Skip to main content

Vacation ... All I Ever Wanted

 We just returned from our much anticipated vacation -- and boy was it ever eventful.
As many of you knew, I planned a very aggressive vacation with the intention of modifying it as we went if necessary.  Little did we knew we would need to modify two hours into it.
We started out with a drive to Niagara Falls, NY.  We left Friday night and drove several hours to Lexington, KY for the night, giving us only a 8+ hour drive to NY the next day.  Well, even though our boys (7, 5 and 3) have driven to Phoenix, AZ and Daytona Beach, FL among other long drives several times, this time, every few hours Wyatt would yell from the backseat asking if we were going home.  He was "all done vacation" before we even left.  Needless to say it was a LONG drive to New York the second day.  Of course, the fact that almost all of Ohio was filled with road construction didn't help.
 But we made it and enjoyed (well, I'm not sure how much Wyatt enjoyed the Falls) a couple days at Niagara Falls both on the New York and Canadian side.  This is the river as we crossed over into Canada looking away from the Falls.
 It was beautiful and awe inspiring and a gorgeous day!
 Here, Jack and Wyatt are looking at the Falls.
 We got a few smiles out of him.


 I was completely in awe of the view and loved every minute of it.
 I don't know why, but I just love pictures of the boys looking at things.  And I love when we can get all three boys together.
 The spray from the Falls was perfect on such a hot, sunny day.
 This is the smaller Falls that we walked to the night we arrived.  Wyatt was freaked out then and it took quite a bit to get him to get to want to look at anything else.

 We took the Behind the Waterfall tour and boy was that an adventure!  First, Wyatt was just freaked out and crying that he didn't want to go, then Ethan was crying because he didn't want to wear this rain poncho.  It took everything we had to get the boys in them and out to look.
 Ethan actually seemed to enjoy it after he got over the long elevator ride down (he HATES elevators).
 Wyatt, on the other hand, was completely freaked out and didn't stop crying the entire time.  He kept saying, "I'm scared, I'm scared."
 Jack loved every second of it and wanted to do EVERYTHING!

Jason took Jack and Ethan back out while I stayed inside trying to calm Wyatt down and convince him that we were almost done.
 
I love this photo of Ethan and Jack - look at those smiles!

 Back up top we just walked down along the pathway, enjoying the view, the spray and the rainbows!
 Jack got hold of the camera to take a few photos of Jason and I.
 Ethan photobombed us - I love it!!
 Wyatt did NOT like being up on the railing for a photo - even though I had a hold of him.


 Jack and the rainbow he spotted.

 Trying to get all the boys to get a photo but Ethan and Wyatt were not cooperating.
 This was the best we could do.

While in Niagara, Jason and I decided that there was NO WAY we could drive all the way out to Maine for the beach and then back home again.  It would be way too much car time for kids who couldn't seem to go more than 4 or 5 hours without melting down.  But for the life of us we couldn't figure out what to do between New York and Georgia that the kids would like.

Luckily we had friends in Buffalo that we stopped to visit with on our way out and Maddy saved the day.  She told us about her trip to North Carolina and how they stayed at the Great Wolf Lodge on the way.  And indoor water park was just the thing to save the tail end of the vacation!

 The boys LOVED it and how great to have it right there so you could go play for a few hours, go back to your room to rest and then go back and play again later.  And the second day we were there (we stayed at the one outside Cincinnati) it rained almost all day but we didn't notice because we were inside playing in the water!!

 The first day we put Ethan on one of the kiddie slides but didn't realize how fast it would pull him down the slide and he went under the water and it scared him, so it took him awhile to want to get back in the water.  But by the end of the second day he was enjoying the slides again.

 Wyatt was quite the little daredevil and really took to the slides.  He didn't need much encouragement at all.  The only slide he didn't like was the big family slide.  We walked to the top of the park (one of the lifeguards said it was 94 steps up) and then, even though we were on a raft altogether, it went down pretty fast, which seemed to scare him.  Ethan loved it though!!
 Jack and Ethan loved to race down these slides together.
 Jack LOVED the lazy river and Wyatt eventually enjoyed it but Ethan never did.

 The little kid play area.  Wyatt loved those slides and would just slide down, swim over, climb up and run over and do it all over again.

 Look at that smile!


This stop totally saved the vacation.  It was the perfect place to take the boys and we all had so much fun.  We cut a few days off our trip but it ended up better, as now we get a few days at home together without the stress of Jason working.  We can't wait to take the boys back again - either to the one in Charlotte, NC or Williamsburg, VA.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Having a Great Visit with Aunt Delly

I know it's been a VERY long time since I've last posted, but it's hard when you have company in town. Plus, I've been especially exhausted this past week. Jack get's so excited when we have visitors that he gets even crazier than normal! September should be fun when we have Daddy, Granny and Grandma in town. I've been continuously changing up our great room bookshelves, so I thought I would post a photo for you to see. If anyone has more ideas on how to make it look better, let me know. These are some pictures of Jack at gymnastics. He has gotten so much better at this club. They do a lot more strengthening stuff than the old place. Plus they have an older boys class so they don't just teach girly stuff at this age. It's been fun to see him do so well. Of course, a lot of time he still goofs around, trying to fall off stuff, but for the most part he's pretty good at staying on task. Last week they did the monkey bars and he LOVED it and was...

My Week

 Jason left last Saturday (the 4th) for his two week Army Annual Training and we sent him off with a nighttime treat before he left.  I love this photo of my boys, as they all look so happy and the small ones look so grown up - especially Ethan.  We couldn't pry that cup of frozen yogurt away from him!!  And, as usual, when Jason leaves all hell breaks loose.  Tuesday night we were all getting ready for bed and I was getting Ethan and Wyatt out of the bathtub when Wyatt slipped and banged his chin on the edge.  Normally Wyatt gets out first but this time I got Ethan and that just drove him crazy.  He was jumping up and down and as soon as I told him to stop he slipped.  I thought he had just cut his lip or his gums as I only saw blood but then he titled his head up and I saw his chin - too much of the inside of the chin.  I got him dried off, and kept a washcloth to his chin but knew I needed to get him to the ER.  But the last th...

Master Closet Overhaul

 We have this ridiculously large walk-in closet in our master bedroom and over time it has been overtaken with STUFF. So I decided I was tired of looking at the mess and it was time to clean it out and up.  Take a look...  I can't believe it went from this... To this!  I love walking in here now and actually find myself looking for reasons to go into my closet.  Along with just weeding out old clothes and items I no longer wore or needed (you should see the pile of stuff that was donated!) I made some changes to the room too.   One of them was my shoe racks. I've long wanted a tall shoe rack to go alongside the built in shelves but I knew it would never get off my husband's to-do list so I took matters into my own hands!!  It's not exactly what I had envisioned but it works and I'm happy with it. Thanks Target for the shelves.  Over the past few years I have developed a deep love for scarves and now own several....