Everyone Loved Marineland!

Ok...everyone sing! If you live anywhere near Niagara Falls or have cable that shoots their commercials to you, I'm playing off their theme song. It's been the same for as long as I can remember and has one of those singable tunes. Not too sure of some of the words but, 'Everyone loves Marineland!'

Our trip to Niagara Falls was a huge success and a great time was had by all!

We arrived Saturday night and checked into the hotel. It was about 8:00 but, 'I not be tired!' Our hotel was conveniently located only a couple of blocks from the falls so we decided to introduce the girls to the falls and all their beauty at night! We were not disappointed!

The lights on the falls were white for the majority of the time we were there which accented their amazing beauty. I am so thankful to live so close to this beautiful wonder that God created!

Highly contrasted to the natural beauty of the falls is the tourist portion of the city. Lit up much as I imagine Las Vegas is, it's crowded with tourist traps! Wax museums, arcades, candy stores and enough neon lights to give Vegas a run for it's money! Such a contrast in opposites, just blocks from the natural beauty of the falls. For me, I'll stick to the falls...and ummmm, the fudge at the candy store!

Saturday the girls slept until 8:00 then we headed to Denny's for breakfast. By 10:00 we were at Marineland and the fun began! It was an overcast day which seemed to threaten rain although it didn't rain a drop! The nice part was, it probably kept the crowds down. The girls were able to go on ride after ride without having to wait at all! This was great with the exception that Auntie Cathy's stomach ain't quite what it used to be so the twirlly, rocking ship that Victoria really liked left me with wobbly sea legs and spinning stomach for a minute or two afterwards. Oh well, it's all worth it in the name of fun and pssst...it was fun!

Rebecca is more timid when it comes to rides but she really enjoyed wandering amongst the deer in the deer petting area. I learned the hard way
last time that buying food to feed these cute little creatures should be left to either the very, very brave child or very tall adult! If these cute little guys even think you might have food you're quickly surrounded by 20 of them which can be quite intimidating to a child who meets them at eye level!

After a fun day of going on rides and watching shows we headed to the Rainforest Cafe for supper. We had a great table, right beside the elephants. Each half hour as the rainforest came to life with a thunderstorm, the elephants ears would wave, their eyes would blink, the larger elephants would move their trunks and their cries would ring out! The girls would tease and call to one another, 'Take cover' as they scooted for safety behind Grandma's chair! If you haven't been to a, 'Rainforest Cafe' it's a fun experience.

We ended our busy day with a couple of hours relaxing (yah...right!) beside the pool. The girls had a blast together! Rebecca had taught herself how to swin last year and Victoria was oh so close. It was amazing to see how much she inproved in just those 2 short hours and how her confidence grew. Before we left she was able to swim about 8 feet without putting her feet down! Sharon and I joined them part way through the evening so that we could take them into the deeper area where the dragon slide was. About 50 trips down the slide later we called it a night, hit the hot tub for a few minutes then headed back to the room.

Victoria had brought along some of her favourite DVD's so we plugged in the protable player, put in, 'Because of Winn Dixie' and relaxed out of sheer exhaustion, for the rest of the evening. At 10:00 we were jolted out of bed by the fireworks above the falls! We quickly hit the balcony and enjoyed watching them through the trees.

Monday the girls slept until almost 9:00! Guess we tuckered them out the day before. After breakfast at Tim's we hit the road on our way home. A stop at, 'Staples' to buy school supplies then drop off.

What a great weekend!!! Next adventure...Apple Picking Sleepover! Until then, Auntie Cathy rests up for our next weekend together.