Cute things

It's been a while since I visited Canada. I went to Winnipeg when I was a kid. Winnipeg was about 3 hours from where we lived in Grand Forks, North Dakota and East Grand Forks, Minnesota. I don't really remember there being much that I thought was different from the US. I just remember the awesome childrens museum that we would visit. Of course, Niagara Falls, Ontario isn't that far into Canada, but hey, who's splitting hairs? I just loved all the little maple leaves everywhere! I'm sure part of it was for the tourism, but I liked it.

** Bonus Question ** (canadians are not allowed to respond! ;)

Do you know what poutine is?
And no fair running to Wikipedia or Google for the answer. I want to know
your honest answer or impression. What is it? I'll tell you what I thought it was tomorrow!

Maid of the Mist

Right under the Falls

Approaching the Horseshoe Falls

The American Falls

After the boat ride

Then the sun came out, after we were through with the tour.

Home again

Yes, we went to Egypt today. Egypt, New York. Who knew? (probably a lot of people but me!)

And then we had a great 4th of July dinner in Greece. Really. (it's a suburb of Rochester.)

Niagara Falls

It's really late and I'm really tired. So I'll just put up some pictures and then fill in more of the story when my legs don't feel like lead and my eyelids aren't being pulled down by little sandbags!

In the Niagara Sky Wheel (a big ferris wheel with enclosed cars on it) to get a bird's eye view of the Falls.

The kids on the over look of the American Falls

Before we got on the Maid of the Mist boat. They had a poncho for every size, even Jacqui!

In the Horseshoe Falls!

Where we were. See the big cloud of mist, that's where the boat took us to get soaked!

The only angle I could get that had both Falls in it. The left hand side is the American Falls and the right side is called the Horseshoe Falls. The Horseshoe Falls is the one that people would go over in a barrel. We went in a complete circle on the boat. From right below where the kids are standing, along the bottom of the Am. Falls, over into the Horseshoe Falls and back to the shore. The ponchos did quite a good job of keeping us dry. We had a great time!

You know you're in Pennsylvania when . . .

you see this

and then this.

What's his name?

We've been driving all over the country in our wonderful Honda Odyssey. It's amazing. When we were at the dealership, the saleslady said it was like "driving in business class". Really? Look, lady, you don't have to sell me on it (but I didn't tell her that) I did my homework. I know how cool it is, but I don't need the tag lines. Since the purchase, we've put over 7,000 miles on it in the last 2 months.

Ok, ok, it's like driving in business class!! I can't even begin to describe this van. One of the first things I think of is that it's like spaceship. Cubbies and doo-dads in every nook & cranny. The DVD system in and of itself is wonderful. The trunk hood flips up and down at the touch of a button. I can load groceries and kids without even touching the car once!

So, we've also had a dilemma. What to name it? We have gone through quite a few appellations, but none of them seemed *just right*. Thinking about all the toots and whistles, the only proper moniker seemed to be . . . . . Optimus Prime. No, this isn't just hype over the dumb movies. We loved the cartoon when we were kids. ** This car isn't merely a car; it can do just about anything. It deserves this name. Here's to many more good times in Optimus Prime.





**And in proper cartoon education, we have the original Transformers cartoon series on DVD for our kids. (in addition to Gummi Bears, Dungeons & Drangons, and Smurfs) So when my kids talk knowledgeably about them, they're talkin' 'bout the real thing, not the so-so movies. Let's face it, cartoons these days stink. I consider myself very lucky to have grown up in the golden age of cartoons. Long live the 80s!!

A+ Day

We definitely got our money's worth out of the Aquarium membership. We went again this week and it never gets old. There is always an 11:30am dolphin show that the kids don't ever want to miss. Since it is included in our membership, we go. And this time, we got there early enough to get sweet seats in the "Splash Zone". Once we were seated, the questions of, "When is it starting?" began and I had to tell them that since they chose to get early seats, it wouldn't begin for another half hour.

As we were waiting, a dolphin show worker person (whatever you call 'em) came up the stairs to where we were sitting. Great, I thought to myself, she's going to tell us they have to fill up the other side of the seating before sitting here, or something crazy like that. I dug in, ready to stand my ground. ** When in reality, she just wanted to know if the kids would like to participate in the Grand Finale. Really? At the end of every show, there is a musical montage, the dolphins flip & leap and on either side of the pool, they have about 4 kids hold flags and wave them. Yip-yipee-yip-ito. (geez, i've been reading too much skippyjon)


So they moved us into the "Reserved Seating" row, (I always wondered who got those seats) which were better than the ones we chose. And the kids still got wet. This show rocked even more than the other ones because they introduced a new baby dolphin, Bailey. She is 10 months old and really quite cute. They had her jumping in tandem with her mom even doing a few tricks. I didn't get pictures because the likelihood of being soaked was very great. They warn anyone sitting in the Splash Zone of the "possibility" of getting wet. Depending on your location in said zone, you WILL be splashed. It's a trick that the dolphins do; swim around the perimeter and splash the people. We had a great time!




** After we were moved, I was thinking to myself that I'm still pretty defensively programmed. Not being able to sit where we want, being moved for trite reasons and not having any control over it, yeah, that's what would happen in Egypt. I have to keep telling myself, "You're not in Egypt anymore." It's hard.