Niagara Falls

Last week Jared and I went to Niagara Falls. He was going to Canada for a few days for business, so of course I was willing to tag along. Being right after our anniversary, this was kind of our anniversary get away. We had a great time. It was nice to be just us two and have some new adventures together.

Horseshoe falls

The American Falls

We're standing on the Canadian side and right behind the American Falls is America. It was weird to be in one country and just look across the river at another country.


Notice what looks like a little boat on the right side of the falls...

It is the Maid of the Mist tour as it is entering the bottom of the Horseshoe Falls.


All I could think of was the movie Bruce Almighty where he does the news segment on the Maid of the Mist.

Here's Jared on the Maid of the Mist

Me on the Maid of the Mist in front of the American Falls

Jared and I together as we are approaching the Horseshoe Falls

Once you get right up to the falls, you can't see anything in front of you, it's like being in a terrible storm. I hid out under the covered area. I told Jared afterwards that I'm glad I did it because it's the tourist thing to do when you come to Niagara. But, there's nothing I really enjoy about being cold and wet, so I don't think I'll be doing it again for fun.

Jared at the top of Horseshoe Falls

It's amazing watching how fast the water goes over the falls.

Part of the area is like a boardwalk or amusement park, called Clifton Hill.

The big Ferris Wheel at Clifton Hill, which we rode that night. It had some amazing views, but we didn't get very good pictures because it was raining a little.

The Rainbow Bridge - the bridge connecting the US and Canada

We had dinner at the Skylon Tower. The dining room revolves while you are eating, we had amazing views the whole time.

More from Skylon Tower

Other than me spilling an entire glass of water in my lap it was a lovely dinner - you can just call me grace!

And another

We could also see our hotel from the Skylon Tower. This gives you an idea how high up the Skylon Tower really is.

Further down river from the falls, the river developed a whirlpool. And you can see the cables for the aero-car that will take you out over the whirlpool. We passed on that ride.

Another view of the whirlpool and the areo-car.

On the other side of the whirlpool

The whirlpool again- what I wish you see is that down on the left hand side there was a man on the rocks fishing. We couldn't figure out how he got down there to fish.

They offer tours where you ride a jet boat up to the whirlpool. Jared really wanted to do this, but I was a little too nervous to try it.

We drove up to an area called Niagara on the Lake, on Lake Ontario. It was beautiful, we were there right at sunset. Right behind me across the lake is Toronto. I believe across the lake to the right of where I'm standing is Rochester, NY.

Niagara on the Lake was one of our favorite places we went and unfortunately we didn't get any pictures there. It was just like you would expect a New England town to look, tons of Bed and Breakfasts, little shops, beautiful golf courses. That's where we want to stay if we get to go back.

Busy Weekend

We had a very busy but fun weekend this past weekend. First was my Roomie from college Charlotte's wedding. She was beautiful and the wedding was wonderful. Everything about the wedding reflected Charlotte, it was such a special time.

Beautiful Charlotte!

Me and my Honey, actually got to dance together, which was fun.

Later we went to our friend Kristi's Birthday Party. She is like an aunt to our boys, they just love Kristi! Now that Peter has come into the picture they adore him too, I mean he is a golf pro, it doesn't get much cooler than that to a little boy!

Today is her actual birthday, so Happy Birthday Kristi!

Here's some pics of her and our boys enjoying the party. Can you guess what their favorite part was?

Will was excited about the candles.

He enjoyed helping Kristi blow them out.

Yes, this was their favorite part!

Roomate Reunion and Will's Injury

Jared has a wonderful group of guys that he lived with during his single years. Over the years they have enjoyed watching their group grow to include wives and children. We got together for dinner at Les and Rae's with a few of the guys and their families over the weekend. I'm pretty sure that the guys still enjoy their guy time of fishing trips and video game tournaments a little more, but they are fine to have their families tag along too.

Brett and Jill got some great pictures of all the kids playing. So you can check out their site for some more pictures. I fell down on my photography job that night. Thanks Jill!

And now on to Will's injury: Les and Rae have this under the stairs closet that is the perfect little kids play area, they think it's like their own little hide out. Well, Will was playing in there and turned his head quickly and banged his head on the corner of the underneath of the stairs. And my goodness, head wounds sure do bleed. For a few minutes we were worried that we were on our way to get stitches, but it stopped bleeding and started to close up. Thankfully he just had his hair shaved off, so it was easy to treat the cut. We couldn't get a band aid to stick to his hair, so we made a special bandage for him (you can see below).

We were all trying to encourage him that the bandage was neat, so he wouldn't try to take it off. Drew was so sweet he said to Will: "that's a cool band aid!" and Will turned to him and said: "If you bang your head you can get one too."

Here's the kids at the end of the night all snuggled up in Les and Rae's bed watching TV.

Aren't they precious!

Here's a good view of his bandage. He was all tuckered out after a big night of playing. Poor little man. He sure did sleep well that night!

Bubba's Buzzer Shop

We've been wanting to buzz Will's hair again, but he hasn't been to thrilled with the idea (he doesn't really like the clippers). When we went to my parents last week and Will saw that his uncle Brian had just gotten a buzz he was suddenly inspired to do the same. He took a trip to "Bubba's Buzzer Shop".

Life is sometimes a funny circle of events. Every Spring and Summer growing up I remember sitting in the backyard and watching my dad buzzing my brothers hair. And now he gets to buzz my sons hair. I know it's a silly thing to be sentimental about, but it seemed like a sweet moment to me.

Luke's just gloating- "no clippers for me, there's no way my Mommy will let this fine baby hair come off my head!"

Luke and Granddaddy

Usually my Granddaddy is the one taking all the pictures, so we rarely get him in pictures. When we we were at my parents house recently Luke climbed up in the window seat behind Granddaddy and was playing peek-a-boo with him. I thought these pictures were priceless.

It Seemed Like a Great Idea

A few posts back we displayed how we turn our backyard into our own splash park. Well, Will decided to take it a little further...

Jared and I were standing just inside the house in the living room talking and we looked out side and nearly lost it, it was so funny and scary at the same time. He couldn't understand why we were surprised and a little worried when saw him.
Good thing the bike doesn't actually fit down the slide.

Glad he's smiling and not hurt!

5 Years Ago Today...

I married the most wonderful man!

Our wedding day was amazing, we look back on it with such fond memories. But, that was only the beginning of our life together. It has been a fun adventure, (like our kids who just spilt yogurt all over our kitchen) but I'm so glad we are in it together! Please excuse me for cutting this one short, I have some yogurt to clean up...

Freedom

The 4th of July is a wonderful time to reflect on and be thankful for our freedom and the people in uniform who fight for our freedom. I'm gaining a new appreciation for our soldiers, as my younger brother Brian recently enlisted in the Marines. So, the fight for our freedom is taking on a new meaning for me. I'm so proud of Brian!

We truly enjoyed our 4th of July. We went to a great picnic at my parents church for lunch and then had a cook out with family and friends at my parents in the evening. Our boys played out side until there was no more dirt to be found...

Luke loves my parents dog, Smokey. I couldn't manage to get a picture of him giving the dog a kiss.

This may be one of my new favorites! It captures Luke's funny little personality.

Our family

We bathed the boys at my parents house and then took them out in their PJ's to watch fireworks. Will had played so hard, he fell fast asleep in the car on the way to the fireworks. We had to wake him up to see them.

Tired little man

Watching fireworks

Luke cuddled up with Mommy while he watched the fireworks. I wasn't complaining, I get my cuddles in when I can.

Will's amazement as he watches the fireworks.

Pictures never capture how neat fireworks are.

Well, we had a wonderful 4th of July and we hope you did too. Let Freedom Ring!