There was a lot of debating over who would ride with who. Thankfully nobody got their feelings hurt.
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While we performed in Edmonton the night before, the team was billeted at Fort Saskatchewan. We met up at Fort Saskatchewan Alliance Church, where the kids treated the billets to song and prayer. It is always fun to see the looks on Canadians' faces when they recognize the melody of the songs being sung.
The kids were in for a major treat, as we were taking them to Galaxy Land, the theme park inside the West Edmonton Mall. They could tell this was something special as they got very hyper on the drive over. The girls began trying to take control of my phone to take pictures, which I obliged to for a brief time. Once we arrived at the mall we had the kids eat their lunches first. Shelly questioned this decision as it could result in puking incidents, but we doubted that the kids would go straight to the wildest rides.
Once inside the theme park, the kids immediately ran to the bumper cars. Everybody doubled up, which meant that I crammed myself into a car with Minea. The English voiced instructions asked for no head-on collisions, which of course the kids did not know of, and even if they did, they would have ignored. There were several big hits, but nothing severe enough to warrant concern.
After the bumper cars, the kids wanted to ride the Galaxy Orbiter, which is a rollercoaster that has four people sharing a cart and facing each other while the cart spins with gravity and momentum. Unfortunately for the team, there was only one cart working, meaning the lineup for the ride was incredibly long. Something good did come out of the long wait time, as the ride attendant, William, turned out to be Cambodian! The kids reacted with great shock when he started speaking Khmer to them. He also did us a huge favor by standing up to a rude mother who insisted her kids cut in line. We were very happy to have met him.
Once we had all taken a ride on the Galaxy Orbiter (which some handled better than others), we did a few turns on the Cootie Coaster, a straightforward rollercoaster. Despite it being rather tame, its high speed did frighten some of the kids, who were not expecting it to go so fast. After that, we began to sample the different rides, with the kids never committing as a unanimous group. I was surprised to see their eagerness to ride the merry-go-round, a ride with a distinct lack of popularity at the theme park.
The highlight for me came when we rode the Monopoly Railroad. The train ride at Galaxy Land has not always gone by its current name, but it is a staple of the theme park. I was happy to see the kids enjoy it, as they took great delight waving to the chaperones who did not go on the rides. After that, the next major highlight for me occurred when Yusvae and Neang bravely joined Sarah and I on Havoc, the most intense ride currently at the theme park. The four of us were hung upside down, rotated, and spun all at high speeds from a very high height. Yusvae and Neang were fine after the ride, while I was feeling a little nauseous. Oof.
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After the fun at Galaxy Land, we went to a very large cabin house that was graciously lent to us by one of Blaine's friends. With multiple bedrooms, a spacious main floor, and several games available, the kids were very excited. I was rather blown away myself, as I was not expecting to stay at such a spacious location. I was also surprised to find a working Nintendo 64 with a copy of Super Smash Bros, giving me massive nostalgia.
The next day was a performance at Rocky Mountain House, but we did not have to leave the cabin house until 3:00, which gave the kids plenty of time to play, and the adults plenty of time to rest. I took the opportunity to sleep in, which resulted in me missing breakfast. I decided to let the kids enjoy playing with each other for the day, while I took the chance to relax and work on the blog.
The trip to Rocky Mountain House saw the kids want to watch Kung Fu Panda 2 for a second time. I initially thought that they were mistaking it for the third entry in the franchise before realizing that they wanted to re-watch the movie. We were only able to watch the first half of the film, during which Minea began pestering me to allow him to play on my laptop. I promised him that he could play my Switch later.
Rocky Mountain House Alliance Church was very accommodating as they quickly had a curry meal prepared for us, which was complimented with slices of watermelon. The basement where the kids would get prepared had a piano, which the boys kept trying to play with despite our instructions to stop. Kids, I tell ya.
The performance at Rocky Mountain House went great, with no bloopers occurring. We were all holding our breath during the 'stick dance', as it was the first time since Chanthy took a spill during the dance. The end of the performance was special, as we brought up Karman and Twyla to speak about their time at Rescue, as Rocky Mountain House Alliance Church is their home church.
When we returned to the cabin house, we had a special surprise for Veasna. The tradition at Rescue is to have a birthday party at the end of each month for all of the kids who had a birthday that month. For the team, Veasna was the only one to have had a birthday during September. We decided to celebrate his birthday, gifting him some toys, and treating all the kids to cake and ice-cream.
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During the Family Road Trip, there are several photos and videos taken by others. I have recently received several of them and have decided to put them on this blog entry. Enjoy!
God bless & Jesus saves.
Looks like fun!