Grandchildren tours, National Parks, Hawaii and sailing the Carribbean

When Heather and Peter were still young, 12 and 10, I think, we bought a new van and picked up Chuck, Luella and Susan i Colorado springs where we climbed Pikes Peak and walked around in the Valley of the Gods,   from there, we went to Yellowstone, Grand Canyon and Bryce Canyon.  We walked all the way into Bryce and it was ver hot as I remember.  Our water spoiled and we had to pour it out.  I really felt sorry for the kids.  We should have planned better.  However, we made the trip and hopefully they have fond memories as do Tom and I.

Taking Sara and Molly to Hawaii was fun as well.  We all took a turn with Hula lessons , no grass skirts though.  We walked on hot lava at the volcano and saw steam rise from the ocean as the hot lava poured into the water.  I worried that our shoes would melt.  Later, we went through a pineapple maze where Molly fell and skinned her knees.  I made a small scene when the office there had no Band-Aids for my sweet Molly.  It was nothing ice cream could not cure.  Molly had an ice cream radar and even when there were no shops in sight, she would tell Granddad to turn down a side street and sure enough, there it would be.
We took them to the black sand beach and signs cautioned the you were not to remove any sand. Sara just walked heavily until here shoes filled up and later in the car emptied the sand into a container.  Sara also almost got us in trouble at the airport.  She had found a tiny  coconut and we had checked to make sure we could bring it home.  However, the drug dog didn't know, but she got to keep in anyway.
During spring break Archie and Ethan wanted a trip on a sailboat in the Caribbean.  We managed to find a boat with a captain. His name was Warren and he did everything possible to make the trip fun for the boys.  When Archie fist dove into a reef and saw the fish, his little head popped up and he threw back his face mask and said, "That is soooooo awesome."  I told Tom, "That comment was worth the trip as far as I was concerned."
We enjoyed many islands barbecue at Foxxy's place on Jost Van Dyke. That was a lot of fun.  Warren got us into a race anytime a boat was around and onee, I was sure he would crash us and I couldn't imagine what I would say to Beth it the worst had happened.  Thank God we got home safely  from all the trips.