up, up, up and away!

wow and holiday club is over for another year!
the theme this year was aeroplanes which meant alot of model planes and alot of song actions involving pretending to fly!
basically i was leading a small group and also kat and i were doing actions for the songs in the 'runway' sessions (yes the week was full of cheesy plane associations just like that!)

on monday we had set-up day which meant all the team (leaders and teenage helpers) gathered at church to decorate and plan and generally work too hard. we then got our usual pep talk from val (overall leader of holiday club) and then everyone left...except for about a dozen people, including david, kat, pj and i since our parents are main leaders and we got roped into staying to finish some painting and clearing up.
we then of course took refuge in the creche room in order to escape doing any more work and ended up playing with kids toys for a while- during this time vikki (kat and david's amazing cousin) also turned up which was awesome :)

tuesday started the first of four days of full holiday club. this meant the kids were with us from 9.30-12.30 but it felt like alot longer. they had a main 'runway' session with puppets, songs and general fun. then a craft/games session. then small group time (i had to plan and then run this for my small group) and then back into 'runway' for another session with drama, quiz and more songs. then we had to take the kids back to their rooms to dismiss them to parents.

my small group was good, i had 8 kids who all got on and didnt really cause any trouble, i managed to get through most of what i planned each day. i was part of 'Heathrow' which was the 5-6 years old age group. nice kids, tend to listen to you and respond well to stickers and other silly stuff i love.

tuesday evening pj and i held a sleep-out at our house, it was a fun evening invloving alot of silly games, pizza and some inappropriate innuendo on the trampoline lol. although at 1am i decided to go inside and sleep in my own bed since as one of three small group leaders there, i couldnt lead a group on less than 6 hours sleep. the other two were david (who i believe fell asleep relatively quickly) and anna (who decided that 1am was a good time to go on the trampoline with beth and hannah- both of whom didnt have holiday club the next morning).
needless to say we were all tired the next morning but it was good fun.

wednesday was slightly less chaotic than tuesday but still was pretty hectic.
i then went to the cinema with kat, vikki and david to watch the bratz film- before you scoff, we accept that the film is going to be cheesy and rubbish but we know we can laugh at that and find it entertaining.
however you may scoff since it was the second time i saw it in the space of 2 weeks.
then in the evening was mike's birthday bbq which was fun, although i now know it wasnt just me who didnt mesh well with whatsherface. i left pretty early coz i was tired.

thursday is the day of holiday club that is the worst. monday is exciting coz we're setting up, tuesday is the first day with kids, wednesday is when it gets calmer, friday is the last day so always fun. but thursday is the day when your tiredness hits you full on in the face, i had to lean pretty heavily on god to find the energy to get through it.
the 'runway' session was particularly good since david got flanned! we have a tradition in godzone where the leaders get flanned sometimes but there's a strict no-under-18's policy and since david isn't going to be here for the first godzone of term, andy and my mum flanned him at holiday club instead. (i will be here for the first godzone of term, i will be 18, i have no doubt that my nemisis james ross is planning to get me. now i just have to flee the country before sunday 9th)

thursday evening was alot of fun too. nicola, tip, gareth, anna and i went to millets maize maze (a local garden centre plant a whole field of maize and then cut a maze out of it each year) but we went especially for the torchlight session! going round a field in dark is fun! a little scary if you let yourself listen to the noises but since there were alot of people doing it, we just had alot of fun....and maybe cut through the walls of the maze a bit!
then when we'd found all the clues we went to the wizard (clearly a uni student on holiday trying to earn some money) and got our ice-lollies as prizes.
you have to accept that this was a maze aimed at kids, doesnt mean we enjoyed it any less!
we also met some random people who decided that they loved gareth, especially this one girl. turns out they go to fitzharrys and sort of know hannah burfitt (pj's girlfriend).

friday was a looooooooooooooong day!
the morning bit was good, the kids enjoyed it. although one of my kids was particularly hyperactive. luckily i happened to get stevie as an extra teenage helper that morning (if you don't know who stevie is then this will be lost on you....and i also pity you.) and stevie watched him for me.
the end of the morning was a bit of a down but i got to spend alot of time with katy (my 8 year old god-sister. 8 going on 18.)
and then in the afternoon i went home to get some rest...unfortunately i also had to go with anna to tesco's to buy some things we needed for our plan (explained in a minute).
which meant i sat down for maybe 30 minutes in total before having to go back to church.
where alot of people were setting up for the evening holiday club bbq.
it was alot of fun and i got to see alot of kids and parents that i know.

and then anna and i executed our plan.
we gunged andy.
yep, that andy, our youth worker, andy.
hahahahahahahahahahahaha
it was brilliant! we put on capes and masks and flew in from the back and gunged him with porridge, cornflour and baked beans! (all prepared earlier)
unfortunately we hadn't thought the plan through properly....we'd ensured that andy was sat in a paddling pool that would catch all the gunge....we just didnt think what we'd do with the gunge afterwards.
anyway we ended up carrying the paddling pool about 10 metres to tip the gunge down the drain, we then had to wash out the paddling pool and wash around the drain and then let down the paddling pool...all of which took about an hour and a half! (big thanks to joe, richard, mike, pj and hannah who helped us clear all this up!)

i still think it was worth it.


unfortunately a whole week of holiday club, and also busy evenings too, has taken its toll on my body. it reacted how it always does to tiredness- i have a sore throat and a sniffly nose.
i am dosed up and hoping it'll go quickly.

in other news i have more info on how i'll be spending my gap year :) i will be at long furlong on sunday mornings to do kids work and then back in space for the evenings.
should be brilliant to be in a new group, and holiday club gave me a great opportunity to meet alot of the LF kids and leaders.
however i don't start work until monday 10th. which is brilliant! it means i have time to rest up after holiday club, and i have my birthday off too!
its especially good since i have alot of stuff to do for the dinner and dance which is this friday!
i need to send out more tickets, chase some people up about buying tickets, order decorations, sort awards, sort food out. i have alot to do!

but you did read that correctly, it is my birthday this week!
on thursday 6th september to be exact. and i will be turning 18!
i will be able to vote, and legally buy alcohol!
i'm looking forward to going out with my friends too. i have a hair appointment so my hair will look gorgeous and we're going to frankie and benny's (my favourite restaurant!) and having a meal and cocktails and generally a good time :)

anyway i think that's everything i have to write about. wow this is a long post!
i will write more this week no doubt, especially my birthday and the dinner and dance :)
much love xxxxxxx