Family Retreat Recap: snakes, tornadoes, and snow
Snakes, tornadoes, and snow … oh my!
During our family retreat at Whitewater State Park, we had nearly 80º weather and humidity on Friday morning, and 28º and snow on Sunday morning. I forgot to pack my sandals, socks and my winter coat. Whoops!
I create a detailed packing list for every retreat, including the family retreat. But here’s the thing… as a mom, you know I’m packing for my kids, myself, the retreat, and have a thousand to-do’s floating around in my brain. I discovered these packing errors quite quickly upon arrival and made-do anyway. Thank you to my husband who let me wear his giant chacos, sis-in-law for bringing me socks, and it turns out I did bring my puffy vest and rain coat, so I was perfectly warm despite the giant temperature swing from Friday to Saturday.
As the retreat was kicking off on Friday with families arriving and settling in, we were on high alert for the arrival of some inclement weather. There’s no cell service or wifi in the valley of the bluffs at the group center, but we have walkie talkies with weather radios, set to alert us when/if a tornado warning was to occur. We had one of those “vintage” storm experiences. Reminded me of my own childhood. lol
In the middle of our snake program with Jeremy Darst, State Park Naturalist, all of the weather radios alerted us to take shelter. We calmly and quickly packed up snacks, water, games, books, and instruments and cozied into the cement showerhouse. Jeremy came with us and brought his fox snake, and caged rattlesnake! I must say this all made for the most interesting 30-minute sheltering experience I’ve ever had. New entry suggestion for the game “two truths and a lie”: “I sheltered from a tornado in a State Park showerhouse with a rattlesnake.”
The sun came out and we were cleared to continue with the retreat. A couple of families sheltered in place during their travels to Whitewater, and shared with us the tornado destruction they witnessed on their drive not too far from where we were. It turns out the tornadoes in the area were destructive and plentiful. The devastating loss of a number of multi-generational family farms made for a somber reality-check indeed.
The kiddos did keep us busy, present, and occupied. As soon as the sun was shining, the kids were in the puddles. We were off to yoga, fishing, and hiking in no-time.
Our family retreat weekend included yoga, nature programming, and fly fishing.
Our yoga teachers included: Bryana Cook (myself - Boreal Bliss Yoga Retreats), Katie Ryan (teaches at Sun Moon Yoga Studio in Mankato), Alayna Sobieniak.
We offered a mix of family yoga classes aimed at interest for the kids, as well as adult-focused yoga classes to provide respite and relaxation for parents.
Our kids and family nature programs were led by: Nora Woodworth (Happy Dancing Turtle-Driftless Region) and Alayna Sobieniak (ECFE and nature preschool teacher at Eagle Bluff + owner Root River Rod Co.).
Part of our Saturday, was a kids’ nature program in the morning, designed to give parents a relaxing break to enjoy yoga, hiking, fly fishing, reading, etc.
Nora had our older group of kiddos running outside, learning nature facts, and fine tuning their mindful observation skills. Nora knows how to keep kids thoroughly engaged and excited about learning in nature. They started with a challenge to find hidden reptiles and amphibians along the trail, quickly realizing the camouflaged ones were much harder to find. They learned about warning colors, made poison dart frog masks, and discovered just how hard it is to catch bugs (made from felt) for lunch with their frog tongues (party blowers with velcro on the end). During snack, they learned about the different sounds frogs make in the frog chorus and tried making some themselves, before taking a nature hike and playing a favorite tag game - Ranger.
Alayna is a pro with the littles ones. Gentle reminders, sweet little songs, and careful attention to detail to maintain safety and wellbeing for the group at all times. I can still hear her sweetly reminding little ones, “helping hands”. We read books and played games inside before trekking out into the chilly morning air. We hiked around the group center with the 1-4 year-olds, stopping to cheer on folks participating in a trail race that day, and also stopping in an open grassy area to play with a good ol’ parachute + butterfly wings and scarves. The babies were bundled and content - fresh air combined with watching the toddlers run and roll about with scarves and a parachute was mesmerizing! After our time outside, we cozied back indoors for snack and storytime.
In the afternoon and evenings, Nora also led families on nature hikes. We learned about the signs of spring: flowers blooming, animal signs, geography, and more. One night we walked through the lowland trails, and on the last night she guided families up the bluffs to check out the stunning views.
Fly fishing was guided by: Lance Prado & Larry Luiken (Root River Rod Co), Dan Ryan (Dan Ryan Guide Service)
The fly fishing report for the weekend was GREAT! Nearly everyone caught at least one fish, and many caught more. Trout was the main menu. Learning to fly fish (or fine tune) is a wonderful activity for the whole family.
Root River Rod Co. provided all of the gear for the weekend. From waders, to rods, to tackle and nets. Thank you!
On Sunday, we woke up to snow and cold. We played outside and raced wooden boats down the river away!
Thank you so much to all of our families for spending the weekend with us! We were amazed at how comfortable ya’ll got despite the wild weather swings. Families rose to the occasion, layered up, and marched on. They truly embodied the concept of, “there’s no such thing as bad weather, only bad clothing.” Everyone embraced the moment and really made the most of it.
I shared this at our welcome circle, but gosh, GOOD JOB PARENTS! It’s so much work to pack up your kids for a weekend spent outdoors. You did it. The memories will be long-lasting, and the benefits of the time together in an outdoor setting will keep coming back to you. These experiences create huge life-long impacts.
This combination of yoga, nature, and fly fishing is an absolute DREAM. My family has enjoyed it so very much over the last two years. Working with Alayna, Lance, Nora, Katie, and my husband is a dream team, for real.
We truly enjoyed a wonderful family retreat weekend! For next year, we will be taking a break from our lovely little family experience. I know that annual adventures mean a lot, and it’s hard to not have this experience with us at Whitewater to look forward to. Change (and little breathers) is hard, but needed sometimes all the same. Stay tuned on our blog for future updates and announcements on what’s cookin’.
