THE SCENE: Alabama hot
F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER
Arrival at Camp Cosby, F3 dads camp. Brief announcements and awful little round Pizza for dinner, but we all ate it as we were on a high of excitement with the start of dads camp.
WARM-O-RAMA:
Friday Night Dodgeball…yes of course our cabins Choctaw and Chickasaw won the tournament. After all, we are F3 KNOXVILLE. I give Bueller MVP in dodgeball . I have NEVER seen a dodgeball get thrown so fast UNDER hand, amazing !
THA-THANG:
Dads Camp!
well, there was a workout but I am not disclosing what we did… it was a good one and saving it for my next Saturday Q!
back to the THANG;
Summary of activities which Booger lists below as well;
Alpine tower, B.B. guns, archery(kinda) alpine swing and open field for kickball on the upper field .
The water front where we spent most our time. Blob, wibbit(big blow up thing you slide , climb and jump off of) , kid slides , water trampoline , and pool time.
COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA
CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:
The BOM will be my thoughts but PLEASE READ the Moleskin for a few thoughts from other dads.
For me, dads camp was a perfect time to spend quality time with my kids. Yes, I can do this at home or some short trip camping , etc… but dads Camp is different.
Whats different ? Is there an Agenda? The difference is that your in a wonderful environment surrounded by a bunch of HIMs and their kids with the same AGENDA. The agenda was to have fun, be a father , and let kids be kids, simple as that! Really no other agenda than that, have fun with your kids. It was a time for me to spend as much time as i could just hanging out with my kids, watching them play. Of course, I got to play to….it is “dads camp”. It’s a time we can let loose with our kids and like I mentioned over the weekend, show our kids “how to break the rules responsibly”! What I really mean is, it’s a chance to let your kids be a little more independent than you normally would. At least for me it was. Let them play and explore, encourage them to climb the Apljne tower or swing on the alpine swing or jump off the ledge onto the blob or try a flip off the wibbit, etc…..just let them have fun. On top of that, We met other F3 dads and 2.0s from different states. It was equally great to hang out with the men from Knoxville and their kids ,getting to know them better. I truly had a great time look forward to next year.
MOLESKIN:
Detention ;
Detention and Buckets take down Bama! What a great weekend of love, laughter, and blobbing!! As we approached Camp Cosby, Buckets could hardly contain her excitement. I felt the exact same way. A weekend together is what we really craved. No schedule, no agenda, no limit to the amount of time we could hang out. Having experienced our first Dads Camp last year, we knew a little of what to expect and we both were jacked up! It’s cool to see Dads and their kids laughing, hugging, high fiving, and simply enjoying each other. You don’t have to drive 4 hours to do this but this camp speaks to the intentionality we all talk about in F3. The men of Knoxville F3 are studs and we loved being with them and their kids. We are already counting down the days till next year!
Booger ;
F3 Dads = F4. Fitness, Fellowship, Faith … and Fun. We strained. We bonded. We shared our faith. We let loose. I realized F3 Dads is the single most under rated benefit of F3.
I generally expected my son (8) to have fun; but me, myself, and I had tons of fun. Everyone did. It was a wonderful, if not perfect, blend of all these core F3 principles, and then some.
I got to know a number of the Knoxville-strong (and their 2.0’s), but I also got to know some of their really great kids. I saw some dudes scream like girls. I saw some girls get after it like men. And I saw a whole lot of boys being boys, living out the adventure of their imagination, regardless of their age (me included).;
I met good dads from four states exhibiting the same values that make us love F3, all for the benefit of their kids. I witnessed the collectively power of a group of guys making memories for their boys and girls. I experienced a select few stepping up and taking on the responsibility to make it all happen.
In order of appearance: Day 1: basketball, football, Frisbee, walked the grounds, ran the grounds, greeted the crew, hung out, eat, dodge ball, victory lap, fire time, s’mores, hang out, sleep; Day 2: eat, workout, blob, wibit, water trampoline, water slides, blob, alpine tower, archery, bb guns, eat, pool, blob, football, blob/wibit/trampoline, dads only blob, pool, hang, eat, kickball, fire time, s’mores, hang; Day 3 hang, eat, back to K-town.
Arod;
The boys loved our trip last year to Camp Thunderbird in SC. We had no idea what Camp Cosby in AL would be like. Well, we had an awesome weekend. Not that Thunderbird was a bad time but this was just a great fit for our PAX and kids.
The whole point of Dads camp is not just to get to spend time with your children, but to let them show you what is fun to them and to interact with the other children at camp. We swam, swung, ran, slid, and ate as a big group. The children interacted while the dads did the same. It was a busy weekend and relaxing at the same time. We talked about next year on our way home.
Glad to be a part of F3!
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Hopefully find a camp closer wth similar amenities and cost. It would be great to have a camp full of F3 Knoxville dads and 2.0. I encourage all Dads to put dads camp on their bucket list of things to do with your kids before they get too old. Even if you go just one time , GO!