New York Trip, day 3

We cut through Canada on the way home and go right by Niagara Falls, so we stopped and spent the day there. We had been there 5 years ago in the winter, but this was the first time in the summer. Luckily all the attractions were free for 5 and under--which is all of the kids except Emma this year! :)

We took a tour bus around, and the kids thought that was just as exciting as the actual attractions.First stop was the Niagara Falls American power plant. Doesn't sound very exciting, but it really was amazing to see what a massive undertaking it was for them to partner with Canada and divert some of the Niagara River's flow into this gigantic underground tunnel and build this incredibly huge power plant to generate energy. The best part for the kids was the turbulence of the wind at the top overlooking the river. :)When we got to the attraction called Cave of the Winds, it was past Alex's naptime and he had had it. Three days without naps is a lot to handle for this little 3-year-old. He cried when we suited him up in the water sandals and poncho they give you, and whined while we waited in line. I thought we were going to have to call it quits after we were done there. They take you in an elevator down to the bottom of the Falls and let you climb up some stairs and onto platforms where you can get as wet as you want. The two boys wanted to get totally pummeled by the Falls, and afterward we had a new little Alex on our hands, full of vitality and silliness! The water totally woke him up and gave him a second wind. There were lots of places to go to view different parts of the Falls. It was all so beautiful!The Maid of the Mist attraction was last and all the kids were totally excited to ride on the boat. I couldn't believe how close to the Falls they took us. Despite the fact that they also issued us a poncho, we were all fairly soaked! The kids saw all the foam on the river and they asked why there was soap in the water.You exit from the attraction off the Observation Tower. You can see that Alex has had enough fun once again. :)At the end of the day we had some exhausted, but happy kids. They loved these little treat bags we put together for them with trail mix, candy, twizzlers, etc.We hadn't made a hotel reservation because we weren't sure how long we would stay, and most of the hotels were full. We finally found a great hotel with a room available. It had 2 queen beds, and they promised us a cot too. It still hadn't arrived at bedtime, so we just threw them all in the same bed. When the cot finally arrived at 10pm, they were all fast asleep!