MOPS Retreat - Teamwork

Hitchin' a ride to the ropes course.

Saturday morning after our hike and breakfast, we headed halfway up the mountain for a leadership ropes course. I was so excited for this part of our weekend, and my intuition was right on. It was awesome! For a brand new team in leadership, this was a must. Despite our awesome connection from the get go on Friday evening, this definitely took it to another level.

We all jumped in the back of a little red pickup truck for a ride up the mountain. As soon as we got there we began with a communication, name game. While we knew those already - the four steps to communication that our guide pointed out were great! So much so, that we're going to use that in our second meeting. Now, if I can just remember them all. Communication is used in EVERY aspect of our lives, especially as mothers. It was a wonderful refresher to step back and ensure that we are communicating clearly with our spouses, children, and team mates.

The second activity we did required some strategy and skill in working to get all team members on some logs and across a threshold. We definitely had to use our communication skills well, as well as some athleticism as we jumped from stump to stump, walked across a log, and then proceeded to hold to each other for dear life! Our facilitator, an older gentleman, was so impressed with how we did. He said we definitely ranked up there as one of the two top teams to ever complete the task. He could hardly believe we had just met the evening before.

The third activity we did, again required some strategy and skill as we all had logs to place down, and in some sort of organized fashion make it across a threshold. This third task really required some teamwork, and holding on to one another. We had a little more difficulty with this one, but once again, completed it with few errors.

Since we had completed the 3 activities so quickly and efficiently, we were able to move on to a fourth and more difficult task. We walked further up the hill into the trees, and were given the assignment of reaching a bag in the middle of a circle, without going into it. With some serious muscle and a large rope, we dangled Kristi over the center of the circle to reach the object, and then she creeped her way to the edge of the circle. It was simply amazing and we all stood in awe, of yet another task we completed successfully!

What a great way to start off our day of planning! After physically completing those tasks we were ready to conquer the world! 

Sally helping us figure out the best way to complete the task.