Logo
Join Us!
The Tesler family enjoying the adventure

The Tesler family enjoying the adventure

Row, row, row your boat. Adapt along the way. Merrily, merrily, merrily, that is how we play.When we decided to go white water rafting, we were presented with the opportunity to make it a whole excursion with multiple families. Since each family could have their own boat, AJ dreamed of the drones capturing an armada of Rett-river rafts. Luckily for AJ, the Connor family and the Bouscher family were both happy to dive right into the ice-cold river waters with us. An armada it wouldn’t be, but a squadron? Yes! We would be a squadron of river adventurers.

The entire week before our trip we watched the weather, which looked stormy. And while AJ thought maybe that would make for better rapids, I was nervous. There were so many logistics involved in this excursion, and we didn’t want to cancel, but navigating a river on a chilly, rainy day was not something I was willing to do with Magnolia. I definitely didn’t want to put anyone else’s family at risk, either. We never want to force Maggie to do something she doesn’t want to do, but we also couldn’t really cancel on the dozen people we had hired and engaged to be a part of this adventure. The only thing that really needed to change was the weather, and lucky for us, it obliged.

The Connor family paddles down the river

It ended up being a perfect, sunny day in the 70s. As the Rett families arrived, we provided a warm welcome. We were so excited to finally meet Brynn, who we have been following on social media for the past 10 years. We had never met Kristy or Steve Bouscher, but the shared experience of parenting a child with Rett syndrome provides an instant connection. We actually were supposed to travel with a third family, but unfortunately, their daughter got sick and couldn’t make it. That’s Rett syndrome—the best laid plans often go awry.

Adapting for Magnolia is one thing, but coordinating and adapting for other families is harder than I thought it would be. Conceptually, trying to adapt for someone that I don’t live with every day was taxing. Thankfully, the excursion went more smoothly than I expected.

We met the team at Jim Thorpe River Adventures, and they were friendly, kind, and very knowledgeable. They’ve adapted river excursions for other kids and adults with special needs, and their preparations put us all at ease.

The owner of the company, Jerry, actually took the time to speak with each family before the day of rafting to find out what each individual’s needs were. He really became invested in adapting the rafts for each of the girls. And even though the 3 girls have different abilities despite having the same syndrome, he created a safe-chair unit to provide them support within the rafts. This was above and beyond. He took kayak chairs and put them in the river boat, fortifying the base of the raft with inflatable cushions to make it a bit more comfortable for our kids. Having the chairs in the raft worked out very well for us, providing an extra layer of protection and comfort for the girls. Pool noodles became tools for posture alignment, trunk support, and leg support. You would think it wouldn’t be possible to adapt for the girls’ differing needs, but somehow Jim Thorpe River Adventures figured out how to do just that.

Our children with Rett syndrome may be different ages and have different abilities, but they were all navigating the same river.

Jenny Tesler, Magnolia’s Mom

On the river, we felt like a community. We were cheering each other on and floating along together in a small fleet. We only took on class I rapids to make sure we weren’t overextending ourselves. It was actually the perfect speed for our first time down the river: slow and gentle in many places with some fun little rapids to navigate in others.

Our children with Rett syndrome may be different ages and have different abilities, but they were all navigating the same river. I hope they’ll look back on that experience with pride for having bested mother nature. Their smiles at the end of it sure told us they would remember it forever.

Of course, Magnolia wants to go again, but she would like to go faster. And from the sound of it, the Connor and Bouscher families both felt the same way.

Episode 8: Waterskiing With the Weaver Family

Magnolia and the Weaver family learn to water ski using sit skis and work on their confidence with a splash.