How to Plan a Family Retreat: Our Broken Bow Family Getaway

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Getting the family together for no other reason than to get the family together feels like a dying tradition.

My family had been talking about taking a trip together for years, and we finally decided to stop talking about it and just do it! Looking back, I don’t think any of us realized how much we needed that time together. We spent the weekend eating good food, playing games, laughing until we cried, staying up way too late, and simply enjoying each other’s company.

As you guys know, I am the dedicated cook whenever my family gets together, and honestly, I’m happy to be! So you already know I had to make sure the food was on point for our family getaway in Broken Bow, Oklahoma.

In this post, I’m sharing everything about our trip, including where we stayed, what we ate, what we did, what we wore, and how much we spent. I hope this gives you a little blueprint for planning your own family retreat and encourages you to finally get that family trip out of the group chat and into reality!

Where We Stayed

We stayed in an amazing Airbnb in Broken Bow, Oklahoma called The Rescue, and when I tell you this cabin had EVERYTHING, I mean everything.

The house was spacious, secluded, and absolutely perfect for a loud family and a bunch of night owls like mine. We never felt like we had to worry about disturbing anyone while we were laughing, playing games, singing karaoke, and carrying on until the late hours of the night.

The cabin had:

• A spacious in-home movie theatre
• A popcorn maker
• A pool table
• Darts
• A fully stocked kitchen
• A waffle maker and griddle
• Pots, pans, plates, bowls, silverware, and cutlery
• A coffee bar
• An ice cream maker
• Cleaning supplies
• Extension cords
• A hot tub
• A pool with floats
• A campfire area with s’mores sticks
• Plenty of outdoor seating
• A grill
• A Pac-Man arcade machine
• Foosball
• Four bedrooms
• Three bathrooms
• TVs in pretty much every room
• A dining area
• Plenty of pool, body, and face towels

Seriously, I was so impressed. We brought everything we needed, but it was nice knowing the cabin already had so many of the things we would normally have to pack ourselves.

The Airbnb was also located about 15 minutes away from Walmart. Now, when I say this was an old-school Walmart, I mean it was giving one of the first Supercenters! It had clothing and other things you would expect from Walmart, but it did not have fresh produce. Thankfully, there was a full grocery store with produce only a couple of minutes away.

One thing that surprised me was the lack of mosquitoes. I fully expected to be fighting for my life against them, but I barely saw any! We did see some raccoons, but they minded their business and we minded ours.

Overall, this cabin was the perfect home base for our family retreat.

What We Did

We had an absolute blast! We arrived pretty late on Friday evening after about a three-and-a-half-hour drive, so we took the first night pretty easy. Well, as easy as our family knows how to take it.

We ordered pizza, had a couple of drinks, hopped in the pool and hot tub, and started playing games. The boys played 2K, Madden, Super Smash Bros., Mario Kart, and Brawlhalla. We also played card games, pool, and darts before eventually calling it a night.

The next morning, I woke up and got started on breakfast.

Our Family Retreat Breakfast

Since we were feeding a large group, buying several of our ingredients in bulk from Sam’s Club made things much more convenient and helped us get more value for our money.

Our breakfast menu included:

• Pancakes made with Sam’s Club pancake mix
• Waffles made with Sam’s Club pancake mix
• Homemade breakfast potatoes
• Smoked sausage from Sam’s Club
• Bacon from Sam’s Club
• Eggs from Sam’s Club
• Fresh fruit
• Mimosas made by my sister
• Smoothies made by my sister

And listen…those breakfast potatoes were GONE.

Everybody could not keep their hands off of them! When I say my family loved them, they LOVED them. If you’re looking for a breakfast side dish that can feed a crowd, you definitely need to try my Homemade Breakfast Potatoes.

Later that afternoon, my cousin started getting hungry again, and I took that as my sign to get started on dinner.

You know a family cookout is not a cookout without good food, so I got busy in the kitchen!

