A couple of weeks ago I received an e-mail from our church asking for a volunteer to host a group of teens in the Disciple Now program. Fast forward a couple of weeks, and we had ten people in our home this weekend.
After spending Friday prepping for their arrival, Skip went to church that night and escorted them back to our house. When he arrived at church, he spotted a church van, loaded down with seventh grade boys, rocking and careening. There was much hooting and hollering. Before he even got out of the car, he knew those were our kids. I was treated to a similar display when the church bus pulled into the cul-de-sac and parked in front of our home. Suddenly, I understood why the youth minister's responsive e-mail had said, "Are you sure you want to do this?"
We did want to, of course, and we had planned out where to put the eight kids and two group leaders who were our guests. Lauren and Gracie spent the night with Grammie so their room was free, and we had deployed some air mattresses in the play room. We had intended for three guys to sleep in George's room (Geo was in a pack and play in our room); three to sleep in the girl's room; and four to crash in the play room. Instead, one boy claimed the queen-sized bed in George's room, and apparently no one wanted to take the pink beds. So... the remaining seven boys camped in the play room.
We were up early Saturday morning. With a baby, we are early birds, and even the sleepiness of the teen years couldn't block out William George's chatter. He has not even begun to master volume control; for that matter, he is completely disinterested in reducing his noise output. Everyone was up, and then we had breakfast consisting of sausage casserole and biscuits. After an hour or so, they were off for the day. Their itinerary included sessions at church, lunch and a scavenger hunt. They had some down time in the afternoon, during which time they planned to swim. After the down time, they were going back to church for music, another session, dinner and a trip to Yogurt Mountain.
We assumed we were home free and would be getting plenty of rest Saturday night -- that they would be wiped out from such an aggressive schedule. When they came home after Yogurt Mountain, maybe around 10:30pm, we learned they had scrapped the swimming idea. No worries. They were up early and still had a busy day. They would surely crash soon. Except they wouldn't crash because they had been guzzling energy drinks all evening! They knocked around for a while and were loitering in the cul-de-sac until around 11:30, when they left to go "rolling" some of the other host homes. During the hullabaloo, Skip talked with the group leaders. We reiterated that the one-year-old was asleep and that our neighbors are not used to street noise at midnight. Order was restored, or, at least, they were much quieter with their hijinks.
They crept quietly back inside at 2:30am, and they looked absolutely stunned the next morning at 6:30am. They were boasting some serious energy drink hangovers and looked eager to return home. We served breakfast (honey bun cake, cinnamon rolls and more sausage), and they were off. Skip had order restored in the play room within 15 minutes, and we have spent the day on laundry.
Disclaimer: With this story, there are so many opportunities for humor, but, in all honesty, these young men were polite, respectful and went to great lengths to be good house guests. They made their beds/sleeping space each day, put their towels in the hamper, kept their areas clean, etc. The team leaders were very committed and made the weekend easy. We had a good time. The guys were wonderful, but the story is funnier if we focus on the comedic aspect.
When Gracie and Lauren arrived home, they burst through the door looking for those "boys". They were disappointed to find they had fled. As for William George, he had the time of his life and enjoyed hanging with the fellas!
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