2000 Miles...part 2...Niagara Falls

Our trip to Niagara Falls started out with a great surprise - both of the kids slept almost the entire 3 1/2 hour trip!! Guess all the family fun wore them out!

When we got to the hotel Katey was treated to a great surprise:
For those of you who are unaware, 7:07 is Katey's favorite time of the day. She was excited to be staying in room #707!

After dropping stuff off at our room we headed straight for the main attraction. We walked along the Niagara River - it is so wide and very beautiful to watch.
Then it was on to take the ever-famous "Maid on the Mist" boat ride. That is quite an experience!! The boat really does take you to the bottom of the Falls and it is rather amazing how calm the water is at their base.
After grabbing some dinner we headed back to the Falls again to see them lit up at night and watch the fireworks. Several people had told us that we were in for a treat with the fireworks. They have obviously never seen a real fireworks display. We waited until 10PM for them to start and after about 2 minutes (maybe) they were done. Everyone kind of looked around with puzzled expressions, wondering if that was it. And, yes, it was. But, we enjoyed seeing the Falls lit up anyway! (No pictures of the water as my camera wouldn't focus right in the dark. I do, however, have many nice shots of the backs of folks heads with blurry lights in the distance)

The next morning we awoke to rain so we hung out in the hotel and rested before setting off for Canada. Niagara Falls is much more viewable and beautiful from the Canadian side!

Canadian Horseshoe Falls

American Falls and (the smaller one on the right side) the Bridal Veil Falls

The kids were ecstatic to get souvenirs on both the US side and in Canada. They choose timeless junk treasures: yo-yo's, snow globes, a calculator key-chain, a back scratcher, a pencil and a pack of cards. Seth spent the entire evening and following day walking and yo-yoing while looking at the Falls. (Note the yo-yo in his hand in the picture above) Katey spent much time reading all the signs we passed and learning lots of information.

This portion of our trip was short - around 24 hours before we headed on to Ohio - but packed with lots of fun and amazing sights! I am a little embarrassed to admit that my immediate reaction to seeing the Falls was, "Really, I thought it would be bigger!" Don't get me wrong, they are amazing and incredible and quite massive, but from pictures and hearing other folks talk about them I was sure they would be much more ginormous! Still, I am impressed and in awe of this astounding creation of God's hand and am thankful that these eyes (all 4 sets) got to witness it!