The Trip - Part 10 - Niagara Falls

Day 12
When we woke up in the morning it was cool and rainy. As we drove toward the falls you could see what looked like billowing smoke meeting the clouds in the sky. As we got closer we realized it was just the mist from the falls, which we were able to see from miles away since it was so humid that day.

Most of the pictures are pretty foggy looking since it poured most of the time we were there but we really enjoyed the break from the heat that we had been enduring!





Benson and I had both been to the falls before and gone on the "Maid of the Mist" tour, but had heard from friends that the "Cave of the winds" was a far better way to see the falls. So, he and I took a couple of the bigger kids to do that rather than the boat ride - we were so not disappointed!! The cave of the winds was INCREDIBLE! If you ever go to Niagara - you HAVE to see it this way. Trust me. If you feel like you need to do Maid of the Mist then do both, you won't be disappointed.

As a bonus to the poncho you get when you do cave of the winds you also get these bad boys:



If that doesn't convince you, I don't know what will!
As I am sure you can imagine we got SOAKED, which also meant there was NO way the camera was coming out of the bag without it being drenched (bummer) but it was totally worth it. I can honestly say it was one of the coolest things I have ever done!



When we were done with the falls we drove over to Rochester to check into our hotel and still had time to attend the Hill Cumorah pageant that night which was really fun! I hadn't seen it in about 12 years and it's changed a lot, it was like seeing a whole new show.

Next up: Palmyra, NY

The Trip - Part 9 - Kirtland Ohio

Day 11
After a long drive the night before we arrived in Cleveland, Ohio - right outside of Kirtland.
Another beautiful place! There were wildflowers everywhere we went and bright orange lilies popping up all over the sides of the roads and highways.

We went to tour the Johnson Farm which was a really beautiful house - it's a little bit out of the way but definitely a must see if you're doing Kirtland!



On our way back to Kirtland from the farm I remembered that my grandma was born in Ohio so I called to see which city. I looked it up on the map and we were only a few minutes away from it! I wished we would have had more time to try and find the house she grew up in or at least the street, but we were on a schedule so I only had time to take a quick picture of the city sign.




After stopping for lunch we made our way over to the visitor's center and toured the replicas of the Newel K. Whitney store, as well as their house and the sawmill and ashery which were used in the building of the Kirtland temple.















We were able to see the Kirtland temple from the outside but got there too late for the tour.
We also drove over to the Issac Morley farm which was another beautiful, special little place we were glad we went to.



That night we watched the Kirtland pageant then were on our way again to the next destination

Next up: Niagara Falls

The Trip - Part 8 - Gettysburg & Our Celebrity Encounter

Day 10
On our way out of Washington D.C. we stopped at Ft. Mc Henry in Maryland where the 'Star Spangled Banner' was written. This was especially cool since just the day before we had seen THE flag that inspired our anthem at the Smithsonian.



From there, we started our journey toward Ohio, stopping along the way in Gettysburg. This civil war battle site was considered the turning point in the war, it also recorded the highest casualties and was the site of Lincoln's "Gettysburg Address" (obviously). It was a gorgeous area to drive around and incredible to read about the long hard battles that were fought there.




(the hole between the two diamond shapes in the side of this barn was formed by a canon ball during the Civil War)








As we were driving in to the parking lot of the visitor's center in Gettysburg to get a driving tour map Benson thought he recognized someone walking through the parking lot. He said "Isn't that..." "Paul Giamatti!" I finished.

So we parked and told his cousins what we thought we had seen. When we walked into the visitors center, sure enough, there he was with his son, now sitting and enjoying a snack. We all wanted to somehow document that we had seen him, but knowing that he probably didn't want to be disturbed by a large group of people we stood a little bit away and stared and whispered like a bunch of school kids. We were a little too obvious since he put his sunglasses on right before I took this paparazzi shot:



Aunt Laura decided she was brave enough to walk over and get his autograph so we all slowly went over and said a quick hello and headed along our way.

There was an older man sitting at the table with Paul and his son (seen in picture above) chatting with them and we all just assumed they were together. Then, when we went up and began talking to him the man said "oh are you famous or something!?" to which Paul replied "No, I'm just an actor"

We all thought it was pretty funny that the man had just sat down at the empty seat at his table and began talking to him having no idea who he was.

Next up: Kirtland Ohio

Ski Bums!

From our Halloween party last night - let the Halloween fun begin!

Fixing up our nest

That's right - we're remodeling again. If you can remember the last time we took on a re-model project in the beginning of the semester it lasted four months longer than expected. Well, this time is about the same; but if that means the results will be just as pleasing as the last - it will all be worth it!

Birthday Breakfast

Birthday Breakfasts are a new tradition for us - we just can't pass up chowing down on some Joe's Farm Grill (especially when it's free)! The best part is that Benson's birthday is only a week after mine so we're pretty spoiled for a few weeks.

Catching up

One day I'll finish posting the pictures from our big trip this summer...until then, here's some pictures from our trip (in August) to San Luis Obispo to visit Benson's brother Tanner. It is a gorgeous spot in California, probably one of my favorite places there!















While we were there we ate a LOT of delicious food!







We also visited Hearst Castle which was incredible. This is called the Neptune pool the columned structure along the back of the pool is an original structure moved from ancient Greece to this pool. They also had original artifacts from the pyramids in Egypt - to decorate their fountains of course.



This is the smallest guest house. It's only around 10,000 square feet.


The main house or the "Casa Grande"


The dining hall was used when the sets for the "great hall" for the Harry Potter movies were being created


The indoor Greek pool. The entire pool is 10 feet deep (no shallow end) with a diving platform built into the back wall (you can see it in the archway) and tiled with 1 inch blue and 24 karat gold tiles.