Camp Tahkodah

This was Anna's second trip to Camp Tahkodah. She was excited about sleep away camp again this year as she really enjoyed the experience last year. Sophie and Lainie were returning again from her class at school and this year Emily joined the crew. Luckily they all four were placed in the same cabin and after a yummy lunch at the Bulldog Café in Bald Knob, Arkansas, the girls were ready to enter the gates of Camp Tahkodah, find their cabin and unpack their bags.

The camp partially flooded two days before we arrived. While the water had receded from the campgrounds, the bridge over the creek where the campers swim was washed out! Students from nearby Harding University were going to be there to help repair and rebuild the bridge. Unfortunately, the bridge was not complete during their one-week stay, so water activities were limited. The girls all had a great time. They were exhausted on the way home after completing the midnight hike the night before and of course the end of camp fireworks show. So glad that they had a good time, learned a bit about themselves and each other along the way and are ready to return next year!

Anna, Sophie, Emily and Lainie are all ready for camp!

anna with her counselor....anna is taller!!

 

Caroline was definitely the boss for the week!!

Had a great week! Very tired indeed!



Emily had a great first experience at Camp Tahkodah!

Reunited!!

Fun with Caroline

A few fun things from Caroline......

First she has finally learned to ride her bike!!

Her to-do list really cracked me up! Look out boys....Caroline is looking to chase you!!

Crazy Teeth Month

May felt like National Teeth Month in the Zyriek house. Caroline pulled 4 of her own teeth and Anna got braces. Once a tooth in loose in Caroline's mouth it only takes a few days and that sucker is out and under the pillow waiting for the tooth fairy!! Caroline did have trouble with the 4th tooth and it was literally dangling in her mouth for a few days much to the dismay of her teachers and her parents!! Luckily she finally got it out and we could stop the madness of her crazy smile.

Anna started the process of her braces mid-month by having molds and impressions taken of her mouth and teeth. She had plenty of before pictures done. The next step a week later was to have spacer put in to get her mouth ready for the full thing. Then, finally she got her braces. She was excited and did rather well in Dr. Freeman's office. She was a little sore for a few days but by the weekend she was good to go to sleepaway camp in Arkansas. She should have braces for about 18 months and could eventually have to have them put on again if her teeth to do not stay in the right place. Hopefully we are going to be successful the first time, but if not and these are "pre-braces", then at least we will be prepared. Our bank account definitely won't like the bill the second time since we used insurance for a large portion this time and it is a one time only use! For the foreseeable future Anna will have monthly checkups to make adjustments, get new wires and get a feel for how her teeth are moving. Only time will tell!!

look at that gap!!

anna before her braces

worn out but excited about her braces

Grizzlies Fanatics!

The Grizzlies are in the playoffs!!! This is such a fun time of year for me as I really enjoy Grizzlies basketball and the thrill of watching the hometeam go as far as possible in the playoffs. The Grizzlies had their best season every winning nearly 60 games in the regular season. First round opponents were the LA Clippers. I was actually afraid to play the Clippers because I thought we were doomed. Soon into the playoffs, it was evident that it was going to a very physical series. Chris Paul was phenomenal and Blake Griffin was very aggressive with Z-Bo. We were down 0-2 when the series came to Memphis. Gary and I had floor seats as a birthday present for Gary for game 3. It was amazing. We had such a great time and could really get used to those seats....if only we had a sponsor!  We took the kids to game 4 and sat in the nosebleeds. We met some friends and sat just two rows away and enjoyed the blowout. Memphis went on to win 4 games in a row and take the series.

fun floor seats for clippers game

nina and caroline having a blast

gary and anna with their grit and grind towels

picked up free swag from team at lunch one day....thought this was hilarious

Round two brought on the Oklahoma City Thunder. This really scared me. Unfortunately for Oklahoma City, Russell Westbrook, one of their two stars, tore his meniscus (Gary was very familiar with that injury having endured that twice) and the Thunder limped into the series with the Grizzlies. I took Dad to a game which was so fun as Dad is an ultra fan like me and loves to yell at the refs. Gary and I attended the other home game in the series where the Grizzlies once again won 4 in a row and took the series after being down early.

so fun to see the city get excited the further the team advanced

Round three brought the San Antonio Spurs......not so fun for Grizzlies fans. Gary and I attended both home games and watched as our first Western Conference finals appearance turned ugly and the Grizzlies were swept 0-4.

Great season. I was ready for some sleep as most games started past 8pm and most were not on the weekend. We really had a great run and look forward to next season.



final game...memorial day....lost but so fun!!

Field Day/Last day of school

The lower school decided to have Field Day on the very last day of school, which was also a half day. Gary was glad to go and share in the fun with Anna since he had been out of town all week in Denver. Lots of games and fun were had by all the kids and they knew at the end of it all was summer break!!

anna and kalen

anna running with the plunger

great pic in the sack races

carefully pouring the water to fill up the jug

mrs. reasons has been a great 4th grade teacher

Emily was super serious about field day!!

Caroline's class had fun with a magic show and popsicle party. A fun way to end the year in kindergarten!

we loved having miss Claire for senior K!

Caroline is proud of her perfect attendance award!

