Houston, Ohio, VBS: In Review

Back to the bullet points.

1. VBS went really, really well this year. We had 5 year record high attendance and our after VBS day camp was full everyday. This year, I felt like things during VBS week went fairly smoothly and while it was stressful, it wasn't the crazy, "is it noon yet?" kind of stres like it has been in the past. I think a lot of that contributed to my mom being here and my friend Sarah being here with her two youth. Give me another week or two and I'll be ready for next year!

2. Ohio: Is it bad to say that I prefer trips with 5 people as opposed to groups with 25? I really, really enjoyed spending time with the 5 girls that went on the trip and am happy to report very little catty-ness and girl-ness while in Lancaster (lane-kissed-er). We also had a great time with the give-away day (I found a shirt that said, "i've got tought nuts: rust-proof lug nut specialist. The shirt gave me the title of Rev. T. Nuts.) We also had a great time at a couple of cookouts from members of the congregation and a good time exploring Lancaster and Columbus. Favorite memories? Exploring Lancaster, cleaning gutters-yes really, sardines, rising park and cards with the Raddatz boys.

3. Houston: I have to say that before leaving for Houston, there were a lot more loose ends than I would have liked to have left with (namely, what we were doing for our day long service project and whether or not we had enough adults for the trip.)

I was also a little worried about this group dynamic of 17 (the breakdown: 4 incoming 6th grade church girls, 4 7th grade messiah school girls, 2 non-church/non school 8th grade girls, 1 7th grade messiah school boy, 4 seventh and 8th church boys plus a friend, 1 incoming 6th grade church boy). The group didn't really know each other outside of their circles. However, our service project of helping out at a hispanic community center and their day camp, went swimmingly and the groups got along really, really well. The day at Galveston was wonderful-minus some pretty terrible sunburns (even after repeat applications of sunscreen), and the time we spent together as a group went really, really well.

4. Side note to Houston: I've blogged about one of my youth, Tyler before, who thinks it is his personal mission to remind me that he doesn't come on trips by his own free will and to remind me that he is bound and determined to have a miserable time. Thursday, at the beach, Tyler walked up to me and said, "THIS IS AN AWESOME TRIP!!!" Everyone applauded. When talking with his mom this last week, she said that Tyler had a similar report for her as well. Yay.