Surfing Weekend 21 & 22 August 2009

The Outpost 106 Adventure Rangers Surfing Overnighter was quite a challenge this year but was still lots of fun. As luck would have it, the Women's and Men's ministries planned a "retreat" in the church for the same weekend (August 21 & 22) 7pm to 10pm Friday night. But since they were going to be in the church and we would be in the Learning Center, we changed our plans so we would play our night games inside. We had planned to make camp tables on Friday but we could not get the wood cut in time. So instead we were going to have an evening of just fun, play dark games downstairs in the Learning Center until the "retreat" was over and then go outside. But then late Friday afternoon, we found out the people coming to the "retreat" were dropping their children off in the Learning Center down stairs classrooms. So much for our dark games. Instead we sat around, did a devotional & skit, watched a movie and waited until the kids left, sometime after 10pm. But then everthing got crazy! Commanders Walker started the dark-game insanity! I don't know what happened and I hope I never do. Teams of three went down happy and five minutes later came back saying how they had thought they would never see the light again. After, we moved to outside for some really great Capture the Flag. After two wild games, one that lasted almost 50 minutes, we moved back inside, ate ice cream and watched movies (thanks, Ben). Most of the boys drifted off before the end of The Scorpion King. Lights out was at about 2am. Somewhere near 2:20, my eyes opened to see several boys who will remain nameless seeming to play out one of the battle scenes from the movie. I called them over to me and asked them to get into their sleeping bags so I could get some sleep. And, imagine my dismay, they did!
Well, morning came quick after that. All's I can say is I have since deleted the reveille sound from the Alarm app on my iPhone. At about 6:30am Commander David went on a McDonalds run while Commander Larry and I got breakfast going. As soon as the McMuffins arrived, we woke boys up (I tried to do "rise & shine", Steve) and one hour later were on the way to the beach.
Overcast, a little nippy, good for us, we got front parking. Boys carried boards over the break-wall and after stretching exercizes, we waxed up the boards and did a little refresher on how to surf. Once given the go-ahead. boys grabbed the boards and it looked just like one of those movies from the sixties. All the boys tried. After a short while, some decided their board of choice was going to be the boogie board. But everyone had fun. At about 12:30, most of the older boys had left the water and moved toward sun bathing or girl watching. But most of the Adventure Rangers and a few of the older boys were still in the water going strong. At 1:30, we go packed up, cleaned the beach area, and headed back to BVCC. Parents got the boys and after putting stuff away, commanders all went home to soak in the tub or just pass out.
Can't wait until next year! Pictures will be uploaded and links added to this blog by next week.