The 12 year old trip!!

Ever since before we were married, JP wanted to do a special trip with our kids when they turned 12. Turning 12 is a huge deal in the Jewish community, and is the standard age of accountability in the Bible. Well, obvioulsy we aren't Jewish, but JP and I think it's lame that Christians don't make a big deal of becoming a man, like most other religions do. So we made our own tradition, The 12 Year Old Trip. The purpose of the trip was to talk about *everything*; what we expect of him as he gets older, our family history, what we expect for the dating years, everything you could possibly think of was written on a 2 page list, to be discussed during the trip.

JP had been planning for them to go hiking in Death Valley for the 12 year old trip. He hiked it once in his 20's and though it would be a good place for him and Bryce to go. I had visions of a miserable 12 year old walking all over the desert, cranky and hot with nothing to do LOL. So I suggested camping on Catalina Island. JP had taken youth groups there before and was very familiar with the area. He liked that idea, (whew!) so he made reservations for him and Bryce to go to Catalina.

They were gone for 5 days, hiking, snorkling, and mostly talking about becoming a man. They went cliff jumping (go Bryce!!), ran into a few rattle snakes and watched the stars at night... It was a wonderful experience for Bryce and JP, and I know Bryce will remember that trip for the rest of his life.

Here's their camp site. What a great view!!

After their long talks, Bryce spent lots of time journaling.

Bryce and JP

Isn't this gross? It's a homemade hornet trap, (a Gatoraid bottle with holes poked in the sides). I guess the hornets are really bad there in the summer.