This past weekend Carter & I attended our first Father & Son retreat with One Community Church.
First off, Carter had no idea that he was going. I arranged to pick him up early from school to surprise him. I already know he was excited about a half day at school. The funny part is when I saw him, he was wondering if something was wrong at first.
He was surprised to see me because I would normally be working. I had to explain to him the surprise, and I could see it in his face he was getting excited...See below.
The retreat was held at Lakeview Camp & Retreat Center in Waxahachie, TX. What a beautiful experience it was to see so many fathers and sons for the event. We all had dinner together, made some new friends. Then, it was time to zipline!
Carter handled it like a pro and showed no fear at all.
After all the fun was over, we went back into the auditorium and the kids had a dance contest. The kids and fathers went to different rooms at this time. They had the fathers write a heartfelt letter to their sons and when I tell you, I was in tears the whole time I was writing my letter to Carter 🥹🥹
Final event of the night was the bonfire, smores and more fellowship.
We then found a place to take our sons so that we could read the letters we wrote them. It was a really emotional moment as I read my letter to Carter. I actually got through it without crying the whole time. I could tell Carter was having a moment too. We shared a long hug, talked some more, and he gave me the picture frame he made for me.
Now it was time to go back to the cabins, I must say I wasn't ready for that experience. It was about maybe 10-12 fathers with their sons all around 3rd grade or so and man those kids were hype. Carter fit right in with them. They were playing football running, screaming, fighting, and basically giving me anxiety 😑😐 because they had on socks and they were sliding playing football inside this cabin with slippery floors. I was just waiting for someone to hurt themselves.
It was FINALLY time for sleep, and we all were on bunk-beds in the same room. Man listen... the boys were not trying to go to sleep, some people eventually were sleep and snoring pretty early. There were random noises, kids asking questions and dads trying to be patient. The bed felt like a carboard mattress, and I could not get comfortable at all 😐
Carter was talking about he was feeling itchy and I'm like ok, here we go...Finally everyone went to sleep, except ME! I work nights, so my internal sleep clock is off, I was still hungry as hell and I was tempted to go get some food and sleep in my car.
I stayed though. I figured, why not? I can survive a few hours out of my comfort zone.
At this point, just like Carter said, now I started to feel itchy 😩😩😩 LMAO. Eventually, I fell asleep.
Breakfast was awesome! Carter met NFL player Will Redmond and he was so excited.
After breakfast, all of the fathers and sons went to take a group picture at the lake.
Then it was time for more activities. This time we decided on rock climbing and basketball.
He was pretty much in heaven. I just sat back and watched. Him and another kid were really going at it in basketball. The kid was really hounding Carter on defense. I looked up and Carter had pushed the boy off him. LMAOO. I was proud, I can't even front.
The final event was the blessing ceremony. The fathers presented their sons with a dog tag necklace that had both of our names on it.
We told our sons how we felt about them and said a prayer over our them, and it was not a dry eye in sight to be honest. It was a really heartwarming and touching moment for everyone involved.
I am so glad we went. I love how it brought us even closer. The remainder of the weekend we just relaxed at home, played video games, and chilled. I will always be grateful that I was able to share this time with him and to add to the amazing memories we already have together.
I love that little boy 🖤💛🥹
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