Family Time

Anna and Jamie got to play with Ariane and Madeline so much during our visit at Chris' house. They played dress-up and "princess ball" and jumped on the trampoline. They were also willing to pose for a few photos. :) - Connie

NYC, July 25

On Wednesday, we walked around Times Square, got lunch from street vendors, and took the girls to a huge Toys R Us store.

Then we headed to the New Amsterdam Theater for a matinee showing of Mary Poppins.

After the show (which was fantastic) we went to the "Top of the Rock" (Rockefeller Center) for some amazing views of the city.

After our fun (and exhausting) two days in the city, we headed back to my brother's house via the train... arriving at about 9:40 pm. The kids fell asleep in the car. :) Connie

NYC, July 24

We took the train into the city on Tuesday morning and stayed overnight into Wednesday. Chris and his girls went with us for the first day (they were very helpful in teaching us to navigate the city via subway). After depositing our bags at our hotel we headed to the waterfront and tried some *delicious* "pretzel croissants".

We were near the site of the 9/11 tragedy. In the photo below, there is a piece of artwork (formerly a perfect sphere) that used to stand in front of the World Trade Center towers. In the background you can see the two new towers being built. It was really emotional to be there.

Then we took the Staten Island ferry across the water and back, giving us some great views of the city and the Statue of Liberty.

Afterwards, we headed to the Metropolitan Museum of art, where they had a fantastic gallery of artifacts and artwork from ancient Egypt... mummies, marble statues, hieroglyphics, etc.

:) Connie

Cousins!

We arrived at my brother's house in NY on July 21st. The next day, we all headed down to my Uncle Bob and Aunt Ginny's house for a family picnic. Our girls had the chance to play with all of their first and second cousins on my side of the family. Here's a picture of the cousins in the pool:

From left to right: Julia (6), Ariane (almost 14), Anna (almost 6), Jamie (4), Madeline (almost 12), Georgia (2), Abby (9), and Emma (7).

So fun to see everyone! After spending the whole afternoon hanging out on the back deck, we had a campfire and made s'mores in the evening. :) Connie

Niagara Falls

We had heard that the view of Niagara Falls was better on the Canadian side of the falls, but we were concerned about bringing the camper across the US/Canadian border. Since you're not supposed to bring any food across the border, it would mean emptying out all of our cabinets, refrigerator, and freezer in the camper. When we arrived at the falls, we parked on the US side and walked to the horseshoe falls (the larger of the two major falls in the Niagara river). Although very impressive, you have to see the falls from the side, so you don't get the full view.

Fortunately, there was a trolley bus that took us to the Rainbow Bridge that crosses into Canada. We crossed on foot (playfully leaping over the border several times) and purchased an "Adventure Pass" in Canada. It gave us tickets to four attractions: 1) ride on Maid of the Mist boat up to the falls, 2) Journey Behind the Falls (a tunnel that allows you to go underneath the falls), 3) Niagara's Fury - Creation of the Falls (an interactive video ride with weather effects), and 4) White Water Walk (a walk on a boardwalk near the class 6 rapids downriver from the falls).

View from the Rainbow Bridge:

Looking up at horseshoe falls from the Maid of the Mist:

James and the girls in their blue rain ponchos:

We decided *not* to do the "over the falls in a barrel" tour!

Behind the falls:

The views and experiences were spectacular and well worth the walk across the bridge into Canada. :) Connie

Big Fish!

James has been fishing at lots of the rivers and ponds near the campgrounds throughout the summer. He hasn't had many bites... until he used some pieces of our leftover chicken dinner on the hook... then he caught this enormous fish within seconds!

:) Connie

Cedar Point

On July 16-17th, we stayed at the campground attached to Cedar Point ("the best amusement park in the country"). We had 2-day park passes for the main park and the water park. In addition to doing the rides, we saw two shows (one x-games trick show with half-pipes, skateboards, bikes, roller blades, acrobatics, etc, and the other one was a Peanuts themed ice show). We also had a lot of fun at the water park… wave pool, lazy river, sprayground, etc.

Sometimes we took turns watching the kids so Mommy and Daddy could ride the grownup rides (including a few black double-diamond 5-rated roller coasters!). Woohoo! :) Connie