Niagara Falls Vacation: The WaterPark

The morning we left Niagara Falls to travel back home we said good-bye to all our hydro friends except for one family - the Soldatke's. They're from Nebraska and since they would be traveling through Northwest Ohio we decided to caravan the journey west together, making a stop in Toledo, Ohio. We live just an hour from Toledo, but a chance to have another day with the Soldatke's was too good to pass up. So we booked rooms for our two families at a waterpark hotel and had a blast!

Click on photo to view in full screen.

Enjoying the very warm, relaxing heated pool. It put Matthew to sleep.

Mason.

Mike had lots of more fun with the waterproof camera...

Megan, Steve, and Micah.

That would be Mike.

Megan and Mason.

A pregnant belly shot.

This is the red slide. It kind of flushes you like a toilet bowl - swirling you around before emptying you into a hole. Well, you just got to see it for yourself...watch below.


That was Jill getting "flushed".

The red "toilet bowl" slide is suspended a few feet above a swimming pool. So when it flushes you through its opening you fall into a swirling pool of water and you swim to the exiting stairs. Or if you're like Jill you cling to the side and move along its current quickly trying to show no signs of struggle so the lifeguards don't blow their whistle and jump in to rescue you. :)

Video of Cayman and Daddy going down the little kiddie slide...

Mike has been getting Cayman ready for the Buckeye football season that is about to start. She already can signal "touchdown"...so what else is there to know? The O-H-I-O of course! She doesn't consistently perform it but I was trilled to get it on video to prove that she will and can do it when that little mind wants to...

And these vacation series always end with a sleeping picture...Because you know, all that fun is plain exhausting!

The End.

Niagara Falls Vacation: Donald's Birthday

It was Donald's birthday. And there's nothing that a completely grown man needs more than a 3 pound bag of Dum Dum suckers. Made fresh, straight from the factory. Mike pulled them off the line just a few days prior.




That evening we dined at Bob Evans, a favorite restaurant of mine. And it quickly became a favorite to the others as well that had never been there before.

The food was great!

And Lisa provided the entertainment by rapping for us to her very own written lyrics that she composed back in grade school to win herself the title of class president. I had no idea she was so dorky in person (lol). I am completely kidding. It was hilariously entertaining. It's a bit despairing I do not have it on video to share. I am pretty certain that all that was present for it will never forget it.

And now that Lisa is blushing, let's move onto Donald.

The Bob Evans waitresses sang the traditional "Happy Birthday" song to him. But there was a little twist in this presentation. Sneaky Mike had gone up to the waitress's station unnoticed to tell them we had a birthday among our group and his name is Donny. When Mike returned to our table he asked Donald, "What do you say to people when they call you Donny?"

Donald laughed and said, "I don't say anything because I do not answer to the name Donny."

Well, while everyone else in our group sang Donald, the waitresses were singing Donny.

The Donny is hard to hear in the video but here's the live action of it anyways...

Niagara Falls Vacation: Cave of the Winds

View of Cave of the Winds from the boat Maid of the Mist.

After the Maid of the Mist, pieces of our group went in different directions to take in more of Niagara Falls' attractions. The Soldatke's (Jill and Steve's family) and the Stamm's headed to the Cave of the Winds.

There we soaked up (or just plain got soaked) the experience of being closer to the waters of Niagara Falls than you ever thought possible. Cave of the Winds tour takes you to a wooden walkway up to Hurricane Deck where you can be less than 20 feet from the torrents of the Bridal Falls. On that deck you'll get doused with the sprays of the rushing waters, feeling like you are in the middle of a tropical storm.

Another viewing area has also been set up for handicapped individuals and adults with children in arms. We were a little of both of that. Our children (Matthew and Cayman) were both slumbering in their strollers. So while they slept the rest of us took turns staying by their side while the others climbed to the top deck.

View from the Canadian side.

Hurricane Deck

A little closer view of Hurricane Deck.

The slumbering Cayman.

Mike, Steve, Megan, and Mason

Beautiful!
{Mike took this picture} :)

Micah, Mason, and Megan

Somehow Mike got those Nebraskans to pose an O-H-I-O with him.
Mike, Micah, Megan, and Steve.

Mike and me.
{My mom had a good question regarding the no smoking sign. She asked, "How is it even possible to smoke with that much water down pouring?" Hmmm...}

Jill and I.

And that would be another way the waterproof camera was useful.

Niagara Falls Vacation: Maid of the Mist

Before boarding the Maid of the Mist I tightly tucked away my DSLR camera inside of a plastic bag and checked it twice to be sure I sealed off all openings. I had remembered from my last trip to Niagara Falls ten years ago that the Maid of the Mist is a bit of a misnomer. You get drenched by the end of the 20 minute boat ride. The blue ponchos we were given to wear just could not hold back all the wind and the rain of the waterfalls.

Totally worth it!

So with my DSLR sheltered deeply under the stroller I took out our waterproof point and shoot. There is many things about that camera I just have not liked. For one, I was planning to get a another lens for my DSLR but Mike had the idea of buying a waterproof camera instead, thinking of all the fun we would have with it on such trips like this. He bought it with a fully returnable policy though. That is how he talks me into things I am reluctant to buy. If there's no strings attached and I'm not left with an item I don't like in the end, then I am willing to give it a try. And I have to say, the man was right {and much smarter than an accountant - see comment section of my last post, hehe}! The waterproof camera has been fun!

{more to come of the other ways we've used it on this vacation}

Jill, Michelle, me, and Diane.
note to self: tell Mike to make sure the lens is wiped clean of any water droplets before taking a picture.
{Okay, that's my last crack toward my husband about his photo taking skills. I really love it when he takes pictures.}

{This photo was taken by Michelle's nice camera. I had to be sure the credit didn't go to the cheapo point and shoot.}

Niagara Falls Vacation: A Morning in the Park

It's hard to pick what my favorite part of this trip was, but definitely at the top of that list was the morning we spread out a couple blankets in the open grassy area of the State Park on the American side and settled in for a morning of socializing, laughing, and watching the children play.

The Hydro Babies
(left to right): Tyler, Elijah, Isaac, Elisabeth, Matthew, Cayman, and Owen

Diane and Tyler.

I love this next series of photos...watch this...

Elisabeth spots the football Owen is holding (which I think he stole from Tyler anyways)...

And she steals it...

But uh-oh, Owen is not looking too happy about it.


However, Mike has his own opinion as to why Owen was upset about the football.
Listen closely...

Did you catch that? The color of the football is all wrong, Mike says.

Cayman loved playing with all the other kids. In fact she loved receiving all that constant attention so much that by the time we got home we had one very spoiled kiddo on our hands.

Cayman playing peek-a-boo with Elijah.

Elijah.

Megan and Cayman.

Cayman and Matthew (her betrothed) cuddling.




Apparently Cayman is not a one-man kind of girl because she was found cuddling with Owen as well.



Matthew was found playing the field too, as he hooked arms with Elisabeth and snuggled in close.




Cayman and Owen.

Cayman endlessly gave fist pumps to anyone who asked for one.

The group shot of the siblings.
I thought about sticking just my belly into the frame of the shot so I could contribute to the photo but decided to be less tacky and just wait for the next Hydro gathering that we have in a year or two then our kid can stand in for himself (or herself).



And there's the Hydro Mom's.
{Photo taken by my very talented husband...talented in electrical engineering that is. Not photography. I have been trying to give him lessons but that's too "crafty" for him. Besides, he says the problem is with my camera, not him. Right, Mike!}