Niagara Falls - June 2011

We kicked off our summer with a trip to Niagara Falls. We stayed at the Hilton Fallsview hotel on the canadian side of the falls. The first thing we did after checking into our hotel was eat lunch at the Rainforest Cafe. Wow! The kids loved eating here and are still talking about it 4 months later. We then purchased an Adventure Pass to explore the falls. The first thing we did was ride the Maid of the Mist which is a boat that takes you up close and personal with the falls. It is a wet ride, but thrilling to get so close to the powerful and magnificent falls. Brayden seemed terrified for most of the ride and was actually clinging to Andy and I. Remember he is just 3 years old. After the boat ride, we walked back to our hotel along the falls. We saw several rainbows, even a double rainbow. The views were breathtaking! That night we took the kids to the pool and ate dinner at the Macaroni Grill in the hotel. The pool had a waterfall and a big waterside.....it was awesome!

The next day, we explored behind the falls, saw a 4D movie about the falls, viewed the white water rapids up close, and finally, visited the butterfly conservatory. The butterflies were another highlight. The kids loved this part of the trip. It was incredible....there were thousands of butterflies everywhere. The butterflies were landing on all of us, although they really seemed to love Chloe. She had several butterflies on her clothes most of our visit at the conservatory. Later that night, we watched the fireworks from our hotel room. It was so cool. We all put on our pjs and snuggled on the couch to view the fireworks over the American and Horseshoe Falls. Truly a neat experience for all of us.

On our last day, the weather was awful, the torrential rain forced us to modify our plans. Instead of going to an amusement park, we went to the dare devil museum and saw another 4D movie. Then we began our trip home. We decided to take a more scenic route and stop at Letchwork state park along the Genesee River. It was beautiful. We drove through the park stopping at several scenic outlooks and viewing the falls. I will never forget when we crossed the border and left Canada, Isabel burst into tears. She is a very emotional little girl. She was hysterically crying telling Andy and I how much she loved Niagara Falls. It was a fantastic trip for all of us!!