Our Family Retreat Dinner

For dinner, we had:

• Barbecue chicken (Sam’s Club)
• Hamburgers (Sam’s Club)
• Hot dogs (Sam’s Club)
• Barbecue baked ribs
• Barbecue baked beans
• Mac and cheese
• Potato salad
• Lemon cake

The barbecue baked beans, mac and cheese, and barbecue ribs were definitely the stars of dinner! Everybody was stuffed by the time we finished eating.

And you would think that meant it was time for everyone to go to sleep.

Absolutely not.

The party was just getting started!

We had some more drinks, got back in the pool and hot tub, played more games, and eventually played Imposter.

Now listen.

I knew everybody in my family could lie to an extent, but boy oh boy, do we have some GOOD liars!

The imposters had us questioning everybody. The betrayal was absolutely hilarious. If you have never played Imposter with your family or friends, you need to try it. It was so much fun!

After that, we did karaoke. Let’s just say we have some pretty dramatic singers in my family, so you better believe they put on a SHOW.

We ended the night watching a movie in the theatre room, but only four of us actually made it through the movie. Everybody else had officially partied themselves to sleep!

The next morning, we kept breakfast light with bagels and cream cheese before packing up and heading home.

What We Wore

Of course, we had to have matching family shirts!

And these were actually made by yours truly.

I started by creating our family retreat design in Canva. Canva is seriously my best friend when it comes to DIY projects and creating custom designs.

Once I finished the logo, I uploaded it to my Cricut Design Space profile and used my Cricut Maker 4 to cut each design from white premium iron-on vinyl.

For the Cricut settings, I turned on the mirror option and selected the iron-on material setting. Once the designs were finished cutting, I removed the excess vinyl until only the logo remained.

Then, I used my heat press to press each design onto our shirts.

If you have been following me for a while, you may know that I had a T-shirt business from the time I was about 14 until I was 18 or 19 years old. That is exactly why I already had all of these materials!

My dad literally had to knock the dust off some of my equipment so I could use it again.

Thanks, Daddy! I love you!

If making your own shirts does not sound realistic for your family retreat, I completely understand. You can save yourself a lot of time by ordering custom shirts through a local print shop or an online company. You will definitely pay a convenience fee, but sometimes the time saved is worth it.

How Much Did Our Family Retreat Cost?

Now I know the big question is probably, how much did this trip actually cost?

Unfortunately, we did not keep track of every single expense, so I can’t give you an exact total. However, here is what we do know.

The Airbnb alone cost approximately $1,600 for the weekend, from Friday evening through Sunday morning.

We spent at least $600 on food and drinks.

Making the custom family T-shirts cost around $250, including the shirts and vinyl.

That brings our known total to approximately:

$2,450

And that does not include travel expenses, gas, games, additional snacks, or any other miscellaneous purchases.

So realistically, I would estimate that you should budget at least $2,450 for a family trip like ours and plan to spend more depending on your travel costs and activities.

Of course, your family retreat does not have to cost this much! You could save money by choosing a less expensive rental, cooking simpler meals, shortening the trip, or choosing a location closer to home.

Why I Think Every Family Should Take a Trip Together

All in all, this family trip was absolutely amazing.

We stayed up until the late hours of the next day talking, laughing, eating, drinking, listening to music, playing games, and simply enjoying each other’s company.

Life gets busy. Everybody grows up, gets married, starts families, works, and has responsibilities. Before you know it, months or even years have passed since everyone was last in the same room.

That is why I’m so glad we stopped saying, “We need to plan a family trip,” and actually planned one.

If your family has been talking about getting together for years, consider this your sign to finally make it happen.

You do not need a special occasion. You do not need a birthday, holiday, or family reunion.

Sometimes getting together just because you want to spend time together is reason enough.

This trip was very much needed, and I cannot wait until our next family getaway.

Now excuse me while I start figuring out where we’re going next!

Bye, y’all! Mwah! 🤎