Through our membership with HopeKids, we were connected with an organization called the Colten Cowell Foundation. They sent a special invitation for Brendan to be a guest of honor at their “Bat Cave”! They have quite a unique replica of the bat cave from the 1960’s Batman TV show.
More information can be found on their website: https://coltencowellfoundation.org/the-experience/
Brendan knew nothing about the event except that we were going to do something with HopeKids and that they wanted him to wear a Batman-themed outfit. Being Brendan, he managed to pull off Batman and Orange.
We drove to a police station in Phoenix and waited in the parking lot. Very soon, this limo arrived.
The police escort’s car says “Protect Serve Amuse”. It wasn’t a real cop car, but it was a real cop. They turned on sirens and took us through town.
The boys love limo rides. They were excited and confused!
They did not know that a big group of friends was waiting for them at the secret Bat Cave location. They all applauded when the boys got out of the limo.
The kids all watched a video about the TV show, the cave, and the foundation. There were many details in this room that were also in Bruce Wayne’s study in the TV show. Erika Cowell, Colten’s mom, explained everything to the kids.
Brendan was shown the secret button
Minds were blown when the bookcases opened and revealed the bat-poles
Everyone got to slide down to the cave below
Brendan and Trevor were the first to slide!
Dan and Graham
Jack
Jack and Josh
Olivia and Adrienne
Landon and Pete
Angel and Monica
“Little” Blake
Blake and Amber and Blake
The whole cave was filled with things with buttons, levers, and switches. Of course they were all labeled with bat-something-or-other.
Hello? This is the generation that doesn’t know how to use this kind of phone. How can I help you? Each kid got to take calls from Commissioner Gordon.
Bat-Radar system
Anti-Crime Voice Analyzer
Once the kids had their fill of exploring, the next big room opened in to the vehicle collection.
Trevor is checking out the old costumes
Brendan got to push a special button that activated the bat-helicopter!
The blades were spinning!
Another photo op for everyone!
Brendan was the 345th child to experience his own private party in this bat cave! This is our whole group, with some of the volunteers.
Doing the batusi!
But then… an important fax came in. The Joker was on the loose! Urgent help needed! Brendan had to enter a special code.
And the final batmobile was revealed! Mind blown again!
The batmobile
Brendan and Trevor get to go for a spin to catch the Joker! You can hardly see their heads in there!
When they pulled out, they were shown a button that they pushed that launched a confetti rocket everywhere
Mission successful!
They they did something totally crazy. They gave Bill the keys to take the boys for another ride around the block!
They got to ride in the side car of the bat-cycle. The officer driving was a speedster too!
Another photo op for everyone!
Everyone that attended got a t-shirt that said “Yes I have been to the batcave, No I will not tell you where it is”. At the end, we all went back to the office for debriefing.
Erika had more huge surprises for Brendan.
She gave him an actual key to the batmobile and promised that as soon as he had his driver’s license, he could come back to the cave and take it for a spin again himself! Mind blown again!
She read Brendan a letter from Mr. Wayne. He talked about his charity and how important it is to give to others. So as a final gift, he was going to give Brendan the chance to make a donation to charity himself.
He presented $1000 to HopeKids
We were able to choose another charity to receive a $1000 gift. We chose the ALS Association of Arizona on behalf of our friend Jonah Weber.
Erika told us Colten’s story and more about the start of the foundation.
Our family
There was a photo booth for everyone to take silly pictures!
It was an unforgettable night. Please check out the website for the Colten Cowell Foundation.
https://coltencowellfoundation.org/
Follow them on Facebook and share!
https://www.facebook.com/ColtenCowellFoundation
