CrossPoint Church Picnic

Our church held our annual summer picnic.  Last year, we got rained out and ate in the church fellowship hall.  This year, the food was served inside again.

Because the heat index was 110º...

So quite a few of us ate inside again as well. 

There were a few brave people who ate outside, but it was HOT!

Shortly after lunch, an East Peoria Fire Truck and Police Car showed up to let us take a look around inside.

The kids had a written scavenger hunt to fill out, asking people to sign on the line if the'd had specific life experiences.  Once completed, the kids got to pick a prize, Miles choose a slinky.  He's had one on his wish list for a while! :)

There was also a watermelon eating contest.  Cooper loves watermelon, but I couldn't convince him to compete.  I think it was the seed spitting he was worried about.  He stood by and cheered on his friends.

Owen took advantage of the air conditioning and took a nap inside. 

Soon the "Knockerball" people showed up though and the level of excitement escalated.

They started inflating the knocerballs and assigning them to players.
Cooper was one of the first.

It was pretty hilarious watching people climb into these things.

The kids needed a little help with the harness.

But were soon ready to go!

They had a great time!  The goal of the first game was to be the one standing in the hula hoop (on the ground) when the time was up.

They also played 500, catching the ball for points.

Then... the men started to line up.

They played a game where once you've been knocked over three times, you're out.  It was hilarious!  You can see from the video that Derek seriously dominated. :)  At one point, he had all the other players on the ground at once!  Ha!  

This incident was later used as a sermon illustration by our pastor, who is one of the guys out there.

But they were all still friends in the end!
(Just a little sore the next day!)

Did I mention it was hot?  There were coolers with bottled water all over, making sure people kept hydrated.  But when it was time to go, the ice got dumped, and then played in.

By then the heat index was 111º and so, so humid.  A good time to wrap things up and head home.  And, as you can see, my phone battery was down to 5%, time to call it quits.  :)