Zoom through the Zoo

Gary has been in Denver all week, so I was doubtful I was going to be able to race the Zoom through the Zoo. This is a 4 mile race through the Memphis Zoo grounds and surrounding park area. It is a great race, although it can be a hard four miles if the weather does not cooperate and the humidity is high. Last year I ran the race with Lauren. I had just started trying to improve my times and do better than a 10:00 mile. We ran almost exactly 40 minutes, so it was my goal to beat that time this year. I secured someone to watch the girls during the race which was great and gave me no excuse to sit on the sidelines!! It was cooler than last year and my confidence was higher since I had been on a steady training plan for a while. My official race time was 38:16 which shaved two minutes off of last year's time. Not bad for a weak training week leading up to the race with Gary being out of town. My Garmin said the course was actually 4.08 miles, so my time for a true 4 mile race would have been shorter. You have to go with the race results, so that was fine with me. Making progress which is good!

robyn hanging with the girls

finish line pic taken by anna

glad I raced....making progress!

End of School

I cannot believe that the end of school is here!! The lower school held their annual awards day this week. Gary was out of town in Denver but I was able to attend. Anna was excited to receive several awards including All-A honor roll, perfect attendance and the Presidential Physical Fitness Award. We are so proud of her. Fourth grade was definitely more work and lots more tests. She really learned a lot and we look forward to a bit of rest over the summer!!

anna with her awards

one proud momma!

we had a great year with mrs. reasons

Anna and Emily--sweet friends and award winners!

Father's Day Lunch

Harding is great about honoring dad's before the school year is out. Annually, the kindergarten program has Father Day BBQ lunch with the students. Gary has always enjoyed this meal and Caroline was excited to share lunch with Daddy.

excited to have lunch together for father's day....a few weeks early

Mother's Day

We had a great Mother's Day this year! We celebrated first with my mom and stepdad by having a delicious brunch at the Majestic Grille downtown. After brunch we decided to go down to the river on Mud Island and take in the scenery. Later we toured around downtown showing my parents things they had not seen in quite some time. It was a great day for a Sunday drive.

Sunday night we celebrated with a simple dinner at Dad's house. Blair and his family came over and we enjoyed getting the kids together, playing outside and enjoying the time together. Overall a great day and one that I will remember.

beautiful day with my girls

the group after brunch on the river (check out the water height!)

3 generations

the zyrieks

gramma with five of her grandchildren

evening pose with the girls

the zyrieks in casual mode

Senior K Mother's Day Luncheon

My last mother's day lunch in the kindergarten program!! Each year Harding has a sweet Mother's Day luncheon for the junior kindergarten and senior kindergarten students and their mothers. My fourth and final lunch and it was fun to be with Caroline. The kids worked hard on their craft that was our gift and the sweet song they sing every year. Never a dry eye in the house! Yummy catered lunch was enjoyed by all the mom's while the kids ate pizza. I really had a good time and will miss this sweet event when Caroline goes "up the hill" next year for first grade!

excited to have lunch with caroline

Dad's Retirement Surprise

After 40 years of teaching at the University of Memphis, my dad decided to retire this spring. Bittersweet time for him in that he is so passionate about teaching and coaching and mentoring young students to be rocket scientists and engineers like him! My stepmother approached the family a while back and asked if we would consider contributing to a scholarship in Dad's name for future engineering students to reap the benefits of. This was a perfect gift for my dad in that he did not want a huge party, does not really need anything and would love to see his legacy live on past his retirement. We met together on Wednesday night and hijacked an end of the year celebration dinner for the engineering graduates to present Dad with the plaque honoring his new scholarship. He was thrilled....speechless in fact. Something that is rare for my dad!! I was so proud of him and to see his career culminate like this was gratifying. Long live the engineers!

my dad...speechless and a bit teary eyed after the announcement

my brother blair and his family, my stepmom and my girls and I with dad

another professor presented the plaque to dad

dad and julie

dad's scholarship plaque with all of our names including many close friends, family, students and faculty

Anna's birthday

Anna's birthday was April 10th but that fell right in the middle of Charlotte's Web dress rehearsals. We opted to celebrate her birthday with the family that night at a casual dinner at Swanky's complete with Muddy's cupcakes. Gary and I joined her for lunch that day complete with treats for the class. Who does not want a doughnut for dessert after lunch??

Later that month, Anna had five friends over to spend the night for a slumber party complete with a trip to Sky Zone for a little fun. The girls had a great time, stayed up until well past midnight and giggled the night away. I cannot believe we have a 10 year old! She reminds us every day how grown she is and that she is now a tween!! Anna is near 5 feet tall and growing taller every day. She will catch me before too long. Her two shorter grandmothers (Gammy and Mimi) will soon be caught. What a fun day that will be. It was fun to celebrate Anna over the month of April.

Anna is 10!



daddy and anna enjoying birthday lunch

mommy and anna @ lunch

dinner at swanky's with muddy's for dessert



let the party begin



crazy girls ready for sky zone

outfitted and ready to jump

gotta have a silly pose

gymnastics galore

caroline had fun too

cupcakes complete with mustache picks

anna and lainie enjoying the party theme