The fall retreat. So many memories even if it was only one weekend. First I must start out with saying that when I first found out that the retreat was on October 19th, my birthday, I was so excited that the fall retreat was going to be on my birthday and I get to spend the entire weekend with my family!
My mom (Eleanor Nurney) was the only female chaperone on the entire trip and she baked cupcakes, on her own time, to bring for everyone for my birthday. That is probably the highlight of Friday because she took time out of HER day to do that.
On Saturday morning, we all went to breakfast had some cereal, bagels, cinnamon rolls, and drinks! Chester told us that we would be doing a challenge course. None of us knew what we would be getting ourselves into, but what we did know is that it wasn’t a ropes course. And personally, I’m thankful it wasn’t because I’m not a huge fan of high ropes courses. So we walked down to where we needed to be and all made a circle and played “Honey Please Give Me a Smile,” which is where you try to get someone to smile. We played that while waiting for the guy. As soon as he got there we started with saying our name, age, and something about us. Next, we had two different hula hoops and had to go under them and that was the end of round two on the challenge course. Finally, we island hopped and what was neat about that was only one person on an island could talk.
Everyday we watched a movie, which was fun! On the last night there was a bonfire with s’mores and that made it all better to end the retreat. Over the weekend was amazing, spending time with friends, and gaining friendships you never knew you had. I gained better and closer relationships with all of the youth, myself, and God! Would I go back on the retreat with my youth group? You bet I would! Thank you Chester for making it possible. Also, thank you to my mom and John Whitty for taking time out of their weekend to come and make the retreat fun!