The Indiana Family Invade Western New York

We had company the last two days . . . well, not company that stays with you, but the kind that visit and stay in a hotel . . . I like that kind of visitor. That way they can get themselves organized in the morning, and get ready for bed at their own speed. If we had a home with bedrooms up and down, along with baths, then it would make company easier. We only have one bathroom and that makes it hard for everyone to get ready in the morning. And, besides, not everyone can wake up in the middle of the night and find the bathroom in a strange home . . . and add stairs to the mix and it can become a REAL trick :)

That said, it was a FAST two days. Matt (my youngest nephew) and his family arrived on Saturday night. They thought they might stay overnight on the road, but when the driving went faster than they thought, they made it from Indiana in one driving day.

We already had plans with them to attend a Buffalo Bisons game. The boys love baseball and they are Indianapolis Indians fans and, as luck would have it, the Bison were playing the Indians. BEST part of the game . . . a ball was hit right to our seats and Matt caught it with his right hand . . . impressed the H-E-Double Toothpicks out of the people around him. None of them knew he has lived and breathed baseball since he could hold a ball :) But, I must admit, it was still pretty awesome!

You can tell by the seats we weren't exactly in a place for a ball to land :)

I call this me "getting ready for the picture" picture.

Don't they take a  GREAT family photo?
It is even better considering I could
barely see through the view finder
so this shot, and a lot of the others posted,
were shot with my fingers crossed.

First Niagara Falls pix . . . the boys and Nikolai Tesla.

Before you get to the elevator to go down to the Cave of the Winds,
the line passes through this section where Kodak takes your pix,
with a background of Bridal Veil Falls
(which is where the Cave of the Winds will lead you).
While the fam were getting this pix taken, I took one.
This way, they didn't have to buy the one from Kodak.

Caught on the journey to the elevator
which takes you down to the Cave of the Winds,

If you look REAL CLOSE, you can see the top of Julie's head
behind the lady in the white shirt.

While the fam was doing the "Cave,"
I took this picture and the next three.
You can see how the Niagara River
had some pretty good waves for the Maid of the Mist boat ride.

American Falls with little Bridal Veil Falls
the closest one to us,

Just look at the power in that water going over the falls!
Oh, the fenced in area that shows on the front right of the falls
is usually accessible. Not this year.
The husband said they were having some trouble with erosion here
 so they are trying to fix it to maintain this "look out"
Hum, erosion with running water?
Isn't that how Niagara Falls was made?

First Family Pix of the day with The Falls and
 the Maid of the Mist tower in the background.

Just look at the boys expressions.
One can tell that they were enjoying themselves.

This is the scene the fam was standing in front of.
Pretty nice, huh?

"M" peeping into Canada.
"C" wanted to know is he could see his hand.
What a pair :)

"C" Getting his turn,
This reminds me of a submarine captain.
"Up Scope."

 These two pictures show the "Wisteria patio" 

outside of the Visitors Center.

The pictures don't even come close

to the beauty in person.

The husband making a "potty stop.".

"E" chillin' on the green.

 "J" playing "walnut ball" with "C".

 "C" playing "walnut ball" with "J".

"J" getting onto the "Toonerville Trolly"
for our ride to the aquarium.
These little trains are a god send.
Aunt Paula gets to rest her tired body . . . LOLOL

"C" waiting for the show to get on the road.

Two special men who both have pieces of my heart.

Wherever she went,
"E" enthralled people.

An unposed family pix.

"J" and her happy baby "E".

 Harbor seals in their outside pool.

Coming up to great us.

Looks like a "devil seal" since the eyes didn't photograph well.

 I wanted to "capture" the seals swimming.

It was SO RELAXING watching them.

 My brother, "M"'s dad, is a fisherman. 

I took these two photos to show him

that he is memorialized in the aquarium.

"I can see Canada from my home."
My homage to Sarah Palin and her view of Russia.

The crane in the background is being used for the building
of a winter dock/storage area for the American Maid of the Mist.
The huge bolder on the left is a climbing wall.

 Again, I took a trial run picture, only this time,

 no practice pix . . . I got lucky and both pix were good.

This is the vies behind the last two fam pictures.

Maid of the Mist, here we come ! ! ! ! !
All dressed up and ready.

"E" and "J" discussing what is going on.

"You mean I am REALLY going to get wet?"

 Two views of the American Falls

American Falls . . . we could see the mist coming off the falls
for a couple of miles before we got there. 

Bridal Veil falls . . .  you get to it via The Cave of the Winds."
If you are brave enough, you wan walk under it and get drenched.
And, if you are wondering,
I walked under it and got drenched
when "M"'s mom and dad visited.

 "J" and "M" were so thrilled with this boat ride.

Don't the eyes say it all?

If you look REAL CLOSE,
you can see the people walking on the decking and ramps
that lead to Bridal Falls
and the Hurricane Deck.

Don't you winder how anyone could survive
going over the falls with all of the rocks below it?

"M" kidded the boys about the red on this rock."
The rock on the left had an orange-ish color on its right side.
"M" said that was where someone hit when they went over the falls
and that the red was the blood they left there.

The wind from the falls bloing the husband's hair.

Horseshoe Falls and it's massive mist cloud.

"M"'s raincoat shows you how windy it was on the boat.

"J" in front of my mist speckeled lens.

"C", "J: and "M" getting "misted."

 The family through the left over mist on the lense.

Just look at those faces . . . I think they liked it :)

A pooped "E" waiting on her dad and brothers
to come out of WalMart in Niagara Falls, New York.
She was such a trooper today and yesterday at the ball park.