Taming the Bull...

Our Great America Trip was great. We left the church about 8:30 a.m. and made it to the park right when it opened around 10:00 a.m. And from the get go we were off and running...after we put on our sun screen that is.

First we headed to Superman where we promptly stood in line for about 40 minutes before spending one and a half minutes on the ride. But it was worth it. On Superman, they start you seated (see pciture to left) and then when the ride starts the seats pull up so that you are riding the roller coaster like you would by flying. Pretty cool.

Although the wait was long, the neat thing is that while you are standing in line you actually stand underneath the ride. So you get to watch many people go before you even get there. And you are somewhat prepared and know what to expect. And they have the walk covered when you are going to be directly under the ride...I guess so if someone is throwing up it won't get on you.

From Superman, we took off to the Batman roller coaster. And that one shakes you up pretty good. You're feeling nice and dizzy when you get off.

A special note needs to be mentioned here. As you see in the above picture, the only people who did not ride any roller coasters were Melinda and Alison. Trust me, we tried to use peer pressure to get them to ride, but they weren't having it. And that was fine. They stood in line with us the whole way up and talked with us and people watched. But when it was time to get on the roller coaster, they headed to the other side and held everyone's stuff while we rode the coasters. So I thought it would be nice for you to see what they did most of the time. They did ride on the teacups and the family innertube ride where you get wet. And then they spent a couple of hours at Hurrican Harbor on the lazy river and in the wave pool. I'm just glad they had fun.

Now back to the roller coasters. After Batman, I can't remember where we headed. But we rode the Iron Wolf, the Eagle, the Viper, and then the Raging Bull. Now some people (Jess) were afraid at first to ride the Raging Bull. It has a ginormous drop and there are no harnesses just things around your waist, so you feel like your coming out of your seat on the way down. However, its good to know peer pressure still works on some people (at least concerning roller coasters). So we talked Jess into going with the rest of us (Steve, Ruth, me, Jakob, Andrew, and Heidi). And of course she loved it like the rest of us. (The picture to the left is of us getting ready to tame the bull.)

The Raging Bull to me was the best ride in the park. It was really cool and a really smooth ride. Plus we saw where the camera (the one that takes your picture while your riding the roller coaster) was stationed and we posed everytime we came to it and then got to see our pictures after we got off the ride.

In fact the Raging Bull was so great that we rode it three times and so we really tamed the bull. Some of us also rode the freefall, which is a giant drop straight down. It takes you higher than any roller coaster in the park. And you sit up there for about 3 seconds just waiting and it drops you straight down. You get down in about 4 seconds. It was awesome. Second best ride in my book.

And we did other stuff like the Whizzer, and the teacups, and the boats roller coaster, and the family innertubes, and the swings, and just about every ride in the park. Overall it was a fun day but very tiring. Can't wait until next year though.

Great America

Hey Sr. Highers, don't forget about the Great America trip on Saturday!

We will be meeting at CBC at 8:30 a.m. and leaving shortly thereafter to head to Great America. We will spend the whole day there riding rollercoasters or hanging out at Hurricane Harbor (the water park).

We will head to our vehicles in the parking lot for a quick lunch. The lunch will be provided for you and is free to you. And then back into the park for a whole afternoon of more fun.

We will probably leave around 7 p.m. from the park, stop for a fast food dinner on the way home and plan to be back at CBC by 9 p.m. for pick up.

Don't forget that the cost is $20/person for admission and you also need to bring money for your fast food dinner (and any other money you may be planning to spend there). You will also need to make sure I have your medical release form so you can go.

And it probably would be a good idea to wear a little sunscreen and bring some swimwear and a towel if you are planning to go to the water park. And don't forget your cameras.

See you Saturday at 8:30 a.m. The day should be a blast!

Soaked...

So we had a great time at the Jr. High Swim Party. We swam and swam and swam and then we ate and ate and then we swam some more (after of course waiting twenty minutes to let our food settle).

There were chicken fights amongst the ladies, many different jumping and form contests, a little Marco Polo, and some breath holding contests. And overall we had a really good time hanging out and splashing around.

One thing I was not expecting, however, was getting pelted with water balloons. Now the water does not really scare you because you are already wet and wearing swim gear. (Although when the water balloons first appeared I had been out eating and dried off a bit).

You see the water balloon thing started a couple of weeks ago at VBS. Mr. Rios had a game to play similar to throwing eggs back and forth and backing up a step each time. Only he used water balloons. Then when we got done and were about to have a snack, a few water balloons were thrown at me (as I remember it) but we put an end to it quickly and no damage was done. However, what the girls who threw these at me didn't know was that I had put one in my pocket. So as soon as they got their snacks and sat down together, I ran up and threw it hard on the floor in front of them so it would pop and spray them with water. And of course that insighted chaos and I got pelted with a few more balloons but most did not pop.

So that brings us back to our swim party, where the balloons made another appearance. However, these balloons were not filled to maximum capacity, so most just bounced right off. But I would have rather them hit me and popped then bounced off because they hurt when they hit me. So for the most part I was outnumbered and abused by Jr. High girls who pelted me with water balloons that wouldn't pop. Just take a look at the picture. See how innocent I am. Ok, maybe I threw a few also.

But overall we had a good time. Thanks to all who came and thanks to Tom and Ruth Schmidt for making their home and pool available to us and for cooking us a great dinner.

Summer Missions...

We have a few missions opportunities taking place this summer that our youth are involved in.

As I mentioned in the previous post, we have some of our girls involved in CEF Backyard Bible Clubs. In addition to this group, we will have a big group from CBC going to Utah at the end of July to help with some practical needs of Ron Thompson's ministry. A few of our youth will be going on this trip.

We also have two individuals going on missions trips. Samantha Seven, who graduated last year, just returned from Guatemala. She spent a little over two weeks in Guatemala with a friend of hers. They were helping a missionary friend there with some practical needs. We look forward to hearing about her trip.

Brad Mulligan is on a missions trip right now through the Awana Missionary in Training program. He will be leaving tomorrow night to go to Romania for a few weeks. There they will have the opportunity to teach children and share the gospel with them.

Please pray for all of these opportunities this summer for these different groups and individuals. It is great to see our young people involved with serving the Lord through missions opportunities.

CEF Backyard Bible Clubs...

We have a few girls in our group involved with Child Evangelism Fellowship this summer. They will be involved with Backyard Bible Clubs. These are great opportunities to share the gospel with kids and see them come to Christ or grow in their relationship with Him.

Melinda will once again be teaching these clubs and leading them after spending two weeks in CEF "boot camp". Kathleen, Elisa, Katie, and Liz will be Jr. helpers and will be telling the missionary story. These girls have chosen to spend some of their summer serving the Lord through CEF. Please be praying for each of these girls this summer.

Yesterday, I had an opportunity to attend a club that Melinda and Kathleen were doing. They did a great job.