Our Trip: Part IV: Niagara Falls, etc.

On the drive home from Massachusetts, we decided to go the shorter route through Canada, which took us right through Niagara Falls. It was just about 1/2 way home so we decided we would stay the night there and go see the falls. So first up, a few pictures of the troopers in the car.

The graham crackers were truly a life saver in the car.Tab and Benton being their normal goofy selves.The boys were very inventive and spent quite some time playing games under a blanket.Tab's preferred way to sleep in the car. I'm guessing that it blocked out the sun. I don't know about Jason but I'm pretty sure we felt the same way when we were there. All I can say is thank heavens for digital cameras. I can't imagine had I used film and had to pay to develop the 5 million pictures I took. I felt like I was a little kid, completely in awe. I think that the falls were one of the most magnificent, majestic, absolutely incredible things that I have ever seen.

I somehow managed to convince Jason to shell out the $13 a ticket to ride the Maid of the Mist. I think I got him with the part where all kids 6 and under are free!So we all donned our blue rain coats and stepped aboard. I love how they had the teeny tiny one for Paisley.The kids all thought they were pretty neat.Here come the Falls. I was just amazed at all of the birds sitting on the water as we got closer and closer. It was incredible. One second it was calm the next it was so windy and misty. Getting closer.Over some dude's shoulder. Holy cow isn't it amazing. I was seriously in awe. The horseshoe as best as I could get it.Um, did I mention that I took 5 million pictures because I totally did.
After we got off of the boat we took some rickety stairs that go right up the side of the Falls.
I just wanted to try to get a picture of just how much mist these things put off.A picture from the observation deck.Checking out the Falls.Bring mommy a flower.Pais sure had a good time.Here she is thanking me.Just being cute.
Tab enjoyed chasing the birds. I think we all thoroughly enjoyed ourselves.
And finally, headed back into the use. Welcome to Michigan, home (well, temporarily anyways) of the Crellins!

Our Trip: Part III Massachusetts

Following our short stay in Philly we headed up to Massachusetts to Jason's parent's house.
We mostly spent a lot of time chilling. When it finally decided to act like summer, we took the kids outside to play. Benton loved this huge ball.Paisley once again LOVED the grass.Tab loved throwing balls at his dad.And generally having his undivided attention.Benton had a blast banging on this drum.Tab begs grandma to play with the gun guys every time we visit. These were daddy's G.I. Joes when he was a kid. Pais had plenty to play with too.Speaking of Pais. This is how we found her one morning. For those of you who know Paisley at all, she HATES her stomach, so this was pretty interesting.
I just had to include this because it was a pretty good picture of her two top teeth, which are pretty new.
Benton got his grubby paws on grandpa's ipod after his run and was quite enjoys the tunes.
Pais thought grandma's wet hair was pretty funny. Grandma has this vibrating thingy for your back and Benton discovered it. I think he would have laid there forever with that thing on his back.I think that we had the most fun going to the aquarium. I've never been to an aquarium like this one in Mystic before. First thing we did was "pet" the stingrays.I thought for sure that Benton would be terrified be he reached right in. I think that I was more hesitant than he was. They had a bird house that you could go inside and feed the birds. It was AWESOME!Tab loved it to.Benton was a little bit more timid.These birds were so colorful and gorgeous.He got to handle some sea starts and crabs.Then we got to "pet" some sharks.
Jason and I met up with an old friend of Jason and went rock climbing.Probably the most fun we had was at the Red Sox game. Jason's dad managed to scrounge up some tickets for us.
Of course we had to get our Fenway Franks before the game.Ok, so they were italian sausages.We had an awesome time.It is crazy how close we were. We were about 5 rows back off of the third base line.I thoroughly enjoyed myself.
The stadium was amazing. I think that I spent about as much time looking around the stadium as I did watching the game.

Our Trip: Part II Philadelphia

The whole reason we went East for vacation was Jason's Board Exam that was held in Philadelphia. So we left my parents house, sniff sniff, and headed to Philly. We only spent one night there but the kids loved it. The boys LOVE staying in hotels. I don't know if it is the TV or the new beds or what, but they love it. I guess it didn't hurt that there was a pool where we spent most of our evening.

Miss P's hung out with Daddy on the stairs most of the time.The boys tried to rough daddy up.
And Tab enjoyed showing us his new swimming skills. He was jumping backwards off of the ladder and then rolling over to swim. He is getting much better. Unfortunately he thinks he is much better than he is, so we are going to have to keep a super close eye on him this summer.