Awana or "You've been bamboozled"

The girls were in Awana this year.  It was such a great experience.  I waffled at the beginning of the year because they are out very late that night, but it turned out to be the right decision.  It was PK2's first really independent thing.  One night she asked me if I could stop walking her into her class and let her go in by herself.  Answer, "No...and I am not going to stop kissing you goodbye 15 times either."  Here they are before their Awana Awards night at the end of the year.

Halfway through the year they have a derby where you build a car and race it.  Believe it or not, PK1 won for fastest car.  We always say PD should have been a mechanical engineer.  The other daddies were trying to figure out his secret.  Some of them had even gone to a woodshop someone owns to tweek their cars.  But PD did not spend that much time and he let PK1 help him with all that she could.  Here they are after the race with their cars and the award.  PK2 was actually not eligible for the race because she is only a "Cubbie" so her car was only for fun.

PD also had to sew on the badges.  I can't sew straight (that's my story).  One night PK1 told me that a girl came to her class with all her patches pinned on with big safty pins.  I said, "Well, maybe her daddy was too busy to sew on her patches."  She nodded thoughtfully.

Here are a few more pictures from the award night with some of their friends:

Yes, my church has these colored lights on the curtains...but the preaching is really good!

The girls won a lot of awards that night too for memorizing lots of verses and having good attendance.

It was so funny when we first started with Awana because PD and I were never in it growing up, so all the books and badges and pins and jewels that you earn were new to us and so complicated!  One night we were going over all the materials they brought home trying to figure it out when PD looks up at me and says, "we've been bamboozled."  That is a line from one of our favorite Friends episodes.  In it, Joey is trying out for this really complicated gameshow and they have to practice with him.  Here is a link to a little clip of it.  It is still SO funny.  Friends Link: Bamboozled