Next Stop: Niagara!

My feet are swollen. I look down at my pudgy toes and wonder, where did my ankles go? The good news is that despite my unattractive legs, our family has finally made it safely back to Illinois. Hooray!

When anticipating the long drive from Illinois to Utah, Vermont, and back, Jason and I contemplated flying me out so that I wouldn't have to spend so much time in the car while eight and a half months pregnant. I find it slightly ironic that in the end, I'm the only adult that actually drove the entire way. My mom drove out to Vermont with us, but stayed for a conference in Toronto. At the last minute, Jason decided to work in New York for a couple of weeks, so he also escaped the long drive home. Fortunately, I have a wonderful sister who drove back to Illinois with the girls and I, arranging for a flight back to Seattle out of Champaign instead of Albany.

Seeing as to how we are both slightly less than five feet tall, Callie and I have never been physical giants. Despite our small statures, we have always been drawn towards adventure. Driving home from Vermont, we were once again seduced by the siren call. Most people would consider the drive to Illinois with two young children and a pug adventure enough, but we decided to embellish the journey. Passports in hand, we took a detour at Buffalo to explore the Canadian side of Niagara Falls. Here are a couple of pictures as proof:


My daughters can now boast about having been in eleven states and two countries since their return from France a month ago... My goodness, how will I ever impress them later?

All in all, it was a beautiful day, and I'm glad that we visited this amazing wonder. However, I also learned that there is no such thing as a "short" visit to Niagara. Simply getting from the parking lot to the Falls with two overtired girls required extreme patience and physical stamina.

In the end, we didn't stay long, nor venture very far. Still, I consider the visit successful since we didn't lose any children or pets over the ledge. It was really interesting for me to spend time among the crowds with Zoe, the pug. I used to think that people crooned over little kids, but I've since changed my opinion. If you want some attention, get a cute dog! Everybody ooohed and aaahed. The following conversation with a stranger seemed to encapsulate the situation.

Stranger: Oh, what a great pug! What's her name?
Callie: Zoe.
Stranger: We have a pug too.
Brooklyn (piping in): My name's Brooklyn. I'm four years old. This is my sister Talia.
Stranger (Dismissively): Oh, that's nice... So how old's the pug?

Good thing we love them all!