Kanakuk Day 1 (Saturday)

Kanakuk Family Kamp is finally here and we are all so excited! The kids couldn't wait to load up the car, get all situated, and get on the road. Thankfully, we couldn't even check in until 4:00 so we weren't in any rush. Hadley immediately turned on her iPad to watch a movie and keep herself occupied while Hudson watched out the window because he was scared to use his iPad and use up all the battery! Matt and I laugh at how much of a conserver he is. He didn't even want to eat any snacks in fear that he would run out. We met up with Ryan and Lisa in Joplin at this great gas station where the kids could run around, stretch their legs, and we could eat a late lunch. Mama and Papa had given each kid $50 to spend on the trip and we had planned on using it at Silver Dollar City. Hadley and Hudson both ended up finding a stuffed animal they REALLY wanted but we talked them into waiting the entire trip and we would stop here again on the way home if they didn't find anything better. We weren't in the car for 30 minutes before Hudson was already wishing he had just bought the polar bear! Thankfully, they fell asleep the last leg of the trip and we were there before we knew it. Oh, BUT, it rained a massive rainstorm on us and it was pretty scary going through the Ozarks when we could hardly even see! We had been watching the weather for a couple weeks and it was looking like we had a big chance of rain every single day so it definitely wasn't starting out well for us...

We made it...with about 20 minutes to spare! We were the second car there so we parked beside the gates and the kids got out to play in the rain for a bit. We could hardly wait to get inside!

I have a great video of us going through the gates and getting welcomed by all the counselors screaming and cheering for us. The kids had the biggest smiles on their faces and we all got even more excited for the week ahead. When we pulled up we were immediately greeted with counselors opening our doors and explaining that they would be unloading our car into our cabin and all we needed to do was check in and get shown around camp. They leave you with NO work to do yourself!

So we got checked in, got a quick tour, and we had about an hour before dinner. We got all our stuff organized and made our way to the dining hall. Everything had a Hawaiian name but, of course, I don't remember them! We took a picture of the kids in front of our cabins which ended up being the best placement at camp and a family picture before dinner. Hadley and Peyton were pretty impressed with the huge dining hall and it was fun to have a table the perfect size for both of our families. We even had two seats left over for counselors. It was always fun to have new counselors sit at our table for each meal so that we could get to know them and they could get to know us. We even met this great kid, Kale, whose younger siblings go to Crossings! Such a small world!

After dinner we got changed for the Aloha party which was basically a Hawaiian themed ice cream party at one of the pools. We were able to meet other families, the kids met other kids, and we swam until bedtime. A great start to a fun week. We already knew we were going to love this place!