12 of 12 August

Earlier this week when the 12 of 12 reminder went off on my Blackberry, I was in quite a panic. What in the world would I include? After all, since our return from holidays we have been quite sluggish - perhaps it's the humid weather or the knowledge that things will be gearing up soon, but we've been terribly uninteresting. Perhaps a photo of laundry? piles of paper? any one of the children sleeping? How incredibly lame for a 12 of 12.

My dear husband came to my rescue ... though at the moment my aching feet would have preferred a different type of rescue - pedicure anyone?

What was to be a nice low-key day hanging around the house, flipping through Lands End and Pottery Barn catalogues mushroomed into a very active: "why don't we go to Niagara Falls?". Um, okay. You see, my husband had no clue that Wednesday was the 12th, and even if he did, the significance would not have registered. At all. But it fit in well with my panic and now I had a plan.

There were three places we decided to hit: Marineland (for Chloe who has been desperate to go, she loves dolphins, and, of course, still wants to be a mermaid); Maid of the Mist (the boat that goes under the falls, none of us have ever done it); a visit to Fort George (to watch reinactments of the War of 1812 - the Canadians won, did you know that?) Alas, that was a rather ambitious agenda, we spent our day at Marineland. Perhaps it was because we started late, perhaps it is because Marineland covers so much acreage I can't even find how big it is, but my feet do. They ache.

My day:
Dave's guys arrived to rip out the hedge. Huh? Who decided that? Turns out Louis had asked for a quote. No quote, but we have guys. Got a quote. A huge savings over the other two received - and this is the guy who does 95% of our yard work (Louis does the other 5%). Rip away. 100 feet of forsythia is icky. Trust me.

So much for my effort to not purchase anything this year! Sue over at JustCre8, much to my disappointment (but understanding), decided to pull the plug. I, of course, thought it my obligation to help her move her inventory. I know first hand how much it stinks to have inventory - anyone interested in Creative Memories product circa 2007? Anyway, I now have oodles of new stuff to play with ... yay!

This roller coaster was a HIT. Personally, I absolutely LOVE roller coasters, but until I'm the size of your average bear, I'm happy to just take the photos. Cole is in the last seat of the last car. In this clearing you could hear him, clearly, calling my name. Crack me up. Everyone around me thought it was fabulous! Claire (afraid of the loops) was not impressed. (Chloe is there, in the row ahead with her daddy - Caden and Olivia took the train that went through before this one).

What a group! Chloe's little buddy, Olivia joined us for the day and they all had a wonderful time. Well, when they weren't bickering. Which wasn't too often. But often enough to let me know that even though I didn't give birth to Olivia, she really is one of the family.

Yup. Claire is a screamer. Big time. Cole, he's a smiler. He loves all the thrill rides. I'm sure there is a message for me there somewhere.

Too cool in his shades. Caden is always, ALWAYS looking for a good time. And you know? He finds it. Good for him!

Cole can tell you everything about the Orca whale. EVERYTHING. I thought he was going to go out of his skin when the trainer started feeding the beast. She was very sweet taking her time with the younger ones during an earlier encounter when they ran over to the female Orca's pool (who was resting - which is dangerous. No rope, so no one knew).
A few more rides, a few more ice creams (no, not me, I had water), a few more KILOMETRES of walking and we ended up back at the main stage where we were able to catch the end of the big show with the dolphins. Chloe was thrilled! I took a quick pic and then ran to the gift shop to get Chloe a dolphin mug to remember her day.

Once we walked to the North 40 parking lot we decided to eat in the area and headed into Niagara Falls. The choices are OVERWHELMING! We settled on the Ruby Tuesday restaurant and were delighted to find a close parking space. This was the view driving down the main street. It is a crazy town. Very over-stimulating. Probably not the best choice for five kids ... and two old people at the end of a stimulating day!

Louis knows how to take it easy ... with a Mojito! His favourite drink.

After dinner we walked down the street ... down as in down the hill, walked as in yes, more walking to The Falls. It was JAMMED with people. Crushing mob. It's no wonder why. The Falls, day or night are absolutely spectacular.

By the time we left it was around 9:30PM and we thought, wrong, that it would be a quick trip home. Normally the drive is about 50 minutes. Today the drive was 90 minutes due to construction on the QEW around Stoney Creek. Holy smokes. THAT was not fun. But we did, eventually make it home. Olivia was delivered to her home. We then melted into chairs and beds throughout the house.

Chloe poured me my first glass of wine and Cole has just brought me my second. Gotta love the service in this joint!

Before we left the park today, I coughed up the extra $5 per person to invest in Season Passes. The season ends on Thanksgiving Weekend (October 11th). There was so much we didn't get a chance to see and they want to go back - plenty of time between now and October, right? I didn't want to have to pay the little less than $40 per person so everyone has a chance to go back. My feet can't be hurting too badly that I'm even considering a return visit :) I was thrilled to find a place that appeals to all four of my kids. THAT made it all worthwhile.

I hope you all had a lovely day. And, if you published your 12 of 12, let me know so that I can take a look!