The Zyriek Zoo: Camp Tahkodah

Anna's first sleep away camp was this week over in Floral, Arkansas (near Searcy) at Camp Tahkodah. The Camp is run by folks associated with Harding University and most of the counselors are college students. Anna's friends Sophie and Lainie attended last year for the first time (must be 8 years old) and enjoyed it and invited Anna to attend this year. It took a lot of time and effort to pack her up for the week but it was fun shopping for new things and essentials like a clip-on fan, due to no air conditioning in the cabins, and bug spray and sunscreen. Anna looked at the website so many times and thought about all the fun activities she was going to get to do while there.

We drove up with the Childers family on Sunday morning. We made a stop for lunch at the Bulldog Restaurant in Bald Knob, Arkansas. The girls thought the name was so funny. It is key to be at the gates of the camp at 1pm when they open because it is a tradition to run and claim your bunk in your assigned cabin, which is a surprise to all the campers. This was the part Anna had a little anxiety about because she was worried she would not be in a cabin with her friends (even though you can request a bunkmate) and was worried she would not be able to find her cabin with all the 189 campers running around. Luckily, Kelsey Moultrie found Anna, Sophie and Lainie and showed them the way to Cabin 2. Kelsey's parents were staying the week as adult helpers and they had checked in on Saturday and been settled into their cabins. The four girls were in the back part of the cabin together. Anna claimed the top bunk with Kelsey and we started to unload all of her things. It was warm in the cabins but fun getting the beds made and everything unpacked. Swim tests for the girls were at 3pm and Anna was excited about it. The test consisted of swimming across the creek/lake and back unassisted. Anna is a strong swimmer, so I knew she would be ok. We got her settled in and were headed out about 2:45. Lots of hugs and luckily no tears from Anna. She was ready for the big week!!

We received mail from Anna on Wednesday which was a treat. She had passed her swim test, survived the crazy storms Sunday night and was enjoying the food and all the activities. We really missed her and the house was very different. Caroline loved being the only child but started to really miss Anna about mid-week. We drove back over on Friday morning to pick up Anna. It was a little cool when we arrived and a lot of the kids were wearing jeans! Nice problem to have in early June for camp!! She was so tired. They had a midnight hike, bonfire and fireworks the night before to end their camp experience. She said they did not get into bed until after 1am, which is about 3 hours later than their normal scheduled bed time. She told us a lot about her experiences, including that she rode horses, did the rope swing, shot a 22 at the shooting range, did archery, swam every day, jumped off the bridge in the water, jumped on the trampoline, played basketball and tennis and took hikes as well. Full week for her. She received the Bible award for her cabin which made her very proud. She loved camp and is already talking about going back next year. Great counselors, new and old friends, and deepening her faith all made for a fantastic week.