way...until all of the sudden we pass the violinist of Casting Crowns! We were backstage!!! So duh, we totally took advantage of it and got as many pics with people as possible. It was awesome. Then Sarah Iverson called out to me, she was just outside the gate and she's like, how'd you get over there? And I went over and got some stuff of hers to sign when this big security guy looks at me and he's like, "I don't see any VIP passes on you". I was sure I was deadmeat. Sarah starts explaining how I was with the group the whole time and I start making some stuff up...then he got distracted by something and I ran away!!! I got away with it though! :-)
On our way home we stopped by McD's...they had the mango milkshake it was heavenly. We all shared what God had taught us that weekend and it was awesome because everyone really shared from the heart. The week was basically incredible in every way!!!