Niagara Falls

Who knew that a couple of car seats and a red, shiny rental were all these kids needed to produce sunshiney smiles the likes New York hasn't seen in months? I'm pretty sure we could have driven in circles through Queens and the boys would have been in highway heaven but instead we drove north about 7 hours to see the most spectacular waterfalls the US of A has to offer.

I learned a few things about cars during this trip, and seeing as cars and I don't have much experience together I think it's smart to note (for the benefit of my future self): 1) Three kids in the back seat worked, but boy would I have liked more room (or an extra row) so that I could sit next to my chickens and help with bottle feeding and binky finding. 2) Quinn and the car seat are best friends. She slept like she's never slept before--long and hard. 3) This is weird, I'm well aware, but I'm not used to not seeing my kids straight in the face at all times. So maybe I now have a phone full of selfies so that I could see who was smiling at me from the backseat.

Back to the trip itself--fab-u-lous! I'm not one to romanticize things too much, I'm all about keeping it real, but this trip was pretty dang spectacular. It was the perfect mix of seeing natural wonders, having some kiddie carnival fun and then a spiritual adventure on the way back to NYC (visiting Palmyra, pictures to come). The weather was cold, but we had a good walk around the falls both days we were there and then headed to Fallsview Indoor Waterpark which was connected to our hotel to play the rest of the time away. The boys were the perfect age for the park and played for hours and went down every slide, and by the time the day was done we cuddled up next to the fireplace in our hotel room and watched the light show in the falls until we fell asleep. One piece of advice if you're planning on visiting the falls--splurge for a room with a view. It felt so fancy and meant that even when our littles were fast asleep James and I could enjoy the spectacular view out our window, and oh was it spectacular.

Here are a whole lot of pictures of the falls fun we had:

The American Falls were partly frozen and it was amazing to see. God's work is truly incredible!

Horseshoe Falls were my favorite, with force I can't even begin to understand. And PS, Everett decided that every picture in this trip needed to include a tongue!

So glad that our family got to experience this fun vacation together, even Quinny who was tucked inside someone's jacket the whole time (darn wind).

The Rainforest Cafe made for such a fun dinner after a full day of fun. Our "cultural" Canadian experience was getting a Shirley Temple, Canada style (they add orange juice). We also got a giant and delicious volcano dessert.