Palmyra

Thursday was our final day of fun.  We drove from Niagara over to Palmyra NY to see the Hill Cumorah Pagaent

 We visited the mounment at the top of the hill.

 The Palmyra Temple.  As a side note you'll see that my kiddos were attached to their animal friends during our trip, this was fine by me.  So Little Fella, who is always carried by Jax, and Mr. Frog (yep we're orginal) who was carried by Kenna, also saw all the historic sites.

 We visited the Smith family's property, this is a replica of their first log home here.

 And of course the sacred grove.  For more on why we believe this place to be so special click here

This is outside of the replica of the Peter Whitmer home.  Behind the house is a small orchard that you can also walk through, while in the orchard Jax decided he needed to go to the bathroom and didn't tell me.  I turned around to find my little boy showing all his little boy parts to a whole bus full of older tourists who were also in the orchard. Charming.

Niagara Falls

The next day we left bright and early to go over to Niagara Falls.

I love natural wonders like Niagara Falls, it always reminds me of God's power and love. 

Again we packed a lot into our one day there.

Of course we walked around the national park admiring the Falls and the incredible surrounding area.

Both of my kids were impressed.  I just wish they were old enough that they would be able to remember this experience.

We did the vistors center and watched the IMAX movie about the history/legend of the Falls.  Some amazing things have happened there. A few people have even survived going over the falls, crazy!

Then we took a boat ride on the Maid of the Mist, which takes you right up to the Falls.  Again it was amazing!

My two little smurfs.

It's hard to get good pics there because of all the mist and you don't want to get your camera wet.

Then a few of us hiked around getting even closer to the Falls.

We visited a small but fun little aquarium.

Then we did the Cave of the Winds tour.  It actually isn't a cave at all anymore but you are able to get very close and personal with the Falls and it was very fun.

I can't take credit for the pics though, because most of them my dad took.

I'm not sure why so many of my pics look fuzzy on here, anyone else have that problem?

They have one deck where if you go on you will get drenched.  Jaxson and I braved the down pour and he had a blast.  He would have stayed in that area all day had I let him.  Even with our ponchos we were soaked afterwards.

He was one very wet but very happy boy!

I went back to the hotel early with the kiddos but my parents, sister and her husband stayed out to visit the Canadain side, and see the falls illuminated at night. 

Cedar Point

When you vacation with my family every day is a jam packed adventure.  On Tuesday we went to Cedar Point which is one of the best amusement parks in the world.  It was amazing!

 This is our favorite ride, the Top Thrill Dragster. It goes from 0 to 120 mph in 4 seconds and takes you 420 feet up! Wow! It was insane but awesome at the same time.

I owe a HUGE thank you to my mom who stayed home with my kiddos all day so I could actually enjoy the park.  We had a blast!

Independence Day!

Monday was the 4th of July.  To celebrate we first headed out to Amish country.

We always have a good time out there.  It's fun and refreshing at times to learn more about and witness their unquie lifestyle.

Then we explored downtown Cleveland a little.

We even ventured into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, we just went in the front doors we didn't pay the $22 per person to do the whole thing.

Then we went to the big highlight of the day, the baseball game.  And not just any baseball game, a sold out Yankee game.

It was a great way to celebrate our indenpendence.  I am SOOO thankful to live in this country!

 A few shots of the game, of course we had to have one a Jeter since he's our favorite player, as Jaxson will tell you.

And A. Rod.  The only bad part was that the Yankees lost.

It was kind of long for the kiddos but for the most part they had fun, despite the look on their faces.

Then afterwards we watched a very good firework show.  I've never been so close to the fireworks before, we actaully had little pieces of firework fall on us from time to time.  I wish I had taken some pics of my kiddos faces, it was like magic to them.

Church Sites

The next day we headed out to historic Kirtland to visit some church history sites.

We did the tour at the John Johnson Farm

Then did a tour at beautiful Kirtland. My favorite is the Newel K Whitney Store. I love it here! I haven't been able to go do a full tour without my kiddos for a while and it was great to really be able to focus on the wonderful spirit there.

Then we ended with the best tour I've ever done at the Kirtland Temple.

I feel blessed that we have lived so close to these sites for so long and have been able to go often.  Kirtland and the saints who lived and sacraficed so much there will always be close to my heart.

Put in Bay

On July 1st my family came to visit us which was the beginning of our next grand adventure.  My sister Kristie, her husband Brett and my parents all came out to explore Ohio and nearby New York with us.  We packed a lot of fun into our week together.

We started out at an island called Put in Bay which is located on Lake Erie.  The ferry ride across was just part of the fun.

The island is a big tourist places with lots of fun things to do and fun little shops and restaurants.

We explored Perry's cave.

Saw the International Peace Memorial.  (obviously it didn't speak peace to my children because Kenna is trying to rip my neck off in the pic)

Tried to get a decent family shot of us there.

And had fun exploring the many souvneir shops.

All and all it was a fun, new place to explore.  It was a fun way to spend one of our last days with Keith for a while.  Two days later he left for back to back externships and then I headed out west to be with family while he was gone.  We were apart for almost 9 weeks! 

We took turns riding bikes and pulling these two around the island, they loved being in there.  And by the end of the action packed and hot day they crashed.