Niagara Falls - New York

On Saturday, June 4th, we met the Wise family at Niagara Falls to see the US side of the falls.  Although the view is more inclusive from the Canadian side of the falls, the US side has it's own perspective.  On the New York side of Niagara Falls, we were able to get very close to the rushing water - in fact, it was almost unnerving to stand at the top of the falls within feet of the rushing water as it tumbled over the rocks.

The kids are standing in front of Bridal Veil Falls on the American side of the falls.  Behind them, in the background (partially obscured by the mist coming from Horseshoe Falls) is Ontario, Canada where we spent the previous day.

Then, because we like getting wet so much, we took the Cave of the Winds tour with the Wises. Again, they gave us little yellow ponchos (Jourdan and Jonathan saved their Maid of the Mist ponchos from the day before). They also gave us some lovely disposable sandals to wear so as to keep our personal shoes dry - good call. However, the ponchos (again) proved to be laughable as waterproof barriers. The force of the water just causes the ponchos to be blown up the body and you find yourself soaked. THIS, by far, was the wettest we got while exploring the falls.

 Jonathan and the kids braved The Hurricane Deck, which pretty much describes how it felt.  This is about as close to the falls as one can get without actually falling over them (which is not recommended).

And....this would be the aftermath.  The look on Julia's face says it all......they were SOAKED.  We were so glad to have brought more clothes in the car. Plus, thanks to our lovely accommodations (at the Wises) we were able to wash all of our smelly river-water clothes before our 7 hour drive back to Virginia the next day. 

We had a great time visiting our good friends.  It was so fun for Julia to be with Belinda.  And the boys had a great time trying to conquer the world on dual laptops.