Falls & Fun

Each weekend we try to do at least one fun outing, but that has been so hard to plan lately because it has been raining way too much this summer. Fortunately we live in a region full of summer festivals, not to mention major places of interest, so when the sun shines, spur of the moment planning almost always leads to fun, Fun, FUN!

This past weekend was no exception. With a major rain storm forecasted for Saturday morning, I kept my usual date with my favorite grocery store and did the week's shopping. Got home, put groceries away, fed the kids and then settled them for nap. As soon as the kids woke up the clouds broke up and as the sun started peeking out Kevin and I were bouncing afternoon ideas off of each other. Twenty minutes later we were in the van and headed for Niagara Falls, USA!

By the time we parked on Goat Island (part of Niagara Falls State Park) and started walking, it was gorgeous out! We walked up to Terrapin Point and got a close up view (a little too close for my comfort with two active three year olds!) of the powerful rapids and the Horseshoe Falls. Every so often the wind would kick up and we would get pretty wet from the spray, or mist, of the Falls (I was soooo happy I accidentally left my camera at home)! We walked along the park paths enjoying the views and the fun of people-watching tourists from all over the globe. We ate dinner at the Top of the Falls Restaurant and headed home happy.

The sun welcomed us Sunday morning so we hopped in the van right after breakfast and headed back to Niagara Falls, but this time we remembered our passports, so we crossed over to the Canadian side to the Butterfly Conservatory. We had never been to any place like this and were surprised at just how many butterflies there actually were fluttering all around us (and we had to be careful of where we stepped because they were on the ground, too!). Both girls were pretty frightened at first, but relaxed a bit as they saw butterflies landing on other children. So many beautiful butterflies! We exited the Conservatory, walked slowly back to our van through the lovely Botanical Gardens and made it home in time for lunch.

Quite a bit of fun for not having any plans!