Weekend in Niagara Falls

As usual I'm a bit behind in the blog world, but what's new!  Mom came into town a couple weeks ago and we drove up to Canada to the Niagara Falls area for a couple days, and it was just what the doctor ordered.  The drive itself really went pretty quick except for the 4 year old in the backseat asking "Are we there yet?" every 5 minutes, along with the 60mph speed limit, but other than that it was an uneventful drive up.  I was actually surprised to see so many farms, I'm not sure what I expected but for some reason I expected more 'stuff'.  Our hotel ended up being the perfect location, walking distance to plenty of restaurants, across from a casino, and had a great view of the Falls!

View from the hotel room.

 After getting checked in and relaxing for a few we were off to sight see.  Our first stop, per mom's request was to go up the yellow elevator to the top of the Skylon Tower.  I'm not the biggest fan of heights but I toughed it out (as well as Ian, b/c he was for real about to take the chicken exit!) and boy am I glad I did, the view of the falls from up there was amazing! 



Skylon Tower



View from the top of the tower.



The next morning we enjoyed breakfast at the hotel and then we were off for the day.  Mom and Ian had an especially exciting start to the day because they took a helicopter ride over the Falls.  My mom loves this kind of stuff, but I was so surprised that Ian wanted to do this, he like me hates flying but he was eager to go.  I had no desire, I am way too much of a chicken, and therefore I was content staying safe on the ground with Maddie.  However, I'm pretty sure if Maddie didn't have her distraction, she would loved to have taken the ride with them!

Waiting for the helicopter to arrive.

Picture before they load up and take off.

Our last major 'touristy' (pretty sure that's not a real word) thing we did was to take the boat ride Maid of the Mist out to the Falls.  We donned our pretty blue poncho's and I must say this was a favorite part of our trip.  I would definitely go again if we ever make it back to Niagara Falls.  I thought Maddie would love this part, I think she had mixed emotions.  She was excited at first, but once the water started spraying us she wasn't very happy.  She spent the remainder of the boat ride hiding under Ian's poncho.

We spent the rest of the day walking around the town, shopping in little shops, taking turns going to the casino, enjoying some mediocre overpriced food, and just relaxing.  Overall, the trip was a success and a much need get away for all of us.  This has been a long summer to say the least and it was nice just to get away and forget all of our troubles for a few days!!