The Adventures Of The Savages

Jr high campout 7/28-30/17

    So, my dad dropped me off at the church. I went inside and put my stuff down. Dave told us all to use the bathroom before we leave. Em and I were singing the little einstines song in the bathroom.
     "5, 4, 3, 2, 1! We're going on a trip in our favorite rocket ship, zooming through through the sky, little einstines!"
     We later replaced 'favorite rocket ship' with favorite church bus.
     We all got on the bus. I sat with Em. Em's mom bought her starburst, so she can make friends. Seth was eating a lot of the starburst. My phone was going to die, but I was trying to play the "Pineapple juice! What's up with that? It hurts! It hurts your mouth! Maybe I'm just allergic to pineapples. Oh dear," video, but it wasn't working very well, so I was listening to For King and country. Seth said he doesn't like them. How??
     On the way to Mill creek, we passed this camper, and there was a little kid laying in a bunk, looking out the window. He was waving at us, and it was the cutest thing ever.
     Luke took my phone and hood it in one of the above compartments on the bus. I couldn't find it. I had Kevin find it.
     We got to mill creek and we all started messing around with Em. There was this old dude working and we told Em it was her boyfriend.
     We got to the campsites. The girls got a campsite and the guys got their own campsite. There was a campsite inbetween the girls and guys for all of us to hang out, eat, and for fires.
     It took us girls forever to put our tents up. We kept debating on how to do it. We eventually got our tent put up. Then, Ash, Em, and I put our baiting suits on. We changed in our sleeping bags. I said,
     "They look like catapilars!"
     Us three went to the lake. The sand in the lake felt weird, like you were walking on peanut butter. I did not like it. We jumped off the dock, well Seth kept pushing me off. I had to wear clothes over my bathing suit cuz it was a two price, so I looked like Dora.
      When we were walking back to camp, we were talking about Seth pushing me off the dock into the water. I randomly said, "It's because he wanted to touch my bodyyyy."
     We went into town. We went into gift shops. We went to a laser show too. We all danced to Michael Jackson, thriller. Even Dave. Ashleigh and I were dancing. She swooped me and kissed my forehead. Tyler said to Em,
     "I'm kinda jealous."
     I was wearing Pablo's hat. We were all walking to Starbucks. Pablo stopped Tyler and Ash and asked, "Does Allison like me?"
     "Nooo."
     Ash, Em, and I were at Starbucks. Em and I saw a cute dude. I saw some sketchy people walking outside. There was a pond, and I thought the water looked fake.
     The boys went with Kevin to some candy shop, but ended up going to KFC.
     Those of us who were at Starbucks went with Dave back to the bus, and were waiting for Kevin and his group to come back.
     We got back to Mill creek. There was so much stars in the sky. It was like the sky was a face covered in freckles.
When we were walking back to camp, Em and Seth were talking and telling me to go away. Well, I go back to Em and beg for her to tell me what he was saying, but she wouldn't budge. Then, Seth came out of no where and scared me. I smacked him.
     When we got to our tents, Ash, Em, and I stayed up late talking. We talked about our day, Seth, Tyler, braces, and chapstick. Ms. Holly had to tell us to go to bed.  We didn't put the top cover on our tent, so we could look at all the stars. I slept so peacefully. I wasn't worrying about what was going on at home, or in Gaylord. It felt nice to be living in the moment, surrounded by amazing people. It was nice to shut off our phones and to not be living behind a screen.
     We woke up. Em did not want to get up.
     "It's so bright, it's like Jesus in a tent," Em said.
      I was really happy to eat fruity pebbles for breakfast. We were walking to the beach for devotionals, but we stopped by the bathrooms. Everyone was putting their bibles in the little kid swing at the park.
     At the lake, for devos, we talked and read about Isaiah. The main message was Isaiah 6:8 "I will." About stepping out of our comfort zone for God. Dave handed us letters of encouragement to read. I got one from Ashleigh's mom and from my "adopted mother," some one wrote me a letter and it said exactly what I needed it to, but I didn't know who the lady was that wrote it.
     We had a lot of free time Em, Ash, and I spent most of the day at the lake and pool. We got sun burnt. I had money I wanted to spend, so I went to the gift store. There were these flashlight switch things. I put one over my head and said loudly,
     "I have an idea! Seth should ask me to the dance in high school!"
     Then I froze. I heard Seth's voice. I ran through the isle. Seth was with Tyler in the store. I took Tyler to the side, explained what happened, and asked him how long they have been in the store. I guess they weren't in the store that long. I ended up buying dark chocolate, pizza socks, and a Mill creek camping shirt. Em bought this green sour stuff. Ms.vicky drank some of it, and it was hilarious.
     Then, Dave took us to the lake. He threw marshmallows into the water. We had to grab them with our mouths and spit them into a bag. Then, they were eating nasty food. Pretty sure Carson puked.
     Back at camp, we had to do some sort of group talent show. My group did a human pyramid. Tyler and Seth were drinking sour stuff. Emma did a flip over people.
     The youth group counselors made a song and I love it.
      Some youth group counselors from the senior high youth group came to hang out with us.  The one dude, Daryl, told me to eat an onion, so now I call him onion dude. Em was cutting onions because our tent was making dinner.
     We sat by the campfire for the night. Dave was singing this potato chip song which was amazing, especially with the dance moves. Then, we sang real worship songs. Dave played his guitar. Dave put me on the spot to share my testimony. I shared about my family, how youth group was my first Christian family. How I met Ashleigh and how her family took me in and became the Christian family I never had. How I could just just walk in and leave all my problems at the door. I started to tear up.
     Em shared and talked about how youth group has helped her through some family issues. Ashleigh shared too .
     All three of us started crying. The other senior high counselor, Andy, took all of us older kids, and hugged us. Dave and Kevin hugged me. I could not stop crying. I was going to miss this so much. This group of people means so much to me. They have changed my life drastically. They helped me grow closer to God. They brought me out of such a dark sport in my life. They showed me that I was loved, important, and wanted. With these people, I truly felt at peace. I could be myself. With these people, I made some of the best memories of my life. These people always had my back. They were always open to talk to. These people are my family.
     I didn't want to leave that. I hated the thought of going to the other youth group, leaving the new 7th and 8th graders, leaving Dave, leaving the amazing youth group counselors.  Now I understand why Dave had taught us that message from the devotional this morning. This was my big step out of my comfort zone, but I needed to say "I will" to God's plan. I just wish it wasn't so hard to say goodbye.
     I calmed down after a while. Grace made me a s'more, and we went for a walk. We saw Luke, and I thought he was smoking, but he wasn't. We found a lot of our group on the dock. By the end of the night, we were all together on that dock. It was the perfect moment.
     "How lucky  I am to have something that makes saying goodbye so hard," Winnie the Pooh.
     "I wish there was a way to know you're in the good old days before you've actually left them." -Andy, The Office