Kids Alive Camping Trip As the year-end celebration for Kids Alive, BridgeBuilders' weekly Bible Study, a two-night camping adventure was planned to Fort Parker State Park in Mexia, Texas. The rain was forecast to stay away, but it did no such thing. After loading the surprisingly large bags of twelve 7-13 year olds in the front, middle and back of two mini vans in the steady drizzle, the trip began. Ryan, a children's director for BridgeBuilders, soon realized he had a flat tire, so the caravan was stopped, air was put in the tire and a prayer was said that the van would make it the rest of the way.The group arrived at the two screened-in shelters after a very wet drive.All unloaded. then the ten girls and two boys immediately got into their swimsuits and headed off for the swimming area with the rain slowly falling (see picture). The depth of the swimming area was hard to determine, so all the kids lined up, waiting for one brave soul to make the jump. It ended up being only waist deep on the kids, so they all jumped in! The first evening stayed relatively dry and grilled hamburgers were served along with smores over the fire pit. The next day however, was rain-filled. The rain was coming down so hard that visibility was limited to maybe 10-15 feet. The hot dogs had to be grilled under a tarp covering and then the food was run between the two shelters to feed the kids. Once the rain lightened, the kids swam again and the took a nature hike. The kids were required to bring back two items from the hike that interested them and tell everyone else about their item (see top picture, posing after the hike). Many of the kids had never been on any type of camping or hiking experience, so they were completely taken aback by the fact that they were slowly walking through a flat, wooded area. One 10 year old even said, "I think I have already lost 1 pound, maybe 2!" Everyone did manage to make it back unharmed by the rain. Everything we had was soggy and one can only imagine the musty smell. If anything. this trip was an adventure for the kids and the children's directors. The time together, away from home, was a new experience for most of the kids and hopefully something they will remember forever. Group picture of the Kids Alive members after a hike at Fort Parker State Park.     The kids were trying to see just how deep the water really was before jumping in.