Our day started at 8am when we arrived at the church to load up the van and get going. After a time of prayer with Pastor Tony, the teen’s parents and a couple of other church members, we hit the road! There was a lot of rain on the ride up, but we kept busy by singing songs and playing games. After a few hours we stopped for lunch and since it was only drizzling at this point, we took some time to dance in the rain! After lunch, it was time to get driving and have some more fun. We even played "Deal of No Deal", Kingdom Bound style. Some of the prizes included Milton's CD and Kyle's firewood immunity. We even played a second game of "Deal or No Deal" for quarters to be used at the arcade! We arrived at the Lei-Ti campground in Batavia, NY around 5pm. After straightening out some problems with our sites, we set up camp. The girls set their tent up in record time and went on to set up the food tent as well. After everyone was set it was time to check out the campground. While the youth went to check out the arcade, Aaron and Candice started dinner. After dinner we were all pretty tired so it was time to hit the sack. The breeze that night made for a very restful sleep.

Day 2

On day 2 we woke up refreshed and ready for adventure! After breakfast we took a walk around the campground down to a beautiful lake. After hanging out by the water for a bit, we headed back to our campsites to wake up Milton! Of course, we couldn't resist taking a few pictures before we woke him up. It was then time to head out to our first day at Kingdom Bound! After we picked up our wristbands we decided to go our separate ways to check things out. Kyle and Shawn went to check out the park games and the arcade while Kevin, Joy, Kristen and Milton went to a speaker.

After a couple of hours of free time we all met up for lunch. After eating we decided to check out some more rides, separately and together. We had a great time going on the bumper cars as a group! Several of the teens really enjoyed going on the Motocoaster while others checked out the UFO!

Later that evening Milton and Aaron had a great time jumping and screaming at the Skillet concert while the rest of us enjoyed an amazing Casting Crowns concert. This was also the first night that we all got to experience the amazing talents of Eric Samuel Timm. At the Skillet concert he created a piece called "Repaint Jesus". So many teens today have this image of this ancient God that is too old for them. One of the purposes of Kingdom Bound is to show teens that the same faith that our forefathers had applies to all of our lives. They don't have to worship God by sitting still and singing hymns. They can rock out at a concert, sing as loud as they want and jump up and down. If that's how they want to praise the Lord, we say, go for it! Repaint Jesus! You can check out Eric Samuel Timm's websiteby clicking onthe "NOU" link on our links taband his "Repaint Jesus" videoon our video tab.

We also met Eric at the Casting Crowns concert where he made two amazing paintings of Jesus' nail pierced hands. These drawings really helped the song "East to West" come to life. If you have never heard this song, I strongly encourage you to check it out. You will not be disappointed!

That night, as we got back to our campsite we enjoyed hanging out and talking about the day’s activities. It was however, way too windy for a fire so after dinner, it was off to bed. We were all more than happy to get some rest on that windy night!

Day 3

After wondering all night if our tents were going to collapse on us from the wind, we awoke early and ready for day two of Kingdom Bound. I should probably fill you in on our bathroom/showering facilities here. The bathrooms weren't too bad. A few bugs, but pretty clean. The sink was outside though so there were plenty of bugs that wanted to join you as you brushed your teeth! The showers, well, at least they got you clean! You would have to hit a button every minute or so to keep the water going though….and be careful where you step…there could be a bug or two joining you! It was pretty gross, but it could have been a lot worse. Actually, for camping, it was pretty good!

Day two of Kingdom Bound was great! As leaders, Aaron and Candice required each teen to attend at least two seminars. We chose to go to part one and part two of Brett Ullman's seminar called media.faith.culture. He was amazing! Not only was his message right on with God's Word, but he also kept the teens captivated for the full two hours! Anyone who has ever tried to teach teens for more than 5 minutes knows how incredible that is! He not only kept their attention, but he really got them thinking about the music they listen to, the movies & TV shows they watch and the video games they play. Actually, since we got back from KB one of our teens has actually started going through his games and is planning on selling many of them and taking the money from that to sponsor a child. How awesome is that! You can check out find the link for Brett's website on our links tab.

After having some amazing pizza for lunch, Candice, Joy, Kristen, Shawn and Kyle went to check out the water park. We had a lot of fun in the wave pool, climbing around in the kid's water park and going down some awesome water slides! It was loads of fun!

Something else about Kingdom Bound we can't forget is "FREE HUGS!!" It is a Kingdom Bound tradition to give out "Free Hugs" to anyone and everyone! At Kingdom Bound, we are all one big happy family united by Christ and there is nothing better than giving a friend a great big hug!

