Oh my! The long anticipated, much hyped-up ZG annual lock-in was last night. Our theme was Hawaiian, complete with fruit smoothies, fruits, nuts,.....and of course some good old-fashioned junk food! Hey, it was a party!
The kids were greeted at the door with Hawaiian necklaces and leis and then asked to choose a Hawaiian name for themselves to wear on a name tag and be called throughout the night. We started off the evening then with the incredible Mr. Walt. Walt is a Hawaiian neighbor of ours who was born and raised on the islands, speaks the language, knows the culture, and plays the ukulele and sings to share his background with others. He graciously volunteered to come and share with the kids and answer any questions they may have about Hawaii. Very cool! Walt and his wife Linda also taught the kids a popular Hawaiian hula.
We did Diet Coke and Mentos volcanoes, decorated wooden surfboards and picture frames for our group pic, had a limbo contest, hula hooped, and the kids had to guess how many goldfish crackers were in the fish bowl (Kirsten won). Of course, we had a costume contest, as you can see by our new blog pic. I think being in a group of mostly girls has gone to Ben's head a bit, ya think? Miss Jennifer was the judge and Ben and Rachel were our contest winners. Miss Jennifer also prepared a super challenging scavenger hunt of beach items for the kids that spanned both buildings. Not only did they have to find the items, but they had to unscramble each item's name to know what they were looking for in the first place! Miss Jennifer also provided the musical entertainment for the night right from the sound booth....The Monster Mash during sardines was classic!
We played beach volleyball in the sanctuary with a real volleyball-style net. And no lock-in would be complete without a rousing game of sardines. And the girls taught everyone our Hawaiian version of marshmallows and hot chocolate, a game that they learned at the girls' retreat this past week. We called our version lava rocks and hot lava.
We weren't all play and no work though. We made it a priority to practice our skit with props and music all the way through three times. Our plan is to perform it for our TPCC family on August 28th. So far, the kids are really impressing us with how quickly they are learning their parts and how seriously they are taking performing the skit.
Our night wound down with movie candy, popcorn, ice cream, and fruit smoothies for all in front of the big screen to watch Soul Surfer, the true story of Christian surfer Bethany Hamilton. Overall, we had a very blessed night of fellowship and fun, making memories and bonding as a group. And we got six hours of sleep! Shocking!
Sleepy heads were eager to help out in the morning after breakfast...cleaning, putting chairs back, taking down decorations, and getting the church ready for Sunday morning services.
As always, thanks for sharing your kids with us. God is amazing and so are they!
