Marriage + Camping Adventures

Last year around this time, some of our friends mentioned that they were working on a marriage retreat + camping adventures weekend with our church. This was a new idea and we were completely supportive of it! We knew our friends were piloting the idea and trying to get it up and running, but we didn't hear too much about it after that. Well, this summer our friends, Kristen and Shawn, told us that the marriage adventure weekend was a go! and we were asked if we could attend! Of course we said, "Yes!" Everything we had heard about the camping adventure sounded right up our ally.

September finally came around and we packed up for the weekend. Beth and Gene had agreed to take Dayton for the weekend, so we drove down to Cedar Rapids first to drop him off. I cried when we left. I know, I know it's only a weekend. But now that I'm back at work for the school year, I don't get to hang out with little man very much. The weekends are our family time. I knew the hubs and I needed a weekend away though, so I calmed down pretty quickly in the car.

We got to Expeditions Unlimited pretty late on Friday night. It was raining, so we said hello to the other couples and we all headed off to our tents to go to sleep! I slept horrible. We had air mattresses and somehow, ours was deflated as soon as we laid on it basically. So that made for a fun night. We were up at 7 am to eat breakfast, start our morning devotions, and get ready for the day. We brought bag chairs and after breakfast, we took them out to the middle of the field and just had time in God's Word. It was amazing. It was so peaceful, the morning sun was nice and warm, and we had an uninterrupted hour of Jesus.

Expeditions Unlimited  |  our tents! ours was the one all the way to the right

the pavilion where we had group meetings and meals  |  the campire

Our first adventure Saturday morning was rock climbing. Like real rock climbing. On a cliff, with ropes, and climbing shoes, and chalk. Woo! I have rock climbed on a wall, but never have had the chance to rock climb out in nature, so I was pumped! In my stubborn, bull headed normalness, I was determined to dominate the "hard" climb. Shawn went first, and after being stuck in the middle of it for a while eventually made it to the top! I volunteered to go next. I made it half way up and got stuck. The next reach was waaaay to tall for me. Shawn had had trouble with it and he is about 6 feet tall. Like I said, I'm stubborn and I was not backing down now, so after many many attempts, I finally wedged myself into a crack in the rock and muscled my way up to the ext reach. I did it!! I made it all the way to the top!

Three more guys went up and made it and two more girls attempted it and got stuck in the middle. I was pretty proud of myself, not going to lie. The hubs climbed up as well and did great! Like I said, this trip was right up our ally!

After rock climbing, lunch on the cliffs, and more time together reading the Bible, praying, and another devotional we all headed down to the base of the cliffs to the lake! Our guides pulled out the canoes and off we went. An hour of alone time on a peaceful lake, with gorgeous scenery. Amazing.

After canoeing, it was time for dinner. We all headed back to camp and had a yummy taco dinner compliments of our guides. After dinner we had more devotional time as couples. The book that we all went through was created by my friend Kristen. She has a gift. The book was just perfect. After devotions, we started up the fire and roasted s'mores! Our campfire was full of laughs and unbelievable stories thanks to our guide, Higgins. That is one cool dude. Oh and he has a glass eye. He took it out and showed us and then told us the story of how it happened. This guy has done it all.
Bedtime was around 10 pm because we would be up early the next day!

Sunday started out about the same. Up at 7 am, morning devotions in the field, homemade breakfast, and lots of laughter at the picnic tables. After breakfast, we were off to the high ropes course! I was a little nervous about this, but again was pretty determined to finish all of the challenges. I felt pretty confident until we actually got up there. A high ropes course is literally a course, on ropes, 40 feet in the air. Obviously, you're harnessed in, but still. It is high up there! The whole point of it is to complete the course with your partner, because you can't do it alone. We made it through! and I know somehow, it made us trust each other more, rely on each other, and it built us as a team. I use the big swing to get down and the hubs went on the zip line. It was great!!

What an amazing weekend. Thanks Beth and Gene for taking care of Day while we were gone. We loved the marriage adventure weekend Kristen and Shawn!