We decided to take a long weekend and drive up to Niagra Falls for a mini vacation. It took us 8 hours to drive up to the Canadian side of the falls. We got there just around dinner time and checked into the hotel. The hotel we stayed in was within walking distance of the falls so after we ate we took a walk to view the falls. As we strolled down one of the side streets near the Skylon tower we noticed that everyone was looking up in the sky, so of course we looked up and found a man walking on this tightrope that was as high if not higher than some of the buildings around him. I'd say he was approximately 3/4 the height of the Skylon tower. One of the newspapers stated that he does this twice a day. A little too daring for me.
We walked on down to the falls and it was starting to get dark. It was a beautiful view with an actual rainbow going over top of the falls. Since it was getting dark we decided to call it a day and walk back to the hotel. It was an easy stroll down to the falls since we were walking down the hill. What a workout walking back up the hill. The hill is so steep that they have a ride that will take you back up the mountain/hill. But we decided to get a work out on our glutus maximus' instead. Wooo and what a work out it was. We had a beautiful view of the falls from our hotel room that night and were able to watch the fireworks as well. I think that was the first time that Andrew saw fireworks since he is usually in bed before they are set off at home on the fourth of July.
The next day we were able to do the touristy thing as most people do at Niagra Falls and go on The Maid of the Mist boat and take a boat ride near the falls. We also took a walk behind the falls and walked out onto this observation deck that was built very close to the falls. Andrew loved getting sprayed with the water. He squealled with delight as he walked down to the observatory deck with Robert as I took their picture. Too Funny. He could have stayed there all day getting a shower with the mist from the falls.
He loves to get wet. One time it poured while we were in church and then it brightened up as we were walking out to the car to go home. Andrew sees this huge puddle and walks right into it. He was knee deep in water. Needless to say we weren't thrilled about that and had to change his clothes once we got him back to the car.
Anyway, After the falls we took a walk through the Butterfly Conservator and were surrounded by thousands of different kinds of Butterflys. It was funny when we entered the conservatory, one of the people who worked there gave me a small like-radio which told all about the different kinds of butterflies as you walked through. We then started to walk into the conservatory to see the butterflies and Andrew started making a mad dash back to the entrance doors that we just walked through. I couldn't understand what was up with him and when I caught up to him to get him to come inside the conservatory I saw him reach for one of the radios that they were loaning out to people. The lady said it was okay for him to use one so then he was happy and followed me into the conservatory. Robert saw us come back into the area with all of the butterflies and asked what happened to us. As I went on to tell him what happened we looked Andrew and he had the radio up to his ear and was talking into it like it was a cell phone. We both chuckled as we watched him pretend he was on the cell phone.
When we finally found a restaurant to eat dinner at we were all hungry....it was almost 6:30pm, which is late for us to eat dinner. We got seated and Andrew was acting up. He wasn't listening when I told him to stay in his chair. Then he started getting loud and he was just being unreasonable. I'm sure it was because he was hungry and tired, but since I warned him that if he didn't correct his behavior and do what I asked we would leave the restaurant. We ended up leaving the restaurant since he wasn't behaving. Let me tell you......he through a fit. We were walking down the street to the hotel and Andrew was crying, screaming and acting up even more. I told him the reason why we left the restaurant. We all were tired and hungry and here we were walking down the street about 8 blocks to get back to our hotel. After about 3-4 blocks I stopped to firmly tell Andrew we will not go back to a restaurant until he learns to behave quitely, sit still and eat his food. I told him that it's a priviledge to eat in a restaurant and that many children don't have the priveledge to eat at a restaurant and many kids don't have enough food to eat to fill their bellies. He quickly changed his tune and appologized for acting up and by the time we got to the hotel (8 blocks later) he was asking to go out to eat opposed to eating oatmeal (not one of his favorites) in the hotel room.
Since Andrew was on better behavior and we were all starving by then 7:30pm I made Andrew promise he would be good and sit still and eat his food if we went to a restaurant. So we piled into the van and went to a restaurant down the street and to both Robert and I surprise Andrew was a different child in the restaurant. He sat still, was quietly talking and he eat a considerable amount of food. We all had an enjoyable meal.
The next day we checked out of the hotel and took a 15 minute ride to the Canadian Zoo before heading home. It was a smaller zoo than what we are used to in the Philadelphia area and much more simplistic. We walked around and enjoyed the beautiful weather as we visited the animal. We got to watch the Hippo's being fed and since there weren't that many people there we got a close up on that. Andrew and I got to also feed the Giraffes. Boy do they have looong tongues. We were up in the second story deck holding a few leaves on a branch (well I was since Andrew didn't want any parts of getting too close to the Giraffes) and out comes this tongue that is about 12-18" long. Once his tongue touched my hand I jumped and dropped the leaves. That was close enough for me, thank you very much. =)
We then headed over to the zoo university where the zoo keepers brought out different animals and told us some interesting facts about their habitat, what they eat and their behaviors. We got to pet a skunk (which was deskunked), baby turtles, and a baby alligator.
It turned out to be a wonderful trip. I've always wanted to go to Niagra Falls. I never realized though until now that it's best to stay on the Canadian side due to getting a much better view, closer to the attractions and within walking distance of everything.
