Summer Tourists - Part 2

So as I mentioned before, our last sightseeing spot on our trip was Niagara Falls. No matter how many times I have been before, (believe me....living only 1.5 hrs away from it for years - its pretty much a given we went A LOT) this place still just wows me. It is just so beautiful there.



We ended up changing our plans around a little to make our traveling make more sense. We ended up saving Niagara Falls for last and going on our way home. We left my Mom's on Thursday morning after taking our time getting ready and drove the 1.5hrs to Niagara Falls. We spent the entire day just walking around taking in all the sights. We managed to do a few fun things as well. First we did the Journey Behind the Falls where you go down a long elevator and walk in the tunnels behind the falls and actually come out from behind the falls. I did that when I was about 13 years old with my Dad and my friend Natalie when she came to visit me from Houston for a month. It is exactly how I remembered it...very neat. They make you wear the plastic garbage bag raincoats b/c there is a point you get to go outside and you get drenched from the mist b/c you are standing right beside the Falls.

Here we are waiting for our turn
to go under the Falls.




This is what I was talking about - look how
close you actually get! My poor camera was
soaked - glad it didn't get ruined...



This is a shot standing directly behind the falls
in one of the lookouts from the tunnels.
Excuse the awful quality - my camera's flash
had no idea what to do - really dark in the tunnels
but blinding white light from the water.
There is probably a setting I could use - but
I'm clueless - I pretty much leave it on auto..lol



And of course a family shot of all of us
in front of the falls....


After we got done with this, we bought tickets to see the IMAX movie about Niagara Falls. Andy & I had both seen it back in 2003 on our visit up, but we thought it would be neat for Andrew to see the history as well. Then we toured through the museum and saw all the actual barrels and things that went over the falls..those are some CRAZY people!

It was a long day with TONS of walking - everytime I go back - I forget how much walking you really do when you are there...but its definitely worth it. Here are just some other random pics as we enjoyed our days at the Falls.

In the pic above...their faces pretty much sum it up!!

And as we were walking back to our car after our long day....this is what we saw...what a perfect ending to a wonderful vacation!

Summer Tourists...Part 1

I guess its better late than never to finally get around to posting our summer vacation tourist pictures. Like I mentioned before, the last week of our trip up in Toronto was spent doing all the tourist things which kept us very busy. We ended up getting a coupon booklet called a "City Pass" that basically had admission tickets for 5 different city attractions at a reduced rate. Since they all sounded fun to do, we figured it would be a better deal to do it that way vs. paying at each place. We had a blast seeing all these places. We went to the Ontatio Science Center, Royal Ontario Museum, CN Tower and the Toronto Zoo. The other place also included on the pass was Casa Loma - but unfortunately, we ran out of time before we could make it there too. I also happened to notice that a lot of the major cities had these passes for sale (including Houston) and thought maybe one day it would be fun to be a tourist in our own city and see the different things. Its a neat idea when visiting different places - and they definitely save you some money - can't go wrong there!!

Our first stop was the Ontario Science Center. Talk about HUGE!!! I had never been there - even when I lived up there. I think you needed a couple of days to go through the entire thing. Now I understand why so many schools go there for field trips - very educational with a wide range of things to see and do. Andrew had a blast seeing all the exhibits and doing fun experiments.

Andrew had a blast on this thing - you pulled yourself along the disc thing and you ended up spinning around like crazy - I was dizzy just watching him. No wonder there were padded walls all around!

After the Ontario Science Center we took the bus and subway down to the Royal Ontario Museum. Again, another place I had never been. This place was huge too - way more to see then we had time to. There were some awesome things there to see - they also had a special exhibit for dinosaurs - Andrew enjoyed that.



There were also tons of exhibts of all different animals and reptiles and sharks. It was so neat to see all these things up close and personal.

We were exhausted by the time we were done with these 2 places - they were tons of fun, but completely wore us out - I can only imagine how many miles we walked that day! Brookie was so happy when we got back home that day....she spent the day having fun and playing with Grandma.


She loves her "Bubba"

The next day we woke up early again and headed back on the bus and subway back downtown to the CN Tower. This time Brookie got to join us. She loved getting to ride the bus and subway - this girl was OBSESSED with all the buses she saw everyday from Grandma's balcony. Plus she got to go on a choo-choo train (ok - it was just a subway, but to her - it was as good as a train!)

Going for a subway ride for the 1st time...

She loved sitting beside her big brother like a big girl....have I mentioned how crazy this girl is for her big brother??? It is the cutest thing!!! So anyway, we ended up waiting in line probably close to 2 hours to go up in the CN Tower. During that time, the weather turned stormy and really rainy so by the time we got to go up, the viewing quality had gone way down. But we didn't really mind - we had all been there before (minus Brooklynn) and had perfect clear weather so we got the full effect that time. We still had a good time though. Of course both kids loved the glass floor...that thing still freaks me out to this day. You are 114 stories up and they have a section of the floor that they have removed and just put glass down so you are looking straight down at the ground. It is the most un-natural feeling in the world. People go around jumping on it, stomping on it, laying and sitting on it - its crazy. Here are a few pics of the kiddos on the glass floor. They are fearless!!

I'll do part 2 of our tourist pictures later this week sometime - we have tons of pics from our trip to Niagara Falls!

1st Day of School

Well today was Brooklynn's 1st day at her new school. I was so excited for her to finally be back in a social situation with lots of other kids to play with and learn from. I have enjoyed being home with her during the summer and going on our road trip together, but it was time for this to happen again - for both of us. I was a little worried though how this morning would go b/c she is at the age where she is very clingy to me in a new environment and gets upset when I have to leave without her. She did surprisingly well - of course the teacher distracted her just long enough so I could make my escape before she could see me dart out the door. I knew she would be ok - its just the initial few minutes that are rough for her.

It was strange coming home to an empty house - it was very quiet - I think the dogs enjoyed it too - they could actually sleep in peace on the couch without fear of Brookie coming to terrorize them....lol.

The day flew by for me b/c I finally got around to tackling our mounting laundry piles - its never ending. Anyway....when I went to pick her up, I needed to stop by Walmart for a few things that we needed. I was in and out in 10 mins flat - what a concept. It was so peaceful and quiet in there and I could just run in and get what I needed and not have to worry about bringing snacks for Brookie to eat while I walked around. Wow - I think I am going to have to do my grocery shopping during the week - you just can't get any better. The shelves were full, the aisles were empty......very un-walmart like. That was like the cherry on top for me for deciding to stop working full time...lol! I can enjoy Walmart in peace now.

So anyway...when I got to Brooklynn's school, it was still their nap time but as I walk in the door - guess who is just sitting up on her mat looking around?? Yep - thats my girl......no naptime for her. Old habits die hard I guess. She was the same way at her old daycare. It was a miracle if she slept for an hour.....so needless to say - it wasn't a surprise for me. Her teachers said she did just lay there the entire time and was quiet - so at least she wasn't disturbing the rest of the kids who were actually SLEEPING. Maybe one day she will get the hang of it - she's just too worried about missing something if she closes her eyes. Oh well - as long as she continues her awesome sleeping habits at home - I'm okay with that. They said she did really well and they loved all her giggles....so day 1 was a success - lets hope it continues.

Here are a couple of pics I snapped before we left for school this morning...such a big girl!!!

We're Back....

We drove over 3450 miles total and lived to tell about it! Actually the trip back home went really well too. It was a long drive and I am glad its behind us but we did have a blast. The weather was perfect on the way home - sunny and blue skies the entire way - definitely makes for a much nicer drive than driving through blinding rain and severe thunderstorms in the middle of nowhere like we had on the way up.

It was such a great vacation - we were sad to leave everyone behind again. The weather couldn't have been better if we asked for it - the highs never went above 75 the entire time we were there and the week that Andy & Andrew were there it was 75 and sunny, blue skies every day. Absolutely perfect. Now we are back in hibernation mode in Houston....lol. Heat index today is supposed to be 108 degrees - oh how I didn't miss this weather!

The last few weeks of the trip were jam packed full of things going on. Got to visit with old friends (Dione, Farah & Daniel) who I haven't seen in about 17 years - where did the time go?? It was a blast getting in touch with them again after all this time and catching up and meeting their own families now - it was really neat. Gotta love Facebook....

The 3 girls (me, Dione & Farah)...I'm not going

to get into any of our nicknames from back then....lol

I can't believe we are all grown ups now....

when did that happen??

(l-r: Daniel with son Wesley, me with Brooklynn,

Dione and Farah with Anissa & Khalil)

The last week of our trip we planned so much for us to do - including being tourists in Toronto - it was tons of fun. Everyday we had something planned so it was non-stop. Andy & Andrew flew in on Friday night.

Saturday we went to the zoo for a bit so Andrew could stop and visit with the stingrays...he really enjoyed that. Then since it was finally warmer that day, the kids got to play in the splash park there and they had a BLAST. I got totally drenched (note to self - next time wear your bathing suit) trying to keep up with Brooklynn. That girl is FEARLESS. She was going on all the big waterslides by herself. Andrew would help her at the top and I would be at the bottom ready to catch her - she loved it. Saturday evening we got together with all my close friends for one last get together before we left. We had a bbq at one of their houses and had a blast - it was nice to have everyone together like that.

Sunday we went up to my oldest brother, Ray's house for a bbq. It was another fun day - the kids ran wild outside all day and wore themselves out. They had so much fun playing all together - the go-cart riding was the most fun for them - they would fly down the hill in the back yard so fast and would run back up and do it all over again. Even Brooklynn got in on the action with her Daddy....so cute! The faces in these pics pretty much sum up how much they loved this new ride....

Nathaniel's turn...


Brookie's turn with Daddy...

Andrew's turn...

I'll leave the tourist pics for next post - we did so many things - tons of pics to come.