Teenagers + Paint = Youth Activity??

Last night was a very cool night to be a teenager at church... They got together for their weekly activity, and walked a couple blocks to the nearby elementary school's field.


There's the whole crew.. well, almost the whole crew - Andy was there somewhere, but didn't find his way into the picture, so just imagine him there! It's okay though, because last night's activity was seemingly custom manufactured to appeal to Ellysa above anyone else. For starters, she got to hang out and be silly with her good friend Allysa.

That can safely be called the "before" shot.

Before what, you ask?

Why, before they started a massive paint fight, of course! We're talking serious paint fighting. Like water balloons filled with paint. Like acrylic paint freely available to smear all over your opponents.

Like Ellysa called me an hour after I dropped her off, asking me to please bring a towel for her to sit on for the ride home, so she doesn't get paint all over our (still pretty much brand new) van!

Oh yeah, here is the "after" shot of Ellysa and Allysa.

I'm sure that to Ellysa, one of the big perks of the night was that while her age group was flinging paint all over each other, Kaylee's age group was learning about manners. Yeah, manners. Kaylee told us that she got to learn "how to eat on a date." That made me laugh out loud, it's SO completely the total opposite of what the older kids were doing!!

Meanwhile, it got dark, it was pickup time. I made sure to pack my camera to get a few shots of the priceless damage...




Needless to say, that shirt is now one of Ellysa's prized possessions. When I got up this morning, it was on a hanger in the kitchen, drying into its new permanent form, full of splotches and handprints.

And there's little question that the next several youth activities will feel more like a lesson on manners in comparison!