adventure *day 11*

Early Friday morning everyone piled into their cars to head to Niagara Falls.

I was so excited to go. I have only seen pictures and the only "real" vision I had of the place was when Clark Kent and Lois Lane visited a swanky hotel with the vibrating bed in Superman.

I was also super excited because about six months ago, my dad came across a list put out by CNN of 15 places to see before you are 15. I am obsessed with it. We only have three more years before Nick turns 15 and although we will do our I was pleased as punch to find out that after we were done with our adventure, we could cross three of the places off our list including Niagara. Not too shabby.

As we were driving into the city of Niagara, I was a bit disappointed. It was gross and not the picturesque oasis I thought it would be. But to my delight, it became more and more beautiful by the minute as we drove closer to the park. When we actually entered the park it was exactly like I had imagined. It was serene, lush bushes and shade trees everywhere, and of course the spectacular waterfall.






We saw more than one couple getting their wedding pictures done.


After oogling at the waterfall for a while we decided to get into the nitty gritty of the action and go on the Maid of the Mist. We donned fashionable blue raincoats and boarded a large boat that takes you past the waterfalls and makes a loop near the Canadian horseshoe falls.








It was absolutely stunning.




After our excursion we decided we needed ice cream. The boys thought it was awesome because we let them get two scoops. It was so hot though that much of the ice cream ended up on their faces or clothes or hands but it tasted super good.



There was quite a bit of wildlife to observe in Niagara. We saw orioles and cardinals and there was a squirrel who stole the rest of Liam's unfinished ice cream cone and climbed up a tree and promptly finished it off.


We then walked along the path to look at the Horseshoe Falls from above. It felt so good to be sprayed by all the mist. Muggy heat is for suckers. I would take the dry Utah heat anyday.




We hung out in the park for a while and then headed back to the hotel.

Justin and I love the show Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives. Justin went on the Food Network website and mapped out the different restaurants that were featured on the show for all of the different cities that we were staying in. We decided to take a little jaunt to Buffalo to try the Blackthorn Pub.

Holey moley, it was awesome.



It is a little Irish pub that packs a lot of charm. I wasn't sure what to order until a huge plate of mouth watering goodness passed by. It was a plate of fish and chips that was enormous. I am serious when I say the fish was as long as my forearm. The fact that this looked good to me was baffling because I don't like fish at all. Not a bit. But apparently, everything tastes good beer battered and deep fried. Justin and my dad ordered the same thing. Nick ordered the crab cakes that were featured on Triple D. Andrew and Luke ordered off the kids menu. Liam fell asleep in my lap.

It was a delicious evening.

Tomorrow...off to New York City!