It feels a little silly to even attempt to write about the experience of our first-ever yoga retreat to St. Croix in the U.S. Virgin Islands last month. It totally exceeded my expectations and filled my heart up with love of nature and community, and a feeling of gratitude, ease and playfulness.

I'll let the photos do most of the talking. Here are a few of my favorite memories:

Chartering a private plane with our new-found friend Renee after missing our connecting flight.

Feeding cans of non-alcoholic beer to pigs. (?!)A long lazy day at the beach, full of paddle boarding, swimming in the ocean, beanbag toss, fish tacos, frozen mango drinks and Jack Johnson on the speakers.Dogs, everywhere we went. Especially Angel.Hula hooping on the dance floor of a clifftop bar to the sounds of a live band.

Teaching yoga and meditation on the beach. Amy's mom's headstand. Using palm trees as barres in our "Coconut Barre" classes.

Team-teaching with Amy and Lindsey in the beautiful open-air studio of the Courtyard. The rain starting to pour during Lindsey's barre class and gently splashing in through the windows and over the porch railing. Buddha bowls after class.

Telling ice breaker stories, sharing fun facts, and bonding with our amazing group, which included 3 pairs of mothers and daughters.Being hosted by a fire-dancing troupe named Kiki and the Flaming Gypsies.Heart to heart talks in the cabin of the sailboat on the way to beautiful Buck Island.Elise never leaving my side. Being surprised at how nicely my kids got alongWalking as a group on the buttery sand of Buck island and being immersed in the warmest, most gorgeous turquoise ocean water I've ever seen.Gliding across the water at sunset on the sailboat.Playing "Yes yes yes yes yes," being served delicious food, and sharing things we love about each other at Villa Del Mar. Taking a mindfulness walk in the Labyrinth.Fire dance party on the beach.Jumping off the pier together as a group.

Watching the sunset.

Realizing that this is what I get to do at work (?!) and feeling so, so, so grateful.And SO MANY more beautiful moments not listed here!

Check out the video below, made by our fabulous hula-hoop teacher Julia to see even more of this amazing adventure, including some incredible fire dancing. And don't forget YOU can join us when we return to St. Croix!

The next Barre & Soul St. Croix Yoga & Barre Retreat is April 13-26 and you can pre-register now.

Have you met this lovely lady? (The partially-topless one behind me.) Last week Jason and I took her on vacation! We didn't have the kids so we felt this called for a getaway. At the start of the week, I felt I had too much on my plate to go just yet, so I put in some looong days on Monday and Tuesday and woke up Wednesday ready to go... somewhere.

We are often last-minute vacation planners, and I must say, in my experience, it is NOT cheaper to travel this way. Flights to anywhere were looking pricey. We considered the Maine coast, but the weather forecast was gray and rainy.

We ended up deciding on Vermont. The sun was shining. We took the top off the Jeep, and began the gorgeous drive. I have to say the ride was so lovely, we almost didn't need a destination.

(I am loving this swimsuit from ASOS - they come in bra sizes you guys! And this flannel from H&M.)

We ended up spending the first night in a little farmhouse B&B waaay off the grid. The kind of rural location where there are SO many more stars than you could ever see in the city. I stood out in the dirt road with my head tilted back just staring and staring up at them.

There wasn't a single sound but crickets and the frogs in the nearby pond. I couldn't capture the stars with a camera, but I could capture the sounds of the evening, so I took a little video that I later posted to Instagram, below, just so you could hear it.

This led to a discussion about WHY do we not have a way to record and share smells when we are so fancy about sharing images and sound? I would have loved to store up the smell of summer night in the country.

A video posted by Andrea Isabelle Lucas (@barresoul) on Aug 25, 2015 at 8:35pm PDT

The next day we set off on the road again. We saw beautiful things, met nice people, and spent a night in Stowe. We hiked up to this pond, at the summit of a mountain.

I played a bit with a new camera lens. And we hit the road again.

We spent the last two days at a hotel in Old Montreal. I LOVE this city!

Somewhere between Vermont and Montreal, I got sick of lugging my fancy camera around and only snapped lazy iPhone pictures from that point on. (But I did post a couple photos from my last visit over here!)

We ate lots of great food, visited an art museum and spent many hours just walking around the city exploring.

Although we could have stayed another day, I felt ready to come home on Sunday, and we did. It's been a busy week back home with the kids and the studios. I would be lying if I said it doesn't get stressful! Vacations are essential.

P.S. You can come on vacation with me, Jason, and both of my kids this fall. Is that weird? Who cares! Lindsey James, Amy Sinclair and I are leading a yoga, barre and aerial yoga retreat to the beautiful island of St. Croix this November! It is surprisingly affordable, and there's even a few days left to get Early Bird pricing. Significant others are welcome, and don't worry -- no one will force them to do yoga or barre if they'd prefer to just hang out by the pool. To join the fun, visit our Barre & Soul Workshops and Retreats page.