Hazel and Eliza attended a two day camp called the Heroic Youth Summit. Our friend the Farrells attended last year and loved it, so they invited the girls to go this year. It was an amazing experience for them!!!
The night before Summit was Rose's birthday so we surprised her with a sleepover at our house. Hazel and Rose were BEST friends when we lived in Iowa. Rose now lives in Idaho so Hazel has been so excited to see her again. They picked up right where they left off 2 years ago. Love these sweet girls!
The next day we headed up to Summit. So, what is Heroic Youth? Essentially, a faith and character building group with the goal to teach youth to become heroes through servant leadership. The camp is set up as a huge two-day Medieval role-play. The girls were handmaidens training to become princesses. The boys are knights learning to master the code of chivalry. Everyone dresses up in amazing outfits.
The girls and boy are divided in to kingdoms with a Master Knight or Head Princess who teaches them for the two days. The girls complete five tasks over the weekend including:
- Find strength in unity
- Find strength in the standards
- Earn a tool of defense
- Complete a service
- Stand in defense of home and family
Here's Eliza earning her bow and arrow. The girls LOVED this!
At the end, there is an epic battle complete with hundreds of "villians". The girls shoot their arrows and with strength and unity overcome the Huntress.
At the end of the weekend they were escorted in to a final dance by their dads (and Grandpa!)
I volunteered the whole weekend and so I was able to catch bits and pieces. It was all so well done! The kids had a blast (obviously! Who wouldn't want to play knights/princesses all weekend compete with bows/swords). But more importantly, they were taught amazing things in such a fun, unique way. I was also so impressed by the teenage leaders who played the Knights, Princesses, and Valkyrie (the weapons leaders/teacher who had the most amazing outfits!). These teenagers were kind, faithful, and so confident in themselves and their goals.
It was such an amazing experience for these girls. I hope they remember how powerful they felt standing up to defend their kingdom. I hope they remember true strength comes from being true to yourself and defending the thing most precious to you with kindness, love, and courage. They are already looking forward to going again next year and eventually becoming Valkyrie and Princesses.
