Kings Fest!!

So we just got back from King's Dominion and let me tell ya...it was AMAZING! Okay no, King's Dominion doesn't even compare to Disney World, but it was still a fantastic weekend! We had so much fun! There are so many stories I have to tell, but I'll try to limit it to the funniest and most meaningful ones!

Ivan's Smile:

If I had to say the number one thing I enjoyed the most about the trip and the number one reason why I wanted to take Miguel and Ivan, it would be for this smile right here in the picture. Ivan is such a great kid and he's so responsible and serious. He has to be the kind of big brother who's more like a dad for all of his siblings. He doesn't often get to act like a kid himself. Well I saw him smile and laugh more in the past three days than I've seen in the past 10 months! One time in the wave pool, I decided I was going to chase him, but he didn't know it. So I looked at him with this little grin on my face (one of those sneaky "I know something that you don't" kind of grins). He saw me looking at him and was trying to figure out what I was smiling about. Suddenly I put my hands up above my head like a shark and said, "5, 4, 3, 2, 1!" When I got to 2, he got the biggest smile on his face and he realized what I was about to do. He took off through the water and I took off after him! When I caught him, he was laughing and said, "AGAIN! AGAIN! Do it again!" So I counted back from 5, the whole time with him staring at me with his huge smile. Then when I got to 2, he took off again. We played for maybe an hour to an hour and a half. I think he just really enjoyed being chased (being the kid) instead of being the chaser (like he does for his siblings).

Ivan - Master Fire Maker:

Ivan definitely wins the award for Master Fire Maker. My friend Ann and I were trying to get this nice fire going so we could cook dinner on Thursday night. It was basically a fire that was in a constant state of dying. So Ivan comes over and kneels down, takes a deep breath, and blows on the fire and all of a sudden FWOOSH! Fire. Big fire. Big nice campfire fire. Ann and I were like, "I knew there was a reason we brought this Ivan kid on this trip!" For about 3 hours, Ivan kept that fire going! Every time it was dying, I tried blowing on it and let me tell ya...nothing happened. Ivan comes over and blows and FWOOSH!

Miguel's laugh:

Miguel wanted to ride everything in the park. He had never been to an amusement park before, never ridden a roller coaster or any type of thrill ride, never been in waves, never been to a concert, etc. Everything was new for him and he ate it up! He loved EVERYTHING! On the roller coasters, I tried to ease him in by starting with the least intense Scooby Doo coaster and building up to the Volcano and the Dominator. He loved it all! He is so fun to ride with because he doesn't scream. He laughs hysterically. From the moment the coaster goes fast until it stops at the end, he laughs and laughs and laughs. It's just this laugh of pure joy, pure delight. He laughs the hardest when the coaster goes upside down. It is the funniest, most infectious laugh ever and you can't help laughing the entire time yourself!

My Nose:

So remember how I said how much I enjoyed seeing Ivan smile when I chased him in the pool? Well, on Friday night, Miguel and I decided to chase him around the playground at the campsite after the TobyMac concert. So Miguel had a soccer ball and I had a stuffed frog that they won (see story below). We were trying to hit Ivan with the ball and the frog and he was just laughing and laughing as we chased him. Well Ivan ran up one side of the playground and I was jumping up the other side to get him. Keep in mind it was dark. So I leap up the ladder and lunge forward to get him and I completely missed one key detail - there was a big metal bar right at head-level. It was dark. I couldn't see. So I lunge forward, right, and WHAM! Metal bar across my face. I fell back down immediately and oh, was there blood. My nose and face are still really sore, aching right now, but miraculously there's no swelling, no bruise, no nothing. I find the whole thing pretty funny really.

Luckiest Game Winner:

You know all those amusement park games that are impossible to win? Apparently they're not as impossible as I thought. I spent the whole first day trying to convince Ivan and Miguel to not play the games because it's a waste of money. But right at the end they wanted to play one where you throw a little ball towards a whole bunch of cups. If it lands in the blue cup in the center, you win a big prize, but it's surrounded by cups everywhere. So Miguel picks up a ball and tosses it across all the cups and it lands right in the blue cup! See in the picture of the boys sleeping, that gigantic doggie that's bigger than Ivan? That's what he won! Then they were all excited so they wanted to play another game. It's the one where you throw a softball in a sideways basket. If you get the ball to stay in, you win. I told them, "No, don't play it. Don't push your luck!" But they insisted. The lady asked Miguel if he wanted one ball or three. He said confidently, "I only need one," and threw the ball right in the basket where it stayed. So he won the green frog that's up next to his pillow in the picture!

David Crowder:

Miguel desperately wanted to see David Crowder play! He knew almost all of the songs that he played and danced and sang along with them! He loved it! David Crowder had bought a Guitar Hero guitar and rewired it so he can play his songs on it, plugged in to the amps. It was awesome! In the picture you can see his guitar!

TobyMac:

Everyone loved TobyMac! Ivan was totally into it! The coolest God thing that happened was that during the David Crowder concert, Miguel was trying to take pictures of David Crowder up front, and the concert usher people kept telling him he had to go back to where we were. Well right before TobyMac started, these two people came up to us and said, "Hey we're really sorry that he couldn't get any pictures during the David Crowder concert." I was like huh? They said, "We saw him trying to take pictures and the lady kept sending him back. We're not going to stay for the TobyMac concert and we have seats right up front. We'd like to give our tickets to you so he can sit up front and take pictures." How cool is that??? So then Miguel and Ivan got to sit right up front where they could see really well!

Newsboys:

What can I say? They put on such a great show! All of these bands do! I love how they constantly bring the focus to God and not themselves. They are very clear about who deserves all the glory and praise! They read from the bible in between songs, but they also go all out and show that being a follower of God does not mean you need to sit at home, being bored and not having any fun. They are up there rockin out for God, dancing, shouting, cheering, clapping, throwing everything they have out there so that everyone can see that the people of God should be in the front lines of "greatness" in this world, not hanging out in the background being quiet and calm. Miguel loved the drummer and he did this cool thing where his drum platform rises up in the air, tilts over sideways and then starts spinning, all while he's playing it, not missing a beat. This picture is from the front of the stage with the platform spinning sideways. At the end of the show, Miguel ran up front and the drummer saw him and threw his drumstick to him! So now he has a Newsboys drumstick! He brought the drumstick with him to church today!

It really was a great, great trip, full of smiling, laughing, and very little sleeping! As it says in the bible, "BE JOYFUL ALWAYS!" It's so cool that God gives us permission to laugh, have fun, delight in things, and have a great time!"