Spring Break in Niagara Falls

Julie laughs as we start our trip from Michigan to Niagara Falls Canada. She was trying to hand me her "blankie and monkey" so that I could get some rest with them since she was done with them at this point.

Jess sports some stylish glasses while riding in between Joey and Jocie in the back seat of the car (Brooke and Jenny were sitting in the front seat since I had to work on the trip out there).

After 7 hours in the car, we arrive at our destination in Canada. GWL in Niagara Falls sits right across the street from the Niagara River's "Whirlpool Rapids" and the famous 100 year old "Spanish Aero Car" that rides above the whirlpool on six steel cables.

Here Jocie stands on the world's largest Adirondack folding chair.

Morning sun reflected off the carpet created a brilliant under lighting effect on Jess and Jocie's faces as they ate bananas while Daddy worked on conference bridges for work for the first and second days of our vacation.

Ooohhh... Yum.

Jocie was even willing to share a bite with Daddy.

By the third day, I was able to break free from work and spend some pool time with the family. Here Jess and JL sit in the wave pool (3 - 4 waves in rapid succession for a 10 minute period and then 15 - 20 minutes of calm).

Jess shows me her tongue...

The Pike Clan in the pool.

Not long after the last picture was taken, the wave machine started and caught Jocie by complete surprise when the first one slammed into her back and I just happened to catch it on camera... this is one of JL's all time favorite shots.

After rescuing her daughter from near-peril, Jocie and JL rest in the shallow end of the wave pool far away from the large "rollers" that caught Jocie off guard.

Julie really enjoyed running around the toddler's pool as it was the perfect depth for her as seen here.

JL and Julie got to spend a bunch of time having long walks in the pool and intellectual conversations about Canadian culture, the impacts of hydroelectric power generation's water diversion on the falls, and about why Mom, Dad, and Brooke got to have blue ice-cream the night before after all the kids were supposed to be asleep in bed.

Julie thought JL's explanation that the blue ice cream leads to the bluish colored hair seen in the elderly was very funny and almost fell for the misleading lie.... almost.

Here Julie checks to make sure none of her siblings are looking before mom takes her and gets some desert for the two of them...

A happy Julie runs out of the pool with mom in tow.

Hours later, Julie can lifting one of the heavy logs that support the lodge's massive foundation. Who knew that 1/2 cup of superman ice-cream could lead a sub-20 point 1 year old to lift such amazing weights?

Julie compares different size balls... I think she was making sure they contained sufficient inertial dampening to prevent excessive elasticity from forcing a premature departure from the test subject.... i.e.: it bouncing away.

A happy Joey spent the entire morning in the hot tub researching the "prune theory" that his parents had tried tirelessly to convince him he'd turn into if he spent too much time there... in the end, we drove home with a raisin for a son on the return home.

Yes... Jess really needs to see the dentist... and soon. Who knew that eating oatmeal and fresh veggies could do this to a child? We instantly reversed our parenting tactics and got her as much sugar containing food as possible and were surprised to see an all white smile return.... must be a Canadian thing....

A rare glimpse at Jocie as she came up for air in the pool. We think she may have turned into a dolphin at one point. She was impossible to remove from the water. Later, she figured out that during her "land" excursions she could dump buckets of water on Mommy, Daddy, and Brooke. She rapidly became the "terror of the skies" at the GWL.

Here Jocie receives some "pampering" of her own. JL treated Jocie and Jess to a day at the kid's spa at the GWL. Jocie was fascinated by the pampering process... just what we need now for our little princess... an expectation of pampering.

Here the girls sit admiring their pedicures.

The whole family gets to enjoy the chair that Jocie and I found the first day.

Jess gives us her sign of approval (thumbs up) at the Rainforest Cafe.

A cute moment shared between Jess and Brooke.

Here was our "volcano" desert complete with fireworks.

A passed out pair.

Hanging out in the pool on a lillypad, Joey, Jess, and Jocie try to maintain their positions while mom and Julie try to attack.

Sitting as kings/queens on the pad.

Real characters? If you look behind them, you can see mom sneaking up from behind them and to spill them all off.

JL and Jocie snuggle in the water after being spilled. Jocie has some orange paint on her face after being stamped with a mark denoting her size to the lifeguards running the rides (to prevent her from going on rides she's too little for) and later deciding to rub her face with the hand that had been stamped.

Here is a view of the wave pool at the lodge's 72,000+ square feet of indoor water park.

Joey runs up the stairs into the fort at the water park.

A view from our hotel room of the Horseshoe and American Falls.

Jocie overlooks the American Falls in Niagara Falls, Canada

Our family as we get ready to go up in the "Sky Wheel". (note: I'm holding Julie while taking this picture, hence her absence).

The Niagara Falls "Sky Wheel"

A morning view of the Falls.

A view looking up at the falls

A final parting shot of our family before heading home at the end of a wonderful vacation (Joey was too busy exploring the views to be a part of the shot, unfortunately).