Niagara Winter Wonderland

Hola!

We had our "February Break" last week, so the kids were out of school.  Lots of people go skiing that week, and many of their/our friends went someplace WARM for the break.  I was hearing "Puerto Rico," "Mexico," "Florida..." Peshaw!  We stayed in the frigid north :)

We left town and stayed cold.  We went for the Winter Wonderland Niagara Falls Tour: February 2014! (remember, you can double-click on the photos to see them bigger.)

CROWDS...NOT. The most surprising part was how empty it was!  We had a lot of the touristy things to ourselves.  We have been there in July, and we know how you stand in line for even a good "photo op" along the railing by the falls.  People everywhere.  (And some of them are a little oblivious to...everything.)  So we walked up to the windows for tickets to the many touristy attractions, it was already our turn!  It was awesome.

SkyWheel, temperature controlled

SKYWHEEL.  They have a huge ferris wheel, where you can see the falls from a helicopter-like view, since you are so high.  There are 40 cars to fill.  The 2 times we rode it, maybe two other cars even had people in them, besides ours.

GUINNESS MUSEUM.  Sometimes these museum displays can be very unpleasant.  People do pretty ridiculous things to get their name up in lights, or whatever.  But curiosity won, and we went in.

GLOW GOLF.  This whole mini-golf place was painted in florescent paint, so when they turn on the black lights, everything glows. Plus some of our clothing, plus our teeth when we smiled.  Very entertaining, and a little creepy at the same time.

BUTTERFLY CONSERVATORY.  It's always fun to visit the butterflies, especially for me when they keep it 84 degrees inside, even though it's 25 degrees outside.  Here are some of our fluttery friends. And a tropical frog.

NIAGARA FