Niagara Falls

The bride and groom, Frank and MelanieTen years ago, we were the bride and groom, and 20 pounds ago! For me anyway...David was looking rowr!!!
A view from the sky wheel!
By the side of the falls, the breeze from the water was blowing my hair like crazy.
Right by the main falls, Horseshoe Falls.
Just amazing! (David is becoming quite the photographer, he took most of these pictures)
At the lowest observation deck right by the falls...very wet!
Our beautiful little family at the White Oaks Hotel and Spa, Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario.


This evening, we returned from a wonderful family vacation to Niagara Falls, Cananda. It was amazing! David has a friend he met in Japan. He was in the band with him there. Frank is like a brother to David, so when Frank called to ask David to be a groomsman in his wedding, he was so honored. I laughed for a minute, though, when we realized that it would be the first time he was in a wedding, and he has 6 siblings! Oh well. David has been gone so much over the last 3 months, so we decided we would all go to Niagara Falls. Here's a quick rundown of our fun trip.

Thursday, May 29: Leave for Niagara Falls. Stopped in Palmyra, New York and visit the Sacred Grove and Hill Cumorah, two of my most favorite places on earth. Stayed the night in Palmrya.

Friday, May 30: AM: Drive to Niagara Falls, Canada side. 2 hours from Palmyra. About 20 miles away from Canada, we could see the water mist coming up from the falls! As soon as we crossed the Rainbow Bridge into Canada we could see the falls. WOW!!!! Amazing! What a beautiful natural wonder. We parked right away and got out and walked around and took pictures. We took a tour behind the falls...sounds like constant thunder, and boy is it WET! We got sprayed pretty good. We learned that enough water goes over the falls every MINUTE, to fill 1 MILLION bathtubs!!!!
PM: After 2 hours in the afternoon of the indoor waterpark attached to our hotel, David went off to a town called Niagara-on-the-Lake for the wedding rehearsal dinner. The kids and I ventured out in downtown Niagara Falls. We had dinner at the Rainforest Cafe, yum!

Saturday, May 31: 7:30 am, the groom picked up David at the hotel for some pre-wedding breakfast and activities. The kids and I played around at the hotel until it was time to get ready for the wedding.
12:00 noon: We ventured out to find the church in Niagara-on-the-Lake. It's a beautiful 1800's country church with a cemetary all around it. The minister was late and the waiting and the boredom, just about did the kids in. The wedding was gorgeous. The coolest thing, the groom, Frank, composed all the wedding processional music, it was beautiful!
1:45 pm: About 20 minutes into the wedding, the kids lost it, mostly Jackson, so we left the chapel before the screaming started! We walked around the church looking at the headstones in the cemetary. On our little adventure, Jackson lost his binky, Jacob had to potty behind a tree and Abby had to potty so bad but wouldn't squat, so she used the portable potty I had in the truck. GEEEESH.
2:00 pm: Wedding got over, David said goodbye and wen off to take 5 jillion pictures. The kids and I went back to the hotel for some sandwiches and rest before the reception.
4:30 pm: Back to Niagara-on-the-Lake for the wedding reception, which didn't really start until about 6:30!!! Meanwhile, I realized I was the ONLY person there with kids. Other than the flower girls...geez, what was I thinking? We kept raiding the cheese/fruit table, just to keep them quiet. This was a fancy deal, too. Waiters were walking around with empty trays to take your used plates and glasses!
6:30 pm: Everyone was escorted into the dining hall for dinner. I was assigned a table with another couple with a tiny baby...and me and the three kids. I also got a broken high chair, so everyone in the room waited and stared while I tried to get Jackson into that and then changed him to another one. There's this fancy dinner buffet, and my kids being served chicken strips and french fries! Jackson decides to chuck his toy truck onto the glassware covered table. Luckily nothing broken, but the sound it made, totally embarrassing!
7:30 pm: Toasts and stories about the bride and groom, totally put my kids over the edge, and we went into the lobby and play.
8:30 pm: I finally realized I don't have a pacifier for Jackson, and I'm not quite ready to do the weaning from that yet, especially in a hotel in the same room with everyone else. So, I told David the kids and I are going to find a store. We left and luckily found an open Wal-Mart...and a new binky! Killing time at Wal-Mart is sometimes not smart...too much..MOM CAN I BUY THIS? Ugh.
9:30 pm: Returned to the reception and called David on the cell phone begging him to say his goodbyes. The kids and I are starting the meltdown.
10:30 pm: David finally gets out to the truck to a screaming Jackson, two crying kids, and a totally drained and crying Mommy.
11:00 pm: Arrive at our hotel and everyone goes straight to bed.

Sunday, June 1: Everyone is feeling better and after breakfast we venture out to the waterpark again. Tons of water-slides, a wave pool, and tons more. It was so fun!

Later we had lunch at Planet Hollywood and then more waterpark. After some showers and naps, we went out and about in downtown Niagara. We played underground glow in the dark miniature golf, totally fun! We had dinner and rode the sky-wheel. Cool view of the falls. Finally bedtime and packing.

Today: 7 hours to home. Luggage and STUFF in the kitchen, but it'll have to wait until tomorrow, back to the regular schedule!