Kanakuk Day 5 (Wednesday)

Wednesday turned out to be my favorite day of camp. It started off like all the other mornings...coffee, walk around the camp, miniature golf, breakfast, and dropping the kids off with their counselors. 

We then went to our morning speaker and afterwards they told us that they had a nerf capture the flag set up for us to play. We were split into teams, given nerf guns, and we had to reach the other side and grab the hula hoop without being shot. It was SO fun! And a proud moment for me...i was the first one to capture the flag! But from then on I was one of the first ones out...

After lunch we saw that we had a great afternoon of no rain so we took advantage of it and all went to the pool. Hadley and Peyton did their own thing and played with each other while all the boys had water fights the whole time. They laughed the entire time and had so much fun shooting Ryan. Hadley also showed me how she could climb to the very top of the rock wall which of course I missed on camera until she was jumping off.

Hadley came to get her daddy so that he could go down the big yellow slide with her. This became a favorite and we did it multiple times. By the end they were even trying to figure out how to do tricks as they came off the end. 

Drying off and resting for a bit and I got some pretty precious pictures of the boys.

But the drying off didn't last long before they were back in the water, playing basketball, and wrestling with each other.

We did finally take a break in time to get a snack before dinner. And by snack, I actually mean a giant cookie sundae again! I would never possibly get tired of these.

After filling up our tummies we went back to the room to change back into our clothes and go down to the lower fields to check out the archery they had set up each afternoon. The kids were so excited when we got to our room and found a package had been sent to them. It was a care package from Susan with Kanakuk lanyards and sunglasses. They could not have been more excited and how thoughtful of her to bring them to the Hadley and Hudson!

Very few people were doing the archery so it was a perfect time to jump in and learn. Hudson took to it immediately and loved every minute. He even got pretty good at shooting and at one point got a bullseye! Very impressive. Hadley liked it for a little bit but I dont think it was quite enough action for her and she decided to go run around with Peyton instead.

They did end up migrating to the pickle ball court and had a few friendly matches against each other...without knowing the rules.

Lake Taneycomo is known for their ice cold water. Apparently, its because it is pulled from the bottom of Table Rock lake so it is literally about 40 degrees. It's pretty nice to dip your toes in when its burning up outside but I'm not sure how the kids had their legs in it. We spent about an hour trying to catch minnows (which they caught several of) and playing in the sand.

These next three pictures are some that the camp photographer took and posted on the website. 

And I just LOVE this picture of Matt sitting by the water and watching the kids playing. I am so blessed to have him as my husband and I do think the kids could not possibly have a better daddy!

After a long afternoon we decided to rest for a little bit before dinner. I peaked in on them watching a movie under the bunk bed tent and got these faces. Silly kids!

All dressed for outer space night. This was the night that was hardest for me to prepare for. I ended up finding these alien headbands for the girls and Mama made us the cute lime green tutus. That took care of them. They boys were much harder. Lisa tracked down some buzz lightyear costume accessories for Buck and Gunner but I had a little harder time finding something. Thanks to my dad we ended up making a jet pack for Hudson. We took 2-liter bottles, spray painted them silver, made flames out of felt, and glued it all to a piece of cardboard. It turned out so cute and all the kids got compliments all week on their costumes!

And this is probably the reason Wednesday became my favorite night. After dinner we were led into the chapel where they explained that all the kids had a mission. Basically, there was a baby alien that the kids had to save by collecting alien fuel in little test tubes. You accumulated fuel by accomplishing missions that were similar to carnival games. You would then take your test tube to a really big test tube, dump it in, and go back for more. If we were able to fill the entire test tube then it would save the baby alien. The trick was hiding your fuel from the NSA (no stinking aliens) who would take your fuel from you if they found you. What made it so fun is the kids excitement. They (especially Hudson) took it so seriously and would sneak around to make sure he was not caught. While the other kids were collecting fuel he would often be on the lookout and then hide if he saw them coming. I really wish I had gotten more pictures of the missions, the NSA, and the kids collecting fuel but I think I was having just as much fun and never thought to take out my camera. Thankfully, we accomplished our mission and we were all told to go to the outdoor ballcourt to celebrate saving the baby alien. When we got there a huge foam party was starting. At first our kids didn't know quite what to do. Could they get their costumes dirty? They looked at me for approval and when I said, "go in!" they took off! They danced for a couple hours and we closed it down. We all had so much fun playing in the bubbles, dancing, and taking pictures. I still think about this night and its one I wish I relive with the kids because we were all just so happy!