Niagara Falls

Niagara Falls is quite an experience.  But as we learned after spending two and a half days there, it is an experience that can be accomplished in a much shorter time.  There are lots of things to do and all of them come with a pretty hefty price tag.  We realized after the fact that we could have just stopped by on our way back to Michigan for a look at the falls and a ride on the Maid of the Mist--the two best experiences by far.  Ah well, live and learn.

Had we not stayed overnight (using Daddy's frequent travel points), we would not have had this amazing view and one of my favorite pictures from the trip.  The waterfalls are mesmerizing.  It is incredible to think about the volume of water falling every single second!

We made lots of memories on this trip.  We had gorgeous weather and lots of fun.

When I was a kid, a favorite memory of mine was a trip to a Wax Museum in Colorado--The Hall of Presidents.  We tried to recreate the moment for our kids...this was the only president in the Niagara Falls wax museum.  It was not at all the same.

"I pity the fool who pays to see this wax museum".
There were lots of characters our kids did not recognize and lots that were quite disturbing.  Sarah spent some time clinging and crying and Nathan spent almost the entire time nervously biting his nails.

Here's some familiar faces.

Not so scary.  Although Bart looks like he's been drinking for some reason.

We spent the first day just looking at the falls, enjoying the mist and the sunshine.  We walked a long, long way in one direction.  Our aching feet suggested we take a taxi back to the hotel for the evening.

We went swimming at the hotel pool and then the girls enjoyed the enormous bathtub.

And even peeked out the bathroom window for a view of the falls (sort of).  Nice idea anyway. 

Day 2, we decided to walk a new route.

We rode the Sky Wheel.  We also rode a Sky Wheel in Belgium once--not long after that ride, we saw the one had malfunctioned somewhere (in Asia? I can't remember) and killed some people. Now I am less excited about riding in one.

The kids enjoyed it even with my constant paranoia about their every move.

I don't hide fear well.  I did not like the switching around of seats in order to get better pictures.  Just be still and don't touch anything--that's my motto on a Sky Wheel.

We played cheesy dinosaur mini-golf.

Rode a bus after our long walk instead of a taxi. (The bus also took us to the flower clock).

Yes, much of Day 2 could have been left out of our trip--the Floral Clock definitely qualifies.

The dreaded arcade.  A place where kids turn into little monsters demanding more and more money from their parents who are just trying to soak up the best air conditioning in all of Canada.  That has to be where all of that money goes.

This picture is especially for Mr. Tse (Yeh yeh).

The night view from our room.  There were fireworks we thought we could see from our room.  Not so.  Daddy rushed the kids to another part of the hotel to catch a few, but it was all of about 5 minutes long and they missed it.  They came back with Niagara Falls snow globes instead.  Mommy was taking a time out. :)

On the last day, we were joined by Aunt Daphne and Larry again.

The Maid of the Mist is amazing--glad we didn't skip that part.

Even the least enthusiastic about boats, Sarah, had a great time!


We did lots more and spent lots more.  Not sure how we squeezed so much into what felt like a little time when we were planning. We were glad to leave Canada and their exorbitant prices for pretty much everything behind.  Sarah still refers to the entire trip as "Buffalo".  She can't wait to go back to Buffalo and visit Aunt Kathy and have more ice cream.  At least we have pictures to remind them that they've seen one of the Wonders of the World, even if ice cream takes priority at the moment. :)