Niagara Falls

So Jeremy had a week and a half off for Spring Break so we decided to take a trip!  When we first moved here, we thought about all the places we wanted to go visit.  There is a lot to see around here!  Jeremy had never been to Niagara Falls so that was definitely on the list.  His Aunt Deana works for Marriott and is able to get family members discounts on hotels, so we got a great deal on a hotel on the Canadian side close to the Falls for one night and then in Rochester the next 2 nights (near Palmyra, NY).  Thank you Deana!!!

We left Wednesday morning and it only took about 4 hours to get up there.  We drove by the falls first so we could see them and so Eli could go to the bathroom (we didn't stop at all on the way there!).  Then we found our hotel, checked in, ate our lunch, and got settled a bit.  They were happy to get out of the car!

This was looking out our window.  We weren't right by the falls, but we could see the American Falls from the window.

It was very windy but sunny and the forecast for the next day was rainy, so we decided to do everything that first day.  And we're glad we did!  It was really nice.  It was a little over a mile walk down to the falls and it felt so nice after being in the car for hours.  We borrowed another umbrella stroller from our friends which worked out perfectly!

Here we are!  It was really windy and misty, so these pictures didn't turn out the best, but that's okay.

It really wasn't that cold, it was just windy and wet, so that's why the kids are all bundled. :)

Horseshoe Falls.  I was glad we went to the Canadian side - there are much better views.  I'd been to Niagara Falls twice before, once with my family as a kid and once on tour with BYU Singers.  It was fun to go with my own little family!

Handsome!!

Here's a little video:

Eli thought the rainbow was pretty neat.  Here's the rainbow and off in the distance is Rainbow Bridge.

We went on the "Journey Behind the Falls" tour thing.  There wasn't a lot to do there this time of year.  The boat tours were closed all winter, so we decided to do this.  There are tunnels which take you behind the waterfall.  It was neat to hear the roar of the water.  It's crazy how powerful it is!

And here's a video.  There were a bunch of Japanese students there and they were noisy along with the falls. :)

Then we walked back!  It was a great walk.  Eli decided he wanted to push his stroller most of the way, and Connor fell asleep.  Yea!

After we got back Jeremy and Eli went swimming!  Connor and I joined after he woke up.  I think this was definitely a highlight of the trip for Eli. :)

Eli slept amazingly well that night, especially considering how terrible Connor slept!  Wow, it was bad.  We finally moved him to a different spot where he couldn't see anyone else and that helped, but boy that was rough.  I'm always amazed (and grateful) at how Eli can sleep through all the crying!

The next morning we went to the pool again, relaxed in the hotel, drove by the falls again and then took off.  About 20 minutes into the drive we realized we left "Doggy" in the hotel.  If you know how attached Eli is to his little doggy, you know what a tragedy this is.  So we got to back through the border and retrieve him! (and then back out again...) :)  It wasn't too bad actually.  We made sure we went through a different lane and they didn't give us any weird looks.  ("What is the nature of your visit?"  "Uh...to retrieve a stuffed animal.." "How long were you in Canada?"  "About 5 minutes..." hehe).

So then we were really off.  We took a scenic route to Rochester and it was beautiful!  It went along Lake Ontario and through some really beautiful country scenery.  That was a good choice.  Then we started the next half of the adventure!  I'll get to that when I get a chance...