Adventure Landing Lock-In

On Friday night we took the youth from Journey to enjoy an all-nighter at Adventure Landing.

Yep.

That's right.

All Night.

Long.

No sleep.

Just pure fun, lots of noise and high energy running around with some brave adults thrown in for the ride. (Was I conscience when I said I'd go?)

We met at midnight and gradually our group grew to a decent number. As parents continued to show up and drop off their kids (and then make the point to say "I'm going to bed now"), we had a fairly large crowd. In giddy anticipation, we awaited the opening of the doors to 7 hours of playtime ahead of us. (Oh those brave souls who volunteered to work that shift.) A low cost of $20 provided an "all you can play" experience on the golf course, batting cages, go-karts, laser tag and some arcade games, along with a free slice of pizza (good for you at 3:30 am) and a soda. I have to say I was a little worried going into the event since the last time I remember staying up all night was when I was, say, in middle school! But coming out on the other side now, the hardest part was the time between getting out of work on Friday night to getting to Adventure Landing at midnight. (Or maybe it was the last 2 hours as I watched some kids on the go-karts, waiting for the skies to lighten up, welcoming in the new day.)

Once we were there, there was no choice but to get in on the fun. We had a great time and the kids were troopers. We took part in everything that was offered, even a little DDR (Dance Dance Revolution). Ha. Thought I'd never see myself on one of those. But I guess you can start to get a little crazy in the wee hours of the morning. (And for the record, I can't even do the easy setting.)

Eventually, some of the youth from other churches resorted to sleeping on the ground (nasty) or on top of the "skee-ball" games, but our kids? Nope. Stayed strong to the end. And the end was pure sweetness. Just before the kids were picked up we got to witness the sunrise and then a little rain and then we got to send them all home. And since us leaders were already up, we headed down the street to grab some IHOP for breakfast. (Pumpkin Pancakes anyone?) I mean, why wouldn't you? Overall it was a great evening and the kids had a ton of fun.

I'm not saying I'll jump on that badwagon any time soon again, but I could do it...




maybe...




in a long, long time ;)