Later that evening, Joy and Kristen went to see Family Force 5 and Hawk Nelson while the rest of us enjoyed some more rides and arcade games. We all had a great time enjoying our separate activities. Later that night we all met up for an awesome show called "Laser Blast!" Between the lasers and the fireworks, we all had a lot of fun. As the show came to an end it started to sprinkle just a little and by the time we were driving to the campground, it was pouring! What a mess. We did manage to stay dry for the night though. Of course, we were now wondering if we were ever going to be able to have a campfire!

Day 4

Our third day at Kingdom Bound was the best of all! Our day started with Aaron, Kevin and Kristen going on the Sky Coaster! After they were pulled up to a height of 180 feet, Kevin pulled the ripcord that started their 60mph swing towards earth. I think we had almost as much fun watching them scream as they did doing it! After their amazing ride, the youth surprised us by deciding to go to Brett Ullman's third seminar. This time he talked about self-injury. From cutting, to anorexia to bulimia, he talked about it all. So many speakers are afraid to speak on something so serious, but we are thankful that Brett is not. Once again, he captivated everyone’s attention for an entire hour.

After the seminar we all went off to enjoy some rides together. From the Ranger, to the Viper to the Ferris Wheel we had a great time. Of course, Aaron and Candice couldn't wait for their favorite part of the day......Newsboys! The concert was scheduled to start at 9:30, but as we watched people walk past us towards the stage, we decided we better get going! It was a little after 7 when we took our seats! As we waited for the big event, we enjoyed Natalie Grant and Phil Joel.

Newsboys!!! 9:30 finally rolled around and we were so ready!.....and a little unsure of how things were going to be now that Michael Tate has taken Peter's place. The first half of the concert was a lot of fun for the teens, but a little strange for Aaron and Candice since it just didn't really seem like the Newsboys that they grew up on.....and then.......it was time for BREAKFAST!!! Peter came out and everyone went nuts! It was soooo awesome! What a great time! After Breakfast, Peter left, but the party went on. Michael Tate and the rest of the group went on to sing more "old school" songs from Newsboys as well as from DC Talk. I think a lot of people lost their voices that night! What a great way to end our Kingdom Bound adventure!

As we drove back to our campsite, we were determined to have a fire on our last night! It may have been midnight, but that didn't matter....we were going to cook hotdogs and make Smores! Just as we started to get things together, another youth group a few sites down came over to invite us to their fire. We had so much fun getting to know each other and sharing our Kingdom Bound stories. After a couple of hours we decided that if we were ever going to wake up for our last day we better get to bed! I think we all slept very soundly that night!

Day 5

The last day of our trip started out at 6:30am! We had a busy day ahead of us and needed to get an early start. Since we needed to leave the site by 7:30 to drive the 1 ½ hours to Niagara Falls, we pretty much just packed things up and headed out. After dropping Aaron and Kyle off at the Niagara Falls Aquarium the rest of us headed up to the Whirlpool Jet Boats ready for an adventure! For those of you who don't know, when you go on a Whirlpool Jet, you better be ready to get wet! Actually, wet doesn't even describe it, you get drenched! The tour takes you through class 5 rapids on the Niagara River. To help put that into perspective, class 6 is the highest level of rapids and it is actually illegal to go out on them because it is so dangerous. On the boat you get to experience the amazing force of the rapids. It really is unbelievable! You can check out http://www.whirlpooljet.com/ and click on the video to get a better idea of this crazy ride! It was sooo much fun! After the ride, we headed back to pick up Aaron and Kyle at the Aquarium where they had loads of fun checking out penguins, fish, seals and even porcupines! There we got to feed the seals! After some fun with that we decided it was time to check out the falls.

When we arrived at the falls we went to the "Cave of the Winds". Here we rode an elevator down 175 feet and then walked out to the "Hurricane Deck". The edge of this deck was only 20 feet away from the Bridal Veil Falls with winds that blow up to 68mph! It was so awesome to stand there and see God's glorious creation! In fact, if we didn't make them, I don't think Joy and Kyle would have ever come down! We then went to check out the rest of the falls. There were many photo opportunities to take advantage of here. After looking around for a bit, we decided that it was time for lunch. This time, we enjoyed a really great lunch at the "Top of the Falls" restaurant. It was delicious! Although, eating outside so close to the falls made for a lot of wind and even a few bugs. In fact, one of those bugs decided that Joy's soup looked really good and he decided to take a dive! We had a great waitress, great food and a great time.

After our late lunch it was time to head home. We had a long drive ahead of us, but of course, that didn't matter as much to the youth as it did to Aaron and Candice. They were the ones driving! It was around 1:30am when we got home from our trip and I think we can all agree that it was an amazing time!!!