SX19: Day Five

Suddenly here we are at the end of Summer Xtreme, 2019.  This was the big one, the end of the fifteenth year of Summer Xtreme, and the final one for Madison as a student.  Would the sixth graders finally find themselves victorious?

There were two tribal games outside today, and Madison was ready to cheer and scream as loud as she could for her team, the Raptors.  All week, it was the Sharks versus the Raptors, with the other tribes in the rear view mirror.  If we could only get one victory this morning, and the Sharks not get one... but it was not to be.  Right away in the first contest, the winner was... the Sharks!  The Raptors were again behind.  These Sharks were relentless, winning over and over again all week.  Would the Raptors come back from behind?  The good news was that the Raptors came in second place.  The Raptors got points just as the Sharks did, only fewer.  The final contest would decide it all:  the winner takes all points, with second place not getting any.  Who would win that?  Here's a photo of the contest, a jousting match atop this inflatable mountain!

It was a tournament, and as if this thing were scripted, the Raptors defeated everyone as did the Sharks, and it came down to one thrilling contest between the two, winner take all.  The crowd screamed, and the contest was so amazingly close.  Which team would win in the end?  Both actually fell off, but who fell first?  The Sharks fell first, and the Raptors won the game!  Would it be enough points to pull them ahead though?  This was the question for the rest of the day... because soon, we were going inside to start the last service of Summer Xtreme.

The final skit was today, and it went so well.  The kids were so into it, cheering and clapping, and laughing at all the right places.  It was another Summer Xtreme with four perfect services, with microphones working and all the lines nailed perfectly.  Our actors did so well, and were so popular with the kids all week long.

The worship service was wonderful too, with Pastor Lance bringing the word at the end, and talking about being unleashed.  There was a prayer service at the end, where everyone was praying for one another.  You can see Madison's group at the bottom right here, during the altar service.

And here below are Mommy and Daddy together, praying for the children in this service.  Our hope is that this week was an unforgettable one in many ways, that these kids will never forget what they've learned or what they've felt, that God is with them and that He loves them.  That they are now unleashed!

After the message and altar service, it was time to announce the winner of the Tribes games for the week.  It was tense - everyone knew it was between the Sharks and the Raptors, who each won three games this week.  Who would pull out ahead though?  Madison didn't know, and even suspected that the Sharks might win.  This might be because she's been conditioned all seven years that her grade level never really wins.  But you know something?

The Raptors won it all!  Here in Gainesville's campus, where it really mattered, the Raptors Tribe won the week - the sixth graders dominating, alongside those fifth grader Sharks.  Only twice have the sixth graders won it all, and this was the one that mattered the most.  Once it was announced that the sixth graders won, the place went crazy, the noise level off the charts, and the cheering wouldn't stop!

This inflatable dinosaur was brought along, hoisted high, alongside the SX19 Trophy.  Madison and the other Raptors, after seven years of battling, finally brought the Summer Xtreme Trophy home!  It was such a huge moment, actually Madison's favorite moment of the day. She screamed until her voice started to go out.  It was kind of a big deal!

But the service wasn't over with yet.  The teams had to all unite one last time, with one last video that had epic cameos in it.  There was a villain this week that threatened to turn everyone into bananas.  Dr. Gorilla was his name, and in order to stop him, it took some help from a few special cameos.  Madison didn't know it was coming, but today they showed up on the big screen:  the Super Seven, firstly.  These were the heroes from the last three years of Summer Xtreme, the seven characters from the "Heroes" movies we've put together.  But that wasn't the entire thing.  The original Tribes cartoon characters showed up, in 3-D, helping fight off Dr. Gorilla.  Daddy lent his voice once more to Cowboy, and all the other original voice actors returned once again for this awesome cameo.  It was like a love letter to our sixth graders, as they've been the only ones to see all six of these past previous years.  The videos pulled everything all together over the past few years, a nice wrap-up for all those in Madison's grade level, a big finale to it all.

Afterwards, its as the chaos of water day, the big event with water slides and squirt guns and buckets of water being dumped on people.  Madison was dumping cups of water on people, and at one point, the fire department came (as they usually do), and sprayed massive amounts of water into the air.

The weather was perfect for this sort of thing, sunny and just right for a good soaking.  As always, the snow cone truck was on hand to pass out snow cones to everyone there.  Madison and Daddy got a few, went down some slides, and had a lot of fun just getting everyone else wet or getting soaked ourselves.

At one point on the way back, Daddy thought it would be fun to ambush the officer in the police car.  We were in a golf cart, and I was three rows back with a concealed squirt gun that could spray pretty far.  The plan was to drive by, and start shooting as we got closer.  Unbeknownst to us, the officer sitting in his car was waiting for us to go by, also ready to ambush us!  Suddenly, he pulled out a squirt gun, and the two of us were exchanging fire as we were driving by.  It was that sort of day - hilarious!

Here's a group shot from Jovanna, still in character from her stage performance, as she was visiting the the raptors.  You can see Madison towards the top left in this group shot.  They were still celebrating the Raptors' big victory.  It was an unforgettable day, a wonderful ending to the whole week.  It was not rigged in the slightest, although some might have thought that.  It just worked out oddly this year with two teams going back and forth for the victory, and the sixth graders finally pulling through.  You could really honestly say they wanted it more - and they got it.

When done, we were cleaning up after the long dismissal, quite ready to go home afterwards.  It didn't take too long to get to sleep either.  It was a really full day, the end of a really full week.  But it was a spectacular one, the best Summer Xtreme I think we've ever had.