Passport 2 Purity Trip

I respectfully ask that you not pin pictures of my children to Pinterest. Thank you!

A few years ago we had heard about Family Life's Passport 2 Purity program. It sounded like it was really well put together so we got it. Bass and Tenor had a short weekend away to go through the material. When we were preparing for that trip though, we couldn't find much online about how it actually worked or how other families used it. They still had a great time, and I think it was extremely beneficial to Tenor. Since then, Soprano has been excited for her turn. I don't think she really understood what all we'd be talking about. lol
This past week, while we had a break from school, she and I headed out. (I got permission from my her to share about our trip.)

I'll spare you the details of my multiple attempts to find a suitable location. It seemed like every idea I had ended up not working out, but I finally came up with an itinerary.
We headed north. Our first stop was lunch where I explained a bit about the weekend and gave her the kit's Travel Journal.

 

After lunch, she started session 1 as we traveled on to our first activity together -- mom/daughter pedis.

This activity may have been more for me than for her but she loved her first trip to the spa. :) She said at one point, "I'm getting spoiled; I could get used to this!"

We did the session 1 puzzle activity in the back of the van after our pedis in order to keep things moving. It was probably not the best idea. We managed to complete the activity but we could have gotten more done if the puzzle surface was even, not upholstered. (A few tips for this activity: only start the timer once you've turned all the pieces face up and be sure to practice your puzzle ahead of time to really emphasize the point of the activity.) We packed up our pretty piggies and puzzles and drove the rest of the way to our hotel. Once we settled in, she started session 2. She got the second activity which is when I realized I had forgotten to buy Play-doh. So we got back in the van and went on a scavenger hunt... we ate dinner and found some seriously overpriced fun dough at a dollar store in the area to complete the activity.

A tip for activity 2: don't use the entire can of dough/doh to form your person. It will take to long to fully mix the colors if you do.

We finished up our first day with a swim.

Day 2: Session 3 

and most of 4 before lunch. (Activity 4 tip: practice beforehand. Only fill the balloon up slightly larger than when it's blown up. I filled it, put tape on it, then pierced it.) We took an early swim, headed out for lunch,

and then to the most-anticipated activity of the trip... horseback riding!

My horse crazy girl was beyond excited to finally get to actually ride a horse. Not just be led around in a circle.

Meeting and trying to name all the horses -- she was disappointed to realize they already had names

 

Her horse was ironically named Turbo

We saw wild turkeys and deer right next to the trail!

My horse, Chief

After our ride (while my thighs quivered for the next three hours), we went shopping at a couple of local tourist shops and had dinner. We headed back to the hotel for a swim (or a really long, much-needed soak in the hot tub to be precise) and then right to bed.

Day 5: We did session 5.

 We hung out for awhile

then hit the road.

Our last stop was at a mall closer to home for lunch and to give her the special gift they recommend.

We talked about a couple of options and considered some kind of purity jewelry like a ring or necklace but decided instead to get her ears pierced. She's been asking to do it for a long time, and we thought that it would be a great tie-in. Every time she sees her earrings, she'll remember our trip. 

Leading up to the piercing, we gave her a list of things that we wanted her to do to demonstrate that while it's fine to want to look beautiful on the outside, beauty really comes from the inside.

I saw this idea online here. I changed out some of the characteristics from the original to better fit Soprano and changed some of the verses. She needs to finish a few more but ran out of time because our trip had to be scheduled when it did. We're planning on her completing it.

She was so brave. She didn't even flinch when it happened.

 I had a double helix done. I may have moaned or whined. Man, it hurt!

The very last thing, to wrap-up the whole trip was the gift of this journal. I told her that we talked about wasn't just a one-time thing, it was the beginning of an ongoing conversation. But sometimes the topics we talked about can be embarrassing so we gave her this journal. She can write questions in it (to either me or Bass) and leave it on our bed. We write our reply and then put it back on her bed.

And with that, the trip is done. It was really, really good. I think it will be a good memory for her down the road. This isn't a sponsored review but I would highly recommend taking this journey with your tween.