They rode horses that Brother Love provided for the all primary kids to ride. 
The girls also enjoyed the slip and slide, water balloon toss, water balloon fight, and just running through the water. It was a great activity.
Monday we ate a nice big breakfast, rode the Tropicana Train ride around the Casino, said our goodbyes to my parents and parted our separate ways. After a long way home we finally got home around 7:30pm. What a long drive.
A few more cousins of mine popped over to my grandparents to say hello. The girls ran around and played with my cousins kids and grandpa. 
We ate lunch with my parents and siblings at Domino's in Alamosa.
Around 6pm we headed to my cousin Tyler's house for a BBQ. We had a wonderful visit with him and my cousin Nakala. He made us some great burgers and then gave us the tour of his home he built. We also watched the world premier of the Hannah Montana Concert in 3-D
When we got back to my Aunt Regina's house she made us s'mores. It was a great finish to a great day spent with family.
Then we walked to the the carnival ride area so the girls could ride a few rides. They had a great time and could have stayed here all day. 
We then walked over to the burger stand(with the missionaries helping take orders and flipping burgers) to grab some lunch. We visited with friends and family from the area. 
Around 3pm we bought cotton candy for the girls and carmel apples for us. We soon decided to head back to my grandparents and let the girls rest.
Then went to Wal-Mart to do a little back to school shopping for Ashlyn and Autumn(they start school on Monday). Ashlyn choose a Hannah Montana book bag and Autumn decided on a Disney Princess backpack. Both girls picked out Hannah Montana t-shirts to wear on their first day of school.
After the parade they have a BBQ lunch at the church and at 1pm is the start of the games and races.
After the kids play those games they have the races. They start with the youngsters, separated by gender, run a short distance and they keep upping the age. They Autumn ran in the 3-4 year old girls and came in 3rd because she stopped to grab the red tape. Ashlyn ran in the 8-9 year old girls and finished some where in the middle. I could not get Noah to race and I was not about to run against the 20-35 age range girls. Those young girls would beat me. My dad was the only adult to brave the races. He ran in the 35 & up men. He did really great considering he is 50+ now and a long distance runner. We all had a great time.
Our girls went back to my grandparents house with family while Noah and I went to the Sanford Museum. This small 4 room building is packed with the towns history. 
I was able to find all my family members senior class pictures on the wall and learn more about how Sanford was established. The greatest find was the small Spanish history section where I was able to read and see pictures of my family. Noah and I enjoyed the quiet time by ourselves. 
Soon after we ate those who planned to go fishing headed over to the river to fish. The only problem was we left the worms back at my grandparents and my cousin Tyler somehow misplaced the nite-crawlers he bought at Wal-Mart. So we had to search under rocks for worms. The other half of the group went for a hike, but before they could leave they had to help my cousin Deanna get her keys out of her locked car. 
After a an hour or so of fishing and getting no bites we got in our cars and drove to Red Lake Trail where my family has gone for years. They have creeks running throughout the mountains and you can catch small brook trout. We learned that they loved worms over the salmon eggs we had. We spent a great deal of time searching for worms. As the afternoon went on and we had worms on our hook we did pretty good. Everyone one got bites on the line and just about everyone caught fish. Ashlyn caught her first two fish. Noah caught about six fish. He even caught a minnow that helped to catch a bigger fish. I caught four fish and then we called it a day. It was a wild day, but fun to be with family. 
That evening Noah and I went with my parents and grandparents to the local library to do some family history research. My dad found a handful of newspaper articles about him when he played sports. It was fun to read and see the pictures of my dad when he was in High School.
As we walked to the Spruce Tree House we stooped at all the numbered posts to read what was next on the guide. Then we came to the cliff dwelling. It was amazing. The girls thought it was really neat how the Ancestral Puebloans lived in cliff dwellings, all Noah and I thought was how did they live like this with children(this was not as steep or as dangerous as some of the other cliff houses).
After the hike back up we stopped in the Chapin Mesa Museum to cool off and look around. The girls picked up a junior ranger application while we were in the museum and filled out the information so that they could receive a badge and become a sworn in junior ranger. They had fill out the questions get it signed and dated by the ranger then they had to raise there right arm and swear to not litter, save water, and recycle.
Now that they were junior rangers we drove the six-mile Mesa Top Loop to test out the girls knowledge. On this self-guided drive you can pick and choose where to get out and look. Along this we stopped to see the Pithouse, Square Tower House Overlook, Sun Point Pueblo, Sun Point View(which is one of best spots to see a dozen cliff dwellings) Oak Tree House, Fire Temple and New Fire House, and Sun Temple. The girls had lots of questions about the people that lived here long ago. We tried to bring it to there level of understanding and they were really interested in learning. It was a busy full day at Mesa Verde, but a fun time together as a family.
On the way out of the park we stopped over in a tiny town called Mancos where one of my uncles has a burger shop, however they were closed when we got there and had just closed(my uncle was not working there today otherwise he would have stayed open for us). So we drove another 20 min. to Dairy Queen in Durango(Autumn calls it Mango) to eat. After lunch or was it dinner we visited my cousin in my dad's side and his family of an hour or so. It was nice to see him and visit and also let our girls run around and stretch there legs. My cousin has children the same ages as our girls and they had a great time.
When we got there at midnight the girls were wired and at 2am we turned off the lights. Noah set the alarm for 6:30 am. That was harsh and we were all so tired when we woke up. We had a nice breakfast at the hotel and headed out on the open road for our first stop on the trip: the Grand Canyon.
We the walked along a small portion of the Grand Canyon to Yavapai Point and Observation Station. We stayed there awhile enjoying the displays inside the observation station. We took the bus back to where the car was parked and the drove Desert View Drive to see more interesting things.
Our last stop on this road was Watch Tower. This structure was built to give the widest view of the Grand Canyon. 
It was really neat to walk through this tower and climb up to the top. The view was amazing. The girls thought this tower was Awesome!
We took the morning to pack and get ready for our flight home. We were sad to leave this beautiful place, but we will be leaving for a mini family reunion in Colorado later on this week. 
The flight was delayed 3 hours, however we were able to get on an earlier flight which was nice with the girls. We would have gotten in around 2 am. Other than that everyone did really good on the flight. Now we have to get used to the time change.
They were giving them food, playing tag, and dancing with the other keiki's. On the way home we stopped by Kimos known for their famous Hula Pie. It was really really yummy and the girls loved it. 
Other than packing up our stuff for the flight tomorrow it was a perfect day in paradise.
After a break and to check on the girls and Noah's mom we went back out but to the right of the bay. We saw some larger fish on that side and more variety of fish and then we saw them 3 sea turtles. Two were swimming around together and then went down to eat. Then I saw the third one, about two feet from Noah, and it was extremely large(about half the size of him). That totally made our morning!
Their menu changes everyday, because they buy fresh caught fish every morning. They even tell you which fish boat or fisherman and location the fish was caught. You know it is going to be a great experience when you drive up and there is only valet parking. Then you walk through a Banyan tree archway and gecko walkway and are greeted with an Aloha of a women in a floral Hawaiian dress. The grounds are beautiful and the waiting area is lovely also.
As Noah and I were waiting to be seated he pointed out that the man being taken to be seated looked like Pat Sajak(the Wheel of Fortune Guy). I looked to my right and sure enough it looked just like him. We also flew on the same fight over to Maui with Disney's High School Musical Star Ashley Tisdale. (Later on we did notice that Pat Sajak and his family were sitting three tables over from us at dinner). 
So with in a few minutes we were seated on the outdoor covered patio complete with view of the ocean. The restaurant is decorated so nice and gives you a nice Hawaiian feel. We ordered a Polynesian beef served in a grilled mango which was excellent and really tender.
I ordered the Crab stuffed Mahi Mahi with a Tristan Lobster on top fresh corn and asparagus and rice pilaf. 
The fish was cooked just right and my mahi mahi was so tender it was melting away on my fork. It was the best seafood meal I have ever eaten. We loved it and highly recommend it. It was an amazing dinner. 
When we got back to the parking lot there was still enough sun light to play in Ohe'o Gulch aka Seven Sacred Pools. We needed to cool off, relax and swim in one of the most amazing settings ever. We left the park at dusk and had a long way home. We got back to what seemed like civilization around 9pm but the girls and grandma were all sleeping. So we ordered some pizza as we got closer to our condo and picked it up on the way. I think we finally turned out the lights around midnight. What a fun, but tiring day we all had.
They have lavender everything, pillows, jellies, scones, chocolate, perfumes, mists, lotions,bubble bath, sunscreen,and many other items. After a small walk through their gardens we drove back into town. Next we wandered around Kula to find the oldest LDS church building still standing in Hawaii built in 1850. After driving circles around town for 45 min. or so, we were about to give up, when we saw the top of the church. We were able to walk the grounds and go in the small one room church building. It was pretty amazing to see the old pictures, old hymn books and old wooden benches.
We then drove through Makawao to Pa'ia over to Ho'okipa Beach Park to see if there were any wind surfers. We didn't see to many people even in the water, but we walked the beach and were able to look at the tide pools. We even had a little fish come out of the water to play with us. A little Manini Convict Tang came flying out of the ocean waves landing on the sandy beach. We held him and put him back in the ocean. When we got back to the condo we ate dinner and went for a nice evening swim. 
Friday July 11th we headed to downtown Lahaina for a walking tour. You start on Front Steet at the Baldwin Home and pick up a walking tour map. Then you can do a small walking loop or a bigger one. We started at the small loop. It was pretty cool we saw the old courthouse, old jail, the oldest Bayan Tree in Hawaii., fort ruins, oldest inn, and old palace ruins. We were all hot and tired after the small loop and so we decided to head over to baby beach again to play. After about 3 hours of fun in the sun we came back to the condo, cleaned ourselves up, and ate dinner quickly so we could go to the Warf Cinnema Ceneter to watch Wall-E. It was a fun show and the girls enjoyed it. 
We had a great playing in the pool and enjoying the sunny Maui day. 
In the evening we watched another beautiful sunset and did a little shopping in Lahaina. 
Wednesday July 9th we awoke to Ashlyn crying about how bad her ears were hurting. After a great pancake and eggs breakfast I decided to call the local Kaiser in Lahaina and set up an appointment for Ashlyn and find out why her ears were hurting so bad(I had my suspicions). With my sister Rachel, brother-in-law Kurt and Logan leaving we attempted to take some family pictures on the beach and then said our goodbyes to them. Their fun time in Maui was coming to a close. 
At the doctors Anissa kept the two little girls busy while I took Ashlyn in to see the doctor. It was confirmed that she had an ear infection in her right ear and water behind her ear drum in her left ear. He gave me a prescription for both and hopefully she will start to feel better. Since we were in Lahaina we took advantage of our time there and walked around the Hale Kahiko. It is replica of a Hawaiian village. It was neat to see how they lived and what they lived in. We then walked over to the Glow Putt Miniature Golf. We had a great time playing. Anissa and I both scored a 40 and my mom beat me by 1 making her the winner with a score of 39. We celebrated with ice cream from Coldstone Creamery. 
We drove back to the condo to let the girls rest. Later in the evening we went for a sunset walk and then a swim in the pool. 
Today was an amazing day. It was the kind of day that you expect in Maui. We took the girls to Baby Beach(a beach well known to the locals to be for the keikis or kids). This beach is very calm with lapping waves. The girls could swim and play in the water with little worries of being knocked down by waves. It is very shallow for many feet, because the reef breaks way out in the ocean. We spent 3 hours playing in the water and having a great time. There was some coral gardens as you went out further and an easy place for kids to snorkel. We tried to get the girls out there, but because of the distance from the shore they thought it was deep (it only came up to our waist)
Ashlyn did find a sea cucumber. She was gathering broken coral and rocks when she found it picked it up thinking it was a rock and then noticed it was different. She ran over to us and said "I think I found a sea creature." We looked in her bucket and sure enough it was something squishy from the sea.
We came home and rested for a couple hours and then got ourselves ready for the Luau. We went to Old Lahaina Luau. We have gone to this before and loved it. The price is a little steep, but we think the price is worth it. They opened the gates at 5:45 with live Hawaiian music playing. We were shown to our assigned seats and then we were free to wonder the beautiful Luau grounds. They had stations set up in various locations giving demonstrations of Hawaiian handicrafts and cultural items. After the pig was removed from the imu (an underground oven) we went back to the table to eat. They have an all you can eat buffet with lots of yummy traditional Hawaiian food and yummy tropical drinks. While we finished dinner they started their hour long show. The show is a history of Hawaiians. The story begins with the early Polynesian migration to the Hawaiian Islands, and the progression of hula from ancient to the present. It was a wonderful evening and the we all really enjoyed ourselves.
After the beach we headed to the swimming pool. Noah helped design the pool at the Condos and did a great job. The girls love the one foot deep kiddie pool and the waterfalls that are in the middle of the pool flowing from the bridge. We headed back to the condo to make some good old fashioned 4th of July lunch, hamburgers, chips, and watermelon.
Hula grill has beach front eating where they have a live band, amazing sunsets, and soft sand for your feet to rest and play in. We then headed to a a clients house that Noah works with, to watch the fireworks from his lanai and light up fireworks in their culdesac. It was a great 4th of July and made us appreciate how blessed and grateful we are to live country with so much freedoms.
Noah and I have driven this road 3 times. We have enjoyed it every time and every time it has been different. We started our journey in the valley of sugar. It is 37,00 acres of sugar cane fields. The last town you visit is Paia. This is a small and very unique town they say "it is where it's still the Age of Aquarius and shoes are always optional in the street".
The tide was really low so we go to see some small tide pools with some fish and other marine life. We stopped in front of Waikani Falls (aka the 3 bears) for a photo.
As we were driving through Hana something hit our van. I got out to see what it was and to make sure we didn't have a dent(it was a really loud thump). I didn't see anything on the ground, but remnants of mango still lingered on the hood of the van as Autumn said very animated "there was a loud bump noise and this mango bounced off of our car and rolled into the dirt!"
We were able to walk down to these pools and swim in(the raging river of death) the 40 foot deep pool and watch all those brave people jump the cliffs into the clear fresh water. It was an amazing and unique experience. Ashlyn loved it!(the other two girls slept in the car with grandma)
We grabbed some lunch and then went food shopping at Walmart and Costco. We topped the night off with swimming in the pool. I was a wonderful 1st official day in Maui.
