Today for our main service work we went to Kingdom House by their playground and we had a little carnival for the daycare kids they have there. We had two groups of kids come out. The first group of kids were one year olds and two year olds and the second group was three to five year olds. Then we had six games all together. For the toss game we had Nicholas and Taylor running the game. For the animal catch game we had Ashley and Lexiegh running the game. For sponges we had Lauren running it. For face paint it was Kate and Alli. For obstacle course we had Izzy and Alex. For Bowling we had Joey. This was for the second group since the first group was not old enough to understand it but they did like taking and playing with the supplies. 

Today we took the donations that our families and businesses donated and used some of it to bring a group that plays drums to Kingdom House for the evening from 5:30 to 6:30. They focus on taking a chance, never give up and use empathy. Also if you have something you love share it to the world to make it better. With that they had Taylor, Ashley and Alex come up and play drums with them.

Before we leave tomorrow we need to make sure that the house was how we found it and that it is clean and ready for the next group. So tonight we worked on cleaning and making sure that our stuff is ready to go for tomorrow since we leave at an early time in the morning to be back on time. 

Tonight we had two games going. We had catch phrase and cribbage going in the upstairs and downstairs apartments. Altogether we had a great last night here.

Alli and Lexiegh are doing a fantastic job with the blog. They truly have been doing it all - getting pictures, writing the posts, and sharing it with the group.

We thought we would fill everyone in on what a night looks after the blog is posted. When  the students come to team meeting, they hand their phones back in (which they only have for small portions of the day -to call home and for outings). Our team meeting consists of reflection and going over plans for the next night. Then we move on to game time / community building. The games we have played so far: Imagine If, Apples to Apples, Hide and Seek, and Running Pictionary.

We are having a blast with these students. Can't believe we only have a couple days left.
-Brooke and Dani 

Today's service work was handing out flyers for the Shelter Reality's performance at Kingdom House. We went into two different groups that mixed up when we went to different communities so we don't have the same groups but we divided and conquer to get all of the flyers to the houses that were invited to come.

--Our comparisons:
-The parks in the poor community had little shade and barely no playground space, nicer community had shade and playground space
- The poor community had trash and dirt on the streets while the nicer community had no trash and dirt on the road
- The poor community had bars on the schools window, while the nicer community had no bars on the windows
- Drug awareness on the buildings while the nicer community had no drug signs
- The nicer community had nice stores  while the poor had only one supermarket that was run down
- The nicer community had more green space and gardens while the poor community had one garden and no green spaces
-The nicer community had nicer houses while the poor community had almost run down building
-The nicer community had room to move around and felt safe while the poor community was almost on top of each other and it didn't feel safe
- The nicer community had pet shops and could have pets while the poor community couldn't have pets and didn't have pet shops
- The nicer community had nicer backyards and actually had backyards and play space while the poor community didn't really have backyards and play space
-The nicer community was more organized and had ac while the poor community wasn't really organized and didn't really have ac
- In the nicer community have much more privacy than the poor community
- The poor community had to have a back round check to live there while the nicer community didn't have to have a back round check to live there.
- The nicer community had street lamps that were nice while the poor community didn't have street lamps at all

For lunch we had leftovers but Mrs. Schuh was able to be with us at lunch. Mrs. Schuh came into the house at around noon. So far she has settled in and everyone is happy that she is here. 

After putting flyers on doors, planning tomorrow,and eating we got into the car and went to the arch. When we got there we walked to the arch and went up. Some people got a little scared but all together everyone had fun. 

Today for dinner we had shredded chicken with corn, rice, salad and chips. This meal was made by Nicholas, Joey and Alex. Alli, Lauran, Mrs. Schuh,  Izzy, Chad, Joey, and Alex got locked out of the house since Travis didn't give us the key.

This morning was like yesterdays but we got to sleep in a little later that yesterday which was a plus to some of us. We had breakfast cooked for us by Ashley and Lauren cooked for us. After we ate we got into the cars to go to St. Patrick's Center. When we got there and we walked to a place in the back of the restaurant and started to make the sandwiches after we got to see what they do there.

Once we were ready and after we washed our hands we started to either make sandwiches or draw. For sandwiches we had Chad and Izzy putting the meat on the sandwiches buns. For cheese we had Nicholas and Ashely. For wrapping the sandwiches in cling warp was Mrs. Hoffman and Alli. For the people drawing were Lexi, Lauren, Nicholas, Alli, Kate, Taylor, Alex and Joey. We finished everything in three hours.

After working at the St. Patrick's Center we went to put away the extra meat we had and we took the car ride down to the recycle museum. When we got there everyone was excited. We had a lot of fun even if we crawled through tight spaces went through tough tunnels. Even if we had to army crawl through tunnels and crawled on our knees causing us to get bruises and scraps on our knees and arms we had a great time and I'm pretty sure everyone would want to go again to see the stuff me missed.

Today's dinner was sloppy joe's with corn and mashed potatoes. With the potatoes we had a bit of trouble mashing them but luckily Chad stepped in and we got our potatoes. The people making the meal today was Ashely, Lauren, Lexi and Alli.

Sadly Mrs. Schuh will not be here until tomorrow due to her flight being cancelled due to weather. :(

Today was the first day of service work. We went to Kingdom House to get a tour and the start the day off with the garden. In the tour we got to see what their program is like and how they run. We also got to see where we are working at for the days we are here.

Today for our first service work day at Kingdom House we worked in the garden that they have there. All together we had three jobs to do. Weeding, Harvesting, and watering the plants and garden. The people who were weeding were Ashley, Chad, Lauren, Lexigh and Alli. The people harvesting were Mrs. Hoffman, Izzy and Nicholas. We also had two different groups of people watering one group was at the main Kingdom House, the other group was at the Kingdom House Academy. The group at the Kingdom House Academy was Kate, Taylor and Travis. The group at the main Kingdom House was Joey and Alex. With everyone working together we finished gardening in two hours.

After working in the heat for two hours we went back to the house to eat and get some rest before our mini lesson with Natalie. When everyone relaxed and ate Natalie came over to show who most of the people who come to Kingdom House look like. 

After we played the game with Natalie and ate lunch, we went to the St. Louis Zoo. The zoo has many animals and insects for our " Science Trip". We were there for over two hours and didn't get to see the all of the animals but we still loved it and had fun. 

For tonight we had Kate, Izzy, and Taylor cook supper with the help of Mrs. Hoffman. They cooked spaghetti and alfredo for us. Almost everyone got seconds besides the people who got a lot on the first trip. We also had a food competition between Alex and Taylor. With five minutes to eat their food Alex ate his in a little under three minutes and Taylor right on the dot. All together it was a good meal.

So here is a quick recap of our journey down to St. Louis.

Drive. 
Stop to go to the bathroom.
Drive.
Play Person, Place, or Animal.  (classic road trip game)
Drive.
Stop to get gas.
Drive.
Jam to some CD's made my the students.
Drive. 
Stop to each lunch. 
Play a quick game of SPUD.  (Mrs. Hoffman Dominated)
Drive.
Experience a little sickness in the car.
Stop take of situation.
Drive.
Stop in St. Louis for some food.
Eat. 
Drive.
ARRIVE AT RUTGER HOUSE. 

The rest of the night kind of happened in a blur. Some students went with Travis and Mrs. Hoffman to the store to pick up all food. Chad did some laundry. Everyone else took showers (if necessary), got situated in their room, and played Apples to Apples a little bit. Chad taught the guys on the trip how to play cribbage. We then had a group meeting. The students chose which dinner they wanted to cook for the group and which job they wanted to have for the week.  A busy first day. A good first day.