Niagara Falls

Neither Matt nor I had never been to Niagara Falls. When we travel, we like to experience new places together. So, when we started discussing destinations for a 30th birthday weekend getaway for me - it was naturally one of our options. In September we made our plans, booked our flights and said - boy, I hope Katie will tolerate us disappearing for 2.5 days. Better yet - can we make it an entire weekend without her? The good news - we all survived! :-)

Matt and I had a wonderful trip. The falls are absolutely one of God's amazing creations. Matt and I went to the Winter Festival of Lights when we arrived on Friday which included fireworks over the falls. Saturday we toured as much as we could including Rainbow Bridge, Skylon Tower, Journey Behind the Falls, and dinner at a restuarant overlooking the falls. It was a jam packed day that we thoroughly enjoyed.

I found myself in awe most of the weekend. The thunderous sound of the falls is intimidating, the mist is both frustrating and beautiful (frustrating because it prevents you from seeing all the falls - and beautiful because its mysterious nature), and the size of the falls is just overwhelming. I know the pictures cannot do it justice, but below are some of my best efforts.

Fireworks from Friday night.

View of the full moon over the falls from the window of our hotel room.

Horshoe Falls from the top of Skylon Tower. To give you an idea of the size of the falls, look at the size of the cars on the street.

The US Falls are smaller, but still very impressive!

The two of us splitting the falls. US Falls on the left, Canadian Falls (aka The Horseshoe Falls) on the right.

The US Falls - with Bridal Veil falls over to the far right.

Before our dinner out on Saturday Night. The Hotel was already in full Christmas mode! :-)


Canada is so similar to the US culturally that its hard to tell you aren't in your home country. One dead giveaway is that "restrooms" aren't "restrooms" in Canada - they are "Washrooms."

Back in Richmond - Katie spent Friday with Matt's Dad, Popa - and Aunt Katherine and Claire stopped by for a little play date. Then my parents had Katie for Saturday and Sunday until Matt and I arrived home. According to all reports - it went relatively well.

My parents brought Katie to the airport. When I saw her I rushed over to get her out of her stroller. She first looked at me as if she was totally confused. Then she said "mama" and put her arms around my neck for the biggest hug in the world. For the next 15 minutes, she wouldn't let me put her down - not that I wanted to. We were both so happy to see one another. She hasn't let Matt or I get very far away for the past couple of days. I guess its a good thing I took vacation this week and Matt is home most of the day.

I just wanted to say thank you to all the grandparents and aunts who helped out this weekend. Also the biggest thank you to my husband for giving me a wonderful birthday weekend. It was nice to just be a couple again - away from the stress of work, home, and life with a 15 month old.