NY Vacation Part 2

We had hoped to stagger our busy days with our relaxing days, but when looking at the weather forecast, it looked like the best day to go to Niagara Falls was on Thursday. So Thursday morning, we went to the park for a bit, visited my grandpa, then headed to Niagara Falls!

Niagara Falls has a special place in our hearts as we went there when we were dating, spent our wedding night there, and a few years later went back for a Army couple's retreat. We hadn't been back since we had kids, so we were really excited. We even remembered to bring our passports and Amelia's birth certificate so we could go to the Canadian side. My parents also went with us. We decided to go to the Canadian side first since we didn't know how much time it would take. Unfortunately, it took us over an HOUR just to get across the bridge and through security. When we finally made it through, we parked and walked to the falls. The Canadian side is very touristy and had lots of fun things to see along the way.

Chris and I went on that ferris wheel during the couple's retreat weekend. It was winter then, so we enjoyed the enclosed, heated cabins. I'm pretty sure they are air conditioned in the summer. Riding with style.

Mischievous Maddie

Then we made it to our main attraction - The Maid of the Mist which is actually known as The Hornblower on the Canadian side. I guess it's basically the same thing but a bigger boat. Anyway, this boat takes you at the bottom of both the American Falls and the Horseshoe falls and the view is awesome. You also get quite wet which is kind of fun and refreshing in the summertime. The tour lasts about a half an hour. When we first got on the boat, the kids were a bit leery, but by the time it was done, they were begging to go on again as they were not ready to get off. It was a fun trip. :)

American Falls

Horseshoe Falls

What a perfect view

After we got off the boat, we booked it back to our car. You see, I thought the Niagara Falls day would pair perfectly to see Shannon, my best friend from high school, who lives in the Buffalo area. Unfortunately, we were running crazy late. I HATE being late, and it was even worse since I hadn't seen her in 14 years! I felt incredibly rude, but there was little I could do about it. We just made it back to the American side as fast as we could (which thankfully wasn't as long this time), and I texted her when we had a better eta.

I was relieved when we finally got there 45 minutes late and excited to see her again. I was also excited to meet her husband and two kids who are really close in age with Maddie and Amelia. We got there and enjoyed some conversation and pizza and the kids played (after a quick bite to eat.) They had a swing set in their back yard which Maddie saw as soon as we got there. In fact, she went running for it instead of going to the front door when we got there. There was no getting that out of her mind, so we went outside with the kids. They had a great time playing (though Claire played with their 2 year old more than Maddie did. Maddie's our little introvert.) We had fun catching up on life and reminiscing about old times. I could have stayed there for hours, and the selfish side of me wanted to, but I knew that not only did all the kids need to get to bed, but Shannon needed to work the next day. After rudely arriving late, I did not want to overstay my welcome. We just plan to get together again sometime soon instead, hopefully over a weekend when we don't have to worry about bedtimes as much.