after our time with les-o-lie on the shire, we went back to batavia, to await the arrival of derek’s parents. they drove up from nc to niagara falls, where we met them for a day of doing super touristy stuff.
just as we got in line to ride the maid of the mist, it began to rain. i guess it’s not that big of a deal, since we would get drenched at the bottom of the falls a few minutes later. but, we still attempted to stay sort of dry…
it’s no secret that the american side of the falls is less beautiful. but, we weren’t super interested in crossing the border on canada day.
hazel wasn’t super excited about all the mistiness. but she did let me take a good selfie.
it was hard to get pics, between holding hazel, wearing rain ponchos, and keeping my phone dry. but it was amazing.
isaac and derek and grampa stayed on the deck below, while the girls all went up top, where it’s much more wet. girl selfie:
more falls.
hazel selfie. she’s pretty grumpy at this point.
anna thought it was all pretty fun, even if her attempts to stay dry were futile.
hazel.
gramma, always the educator.
one last hazel and mom selfie.
hazel was slow to recover from the trauma. and slow to forgive.
on the deck below, these two provided a brief moment of not fighting, or whining, or pouting.
we walked along the american side on the way out.
this kid has no fear.
all the other tourists.
after our visit, we went to donatello’s pizzeria, for WAY too much pizza and wings.
the grandlidboms had plans to stay in lockport to ride the erie canal the next day, so we rode out to lockport with them, and then decided to check out some sites there. we found the erie canal exploration museum (i think that was the name), and it was really pretty cool, considering it’s a museum about a canal. the kids loved this giant screen where you moved your boat through a series of locks.
anna played dressup. and even posed for a picture in front of this painting of the opening of the five locks in lockport.
after our museum stop, we wandered out to the canal, where we found this photobooth.
and quite possibly the MOST delicious ice cream shop i’ve ever been to.
it was called lake effect ice cream and everything was homemade and they had a TON of interesting flavors. in the end, i went with the “el guapo” artisan sundae, size large, and it did NOT disappoint.
everyone was a fan.
the shop was very cute too and i loved these three paintings (not to mention the wall color!).
from there, the locks were just a staircase away, so we had to check them out. it was mostly terrifying, trying to keep a busy, crazy toddler from dying.
she could safely view from behind bars in some spots.
after our wanderings, derek’s parents went to their hotel, while we made our way back to batavia to await their arrival the next day.