The Young Life fam gathered at the HS after school on Friday. We were here to Love Bomb the Varsity cheerleaders, but while we were waiting we got to make a little visit to Break Dancing Club. Oh my goodness, these kids are awesome. KCraig got right in there and learned how to do this crazy move.
Then our whole army of Wyld Life and Young Life kids, parents and leaders all walked into the gym holding signs and chanting, "R-O-Y, A-L-S, Royals! Royals! Are the best!" The cheer girls were in shock and didn't really know what to do. They all had smiles on their faces and were obviously glad we were there.
These girls are competing at the State cheer competition and we wanted them to know we're behind them. They all have put so much heart and energy into this season. No matter what happens tomorrow we're so proud of them.
We stayed for about fifteen minutes and got to see their stunts and dance and tumbling. Whoever says cheerleading isn't a sport is crazy. These girls are so talented and work together incredibly well.
In preparation for tonight's Lock Out I went home and took a two hour nap. When I woke up I had to grab dinner, pick up Lori and Hannah and then we grabbed some Starbucks because we were going to need as much caffeine as we could get.
90 Wyld Life kids showed up at the HS for an all-night event that would take us all over town until they got picked up at 6am. Everyone was running around the parking lot as they checked in, so excited to see their friends and get started.
We should have been on the buses at 8pm but at 8:15 they still weren't there. We called the bus company and through a couple calls discovered that they had written down that they were getting us tomorrow night. Uh-oh. 90 kids ready to go have the best night ever and we had no way to get there.
But we don't crack under pressure, we make the back-up plan even better than the first plan. While the bus company scrambled to find vehicles and drivers for us, we got permission from the school to take the kids inside to the front hallway. I pulled out my camp counselor skills and had them all singing iPod shuffle songs. When we got tired of that we learned Give Me 1, sang Apples and Bananas, other camp songs and even made them to try to follow my lead in 1 Camp. It might not be what we were planning on, but this hallway time was actually so much fun. Two hours later the buses arrived and the kids raced outside to get on board.
Maddy Carter is a rock star and I was so excited to spend the whole night with her. Maddy is always positive and bubbly, but she was extra hyper tonight.
Our first official stop was Skyzone, an indoor trampoline park.
We played some dodgeball...
did flips and HS musical jumps...
dunked some basketballs...
and hung out with all of our friends.
And Riley collected everyone's stickers.
Stop number 2 was at the Fieldhouse to play basketball and have Club.
Linnea, Milly and Emma had been at a lacrosse game but met up with us here for the rest of the night.
While we set up for Club the kids ran around and played basketball or just hung out.
At Club we played Ship To Shore,
had a straw challenge relay,
wove a spoon attached to a string through five people's clothes,
saran wrapped our friends,
and then had them jump across the gym,
girls chugged pop and burped before boys ate Saltines and whistled.
I gave the Club talk tonight about how Christ wants to have a personal relationship with us, about falling in love with God, how this is an opportunity we'd be foolish to pass up. Then we did one of my favorite ways to pray and wrote letters to God all across the gym.
Stop 3 was at Pinheads for bowling and a dance party.
We started getting a little sleepy... but woke ourselves back up because there were still hours to go.
Hannah and I visited every lane to see the kids and do a celebrity bowl for the next frame. Dancing with all of the kids and leaders had to be my favorite part.
I loved getting to hang out with the kids I knew beforehand and getting to hang out with all of the 7th grade girls more. I think they're such an awesome group of friends and I'm already having fun with them all.
Stop 4 was at the movies to watch Thor but by that time I was too tired to take any pictures. I was prepared with a blanket and had fallen asleep in the first fifteen minutes of the movie. I woke up for the last fifteen, so I can tell you how it all ended if you're curious. Maybe someone can fill me in on the middle hour.
At 6am the sleepy kids filed out of the theatre as the lights came on, many of them rubbing the sleep from their eyes. They grabbed a donut in the lobby and then met their parents outside to go home. The lock out was a success. Twenty minutes later I was home and falling into bed, ready to sleep for real.
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