Back together again! It has been a great long while since we’ve been able to get back to our traditional roots, get back to our mission, and host a large-scaled adventure like we did pre-2020. With much anticipation, we certainly wanted our first BIG adventure since Covid hit to be just that—a hit!

Every year, on Father’s Day weekend, we host our summer adventure. It’s the perfect way to celebrate the end of the school year, the start of summer, the beginning of summer memories, but far more importantly, it’s the perfect way to honor their fathers. Father’s Day weekend is a beautiful, but challenging weekend for some, and an especially painful reminder for our families who have lost their beloved dad. Instead of adding it to the list of dreaded holidays, our intent with hosting our adventure each year is to replace that dread with excited anticipation. Leading up to the event, our kiddos get to count down the days to see their friends, see their mentors, spend time they know will be dedicated to ONLY fun, have an awesome meal, and leave with tired feet and happy hearts.

This year, we brought out the competition with a day of ultimate Laser Tag. Our 9^th (if you can believe it) adventure was hosted at Mission Hills High School, transforming their state-of-the-art football field into our Battle Field. Donned with 50 inflatable barricades, ranging from tanks to Storm Troopers and the much-anticipated Fortnite Battle Bus, the field was ready. Our Gold Star kids and Veteran mentors were broken up into four different teams, each getting their own battle stations, color coordinated bandanas, grenade water bottles, water stations, and strategy white boards. Before each match, they were able to strategize and plan their attack. Despite plans usually flying out the window within the first 30 seconds, our teams held strong and ultimately ended up with fairly coordinated teamwork!

While our teams were dominating the field, our Gold Star wives got to participate in our beautiful relaxation station that was designed specifically for them. Each adventure, we like to create at theme for the table spread. For this adventure, they got to enjoy high noon teas, scones, lemon curd, botanical lollis with edible flowers encased in peach nectar. The table was adorned with wisteria, English Garden décor, classic tea sets, and custom croissants, bee themed accents, and tasty toppings. In between snacks, each mom got their own massage, which we anticipate adding in to many more adventures.

After a day of exhausting sprinting, running, dodging each other, barrel-rolls, and flying over barricades, our participants were HUNGRY. Our catering, Up in Smoke BBQ, provided an immense amount of smoked brisket and chicken, salads, beignets, brownies, jalapeno poppers, and mac n cheese. There is nothing quite like a well-deserved meal.

We want to thank our incredible Title Sponsor, ADS Inc, for making sure all of our Gold Star Families and Veterans were taken care of. ADS has been a long-time sponsor of our program and have been personally responsible for our adventures’ growth. They have dedicated special time and effort into seeing that our program develops and have been there every step of the way ensuring their success.

We also want to thank RB Sunrise Rotary Club and Potluck Lobster for their additional generous support. Without them, this adventure on this very important weekend would not have been possible.

Thank you for following along on our journey and cheering us along. In the meantime, there is a lot of work to be done to prepare for our next daring and adventurous events—wish us luck!

Check out our recap video of this adventure below!