Adventure Guides, Year 2

I just re-read my <a href=”https://www.jaworskihouse.com/blog/index.php?/archives/150-Adventure-Guides.html” title=”adventure guides blog post”>post from a year ago about the Adventure Guides program</a> that Penny and I are in. I promised that I’d write back soon to tell what I thought about it. That was a year ago, more than a year. But better late than never.<br />n<br />nAs you may have figured out from the prior post of a couple days ago, we are still in the program, starting our second season. Last year was good, and Penny seems to enjoy it as well.<br />n<br />nHere are some positives and some negatives about the YMCA’s Adventure Guides, from my perspective.<br />n<br />nPros:<br />n- Really does foster a deeper relationship between parent and child (in our case, it’s father/daughter)<br />n- Get to meet new people, not necessarily directly in the neighborhood or even from the same school, but still geographically close enough<br />n- Opportunities for activities and events; last year, we did both the fall and spring campouts, holiday party, pool/pizza party and others<br />n- Monthly meetings at a different member’s house<br />n- The “C” in YMCA, though a cause of minor concern at first, turned out to be not an issue at all (there are a very few fleeting references to an organized religion, but nothing to really be a problem)<br />n<br />nCons:<br />n- We only see the members once in a while, not enough to really become real friends with either the girls or the dads (I always have a hard time remembering everyone’s names!)<br />n- Participation and motivation seemed to be lacking; our Navigator (leader of our circle) says it was an off year as some of the core members graduated out so our circle is in transition<br />n- Campouts are expensive at $200 for a dad/daughter pair, though to be fair, it was all inclusive, with meals prepared and served buffet style, and all the activities included, such as zip lines (our favorite) and archery and even canoeing.<br />n<br />nAs you can see, there are more Pros than Cons, so we are in it again. I’m usually pretty good at writing up a blog post about <a href=”https://www.jaworskihouse.com/blog/index.php?/archives/202-Campout-Spring-2009.html” title=”spring campout 2009″>the Adventure Guides events</a> we attend, so you should expect to see some throughout the coming season.<br />n<br />nBTW, this month’s meeting is tonight, and I and Penny are hosting at our house, along with some very appreciated help from the mama!