Gung-Ho and Ready to Go!

On Saturday, we all got up bright and early for the much anticipated trip to Six Flags St. Louis. Everyone was wearing their new, brightly colored NCC shirts (except for two or three who forgot) and were practically bubbling over with excitement. We had a short meeting, went to the bathroom, assigned people to vehicles, prayed, and hit the road. I had never driven through St. Louis before, so it was a nervous trip for me, but mom kept me calm and helped keep the kids in the back from screaming. Upon arrival to the park, we gave them our parking vouchers, parked in a place that everyone complained about (because of the distance from the park), and grabbed our swimming suits and towels for the waterpark. We spent the morning in the waterpark and split up into groups. The older kids went with mom and Tiffany because they could take them on rides that I couldn't do, so I had a few of the younger kiddos. I am currently seeing a chiropractor to fix my neck and back problems, so riding anything that could give me whip lash was out of the question. I ended up being sore enough just from all the walking! Anyway, we all had a great time at the waterpark, then, we met up and went back to the van for a packed lunch. It was much cheaper to feed everyone on sandwich stuff from Aldi than it would have been to feed everyone in the park for $15+ a pop. Granted, everyone got an extra $20 for spending money from the fundraisers, but I tell you what, just about every penny was spent. Everything there is outrageously expensive! So, we finished our lunch and headed back to enjoy the rest of the park. We split off into groups again and spent hours riding rides, getting airbrush and henna tattoos, buying soda, playing games, and just having a great time. We had a check-in every two hours or so at the front gate where we could switch groups and keep everyone accounted for. At the second check-in, I was flabergasted when a lady came up to our group and asked us if we wanted the eight extra concert tickets she had for Tobymac. I couldn't get any tickets online ahead of time because they were sold out, so this offer was a God thing for sure! Of course, we had more than eight people, but hey, I'll send eight kids in to see Tobymac without question. This trip was for them, and I wanted them to enjoy every bit of it. Well, later, I was able to get my hands on even more tickets and the majority of our group got to go in and watch the concert! It was awesome! There were a few of the high school kids who chose to ride rides instead since we didn't actually have enough tickets; however, it ended up that they could have gotten in anyway, but they were having a good time regardless. When the concert was finished, I bought a Tobymac shirt and we all had just enough time for one more ride before we left for home. I took two of my younger kids and two of my older kids to the Scooby Doo ride. That was one of the few things I could actually ride! They were so excited to go on it too. The older kids and the other chaperones went to some of the bigger rides. We met up at 9:30 and headed back to the parking lot. The fireworks started as we were walking back, so we got to see them before we left. Thankfully, we had a safe trip home. Later, I got to thinking about the things I'm doing because I've been absolutely exhausted since the trip. I came into this leadership position gung-ho and ready to go full speed; but, now I just want to take a nap! I'm learning what my limits are, and I think I'm about to the end of my rope. Leave it to me to start with a huge trip to Six Flags. I think our plans will be a bit smaller from now on. I have to catch up with myself!