Claire has graciously allowed me to be a guest blogger today so I can post our (Bailey, Emma and myself) experience this past weekend at Pedernales Falls which is located approximately 40 minutes west of Austin. We went with a group of dad's and their daughters through a program called Adventure Princesses that is sponsored by the
YMCA. The "Y" also has a program for dad's and their sons called Adventure Guides. I highly recommend this for any dad as it provides irreplaceable time that you get to spend with your child while teaching them life experiences that they will never forget. If you are interested, then visit the Y's website and click on the
Adventure Guides icon for more details.
Our adventure began Friday, December 5th, by making a 3.5 hour journey to
Pedernales Falls. We followed Chris Agner and his two girls, Hannah and Maddison. Hannah is in Bailey's 4th grade switch class and Maddie is in 2nd grade with Emma. Emma and Maddie aren't in the same class but the do alot of the same extracurricular activities. So, they are all very good friends!
When we finally arrived at Pedernales Falls it was already dark due to some bad traffic in Austin. That made setting up the camp site a little challenging but we were successful nonetheless. Our tent is the front, green one pictured to the right. After setting up camp and eating a quick bite the girls became tired and were ready for bed. At this point I'm thinking that everything has gone smoothly and this is the beginning of an awesome camping trip. Then reality hits and hits hard!! To begin, I knew the weather was going to be chilly and I was expecting the temperatures to drop in the low forty's to high thirty's. So when purchasing our sleeping bags I bought forty degree rated ones thinking that should keep us plenty warm along with our blankets.
However, the temperature dropped to the low TWENTY'S and it felt like we had nothing but sheets on to protect us!! The second mishap was our brand new king size air mattress developed some king size holes! I found myself with my little handy air pump trying to keep the stupid thing aired up. By 1:00 am I had given up and gave in to the fact that the hard, cold, rock embedded ground was the closest thing to a Tempur-Pedic Mattress that I was going to get for the night!! The third mishap was that I forgot our pillows. It was bad enough having to sleep on the hard ground but then to have no pillow, can you spell M-I-S-E-R-A-B-L-E?!? Finally, the last mishap for the night was having no port-a-potty. After getting up at 3:00 am and again at 5:00 am, having to get fully dressed, braving the freezing cold weather, getting in the car and wake up the entire campsite, driving to the restroom all to take a whizz I have become a firm advocate and newest customer to the port-a-potty. Needless to say, Friday night did not go well and Saturday looked to be a very long day with only 1.5 hours of sleep under our belts.
That night we had a great bonfire where the girls made up skits about responsibility for all of our entertainment. We then sat around the campfire to eat S'mores and reflect on the great day we had.
That night we slept 110% better since we had purchased all the appropriate supplies as well as Chris letting us borrow his port-a-potty. Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!! Sunday morning we attended chapel and then proceeded to breakdown our campsite and pack our cars for the journey back home. But not before a good bike ride with my friend, Marc Biehl, and his daughter Lilly.
Despite all the mishaps in the beginning, this trip was a great experience and my girls are still telling me how much fun they had. Irreplaceable!
Claire has graciously allowed me to be a guest blogger today so I can post our (Bailey, Emma and myself) experience this past weekend at Pedernales Falls which is located approximately 40 minutes west of Austin. We went with a group of dad's and their daughters through a program called Adventure Princesses that is sponsored by the YMCA. The "Y" also has a program for dad's and their sons called Adventure Guides. I highly recommend this for any dad as it provides irreplaceable time that you get to spend with your child while teaching them life experiences that they will never forget. If you are interested, then visit the Y's website and click on the Adventure Guides icon for more details.
Our adventure began Friday, December 5th, by making a 3.5 hour journey to Pedernales Falls. We followed Chris Agner and his two girls, Hannah and Maddison. Hannah is in Bailey's 4th grade switch class and Maddie is in 2nd grade with Emma. Emma and Maddie aren't in the same class but the do alot of the same extracurricular activities. So, they are all very good friends! 
When we finally arrived at Pedernales Falls it was already dark due to some bad traffic in Austin. That made setting up the camp site a little challenging but we were successful nonetheless. Our tent is the front, green one pictured to the right. After setting up camp and eating a quick bite the girls became tired and were ready for bed. At this point I'm thinking that everything has gone smoothly and this is the beginning of an awesome camping trip. Then reality hits and hits hard!! To begin, I knew the weather was going to be chilly and I was expecting the temperatures to drop in the low forty's to high thirty's. So when purchasing our sleeping bags I bought forty degree rated ones thinking that should keep us plenty warm along with our blankets. 
However, the temperature dropped to the low TWENTY'S and it felt like we had nothing but sheets on to protect us!! The second mishap was our brand new king size air mattress developed some king size holes! I found myself with my little handy air pump trying to keep the stupid thing aired up. By 1:00 am I had given up and gave in to the fact that the hard, cold, rock embedded ground was the closest thing to a Tempur-Pedic Mattress that I was going to get for the night!! The third mishap was that I forgot our pillows. It was bad enough having to sleep on the hard ground but then to have no pillow, can you spell M-I-S-E-R-A-B-L-E?!? Finally, the last mishap for the night was having no port-a-potty. After getting up at 3:00 am and again at 5:00 am, having to get fully dressed, braving the freezing cold weather, getting in the car and wake up the entire campsite, driving to the restroom all to take a whizz I have become a firm advocate and newest customer to the port-a-potty. Needless to say, Friday night did not go well and Saturday looked to be a very long day with only 1.5 hours of sleep under our belts.
Saturday morning we walked over to another campsite within our group where all the little girls were huddled around a very warm fire and were greeted by some awesome breakfast burritos cooked by Jeff Keith. After filling our bellies and warming our cockles we were ready to take on the day. Our first adventure was to hike some trails and get a lay of the land. We quickly discovered that there was some awesome rock climbing and creek beds all around the campsite. 
The girls received a great lesson on how to properly climb rock walls and I was most impressed with how well all of them took to the challenge. We scaled all the way down to the river bed of Pedernales River where we all crossed on a very narrow and unstable crosswalk. A few girls managed to feel how cold the river was by losing their footing and accidentally stepping in the water! 
The water was so cold that sheets of ice had formed in certain areas. We also took some time to teach the girls the all important lesson of how to skip rocks. We discovered some beautiful waterfalls and streams. The scenery was so peaceful and relaxing that we soon forgot about the pains and turmoils we encountered during the night. But not enough to keep us from making a visit to WalMart to purchase cots, pillows and a propane heater!!
That night we had a great bonfire where the girls made up skits about responsibility for all of our entertainment. We then sat around the campfire to eat S'mores and reflect on the great day we had.
That night we slept 110% better since we had purchased all the appropriate supplies as well as Chris letting us borrow his port-a-potty. Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!! Sunday morning we attended chapel and then proceeded to breakdown our campsite and pack our cars for the journey back home. But not before a good bike ride with my friend, Marc Biehl, and his daughter Lilly.
Despite all the mishaps in the beginning, this trip was a great experience and my girls are still telling me how much fun they had. Irreplaceable!
3 comments:
I never thought you would fit in with all the princesses, but you did a great job! First the princesses and then the guides.. what fun is that!?! You're awesome, Jerrod. Sounds like a lot of fun! Guess you learned all your good camping techniques from your dad!
Love you,
Mom.
Sounds like fun! Looking forward to the boiy version of that!
You did good babe. You are a good father and it is evident that you will endure ANYTHING for your girls! I love you for that.
Post a Comment