VBS - Day 5!!

For the end of our VBS week, we decided to do something a little different.  Instead of planning a fifth lesson, we planned a "Family Fun" day.  We invited the childrens' parents and siblings to come along for the day, and planned a bunch of activities everyone could do together.  Our final craft was saved for the parents to do with their children - making a first aid kit for their "camping kit."

When they came in, the parents went into the fellowship hall while the children practiced for Sunday morning's program and took up our final offering.  Then, the children came into the fellowship hall to "pack up" for our "hike."  They put all of their crafts into the string backpacks they had decorated (though most opted to wear their "survival necklaces" just in case of calamity!).  Then, we all took a "hike" up the street a block to the food pantry, which we had been collecting money for all week.  The kids and parents got to see the inner workings of the pantry, and we heard about the work that they do throughout the year.

We "hiked" back to the church, and had lunch (that's Hubby, there, manning the grill!  He's such a sport - he worked overnight last night and still came to help this morning.  See why I married him?)  Hot dogs, veggies, fruit, chips, cookies, and...

 S'MORES!  Today, I found out, was National S'more day.  Who knew?  Well, if you've ever had a s'more, you know that they are extremely messy!  So, everyone was basically covered in goo (me, included, but you probably figured that would happen, huh?)

So, what do you do with a bunch of messy kids?  Send them out in the pouring rain for a water-balloon fight!  Now, you have to understand that they have been waiting all week for the water balloons.  Nothing short of a Tsunami could have stopped them.  Anyway, they were a little cleaner when they came back in, and they would have gotten wet from the balloons, anyway, right?  They did drip in the church a bit, but hey, it was just water and the floor probably needed washing anyway after a week of Vacation Bible School!

So all we have left is the program on Sunday.  We like to do it on Sunday morning along with the regular church service, because there are plenty of church members who aren't able to spend the week with us, and that gives them a chance to see what the kids have been doing all week.  It's a fun morning, and the kids get to sing and say verses for their families and the congregation.  We have a couple surprises planned, but I'm not going to tell you what they are, in case anyone reads this before Sunday - don't want to let the cat out of the bag, so to speak!

I have to say, this has been a great week.  It's tiring, but at the same time uplifting to spend the week with these kids.  I know they were tired out, too, but it's really a "good tired."

If you'll allow me to sidetrack a minute, I'd like to show you what Lily's eye looked like this morning:

Pretty, huh?  She was bitten by a mosquito or something yesterday at the corner of her eye, and when she woke up, she couldn't open it.  By this afternoon half of her face was red and swollen, so I took her to the doctor.  It seems we just have to wait for it to take its course.  We tried to tell her she was a pirate, but she said that wasn't possible, as she's a girl.  Oh, well.  She enjoyed her s'more anyway, as you can see!

Check out the rest of the week!
Vacation Bible School - Day 1
VBS - Day Two
VBS - Day Three
VBS - Day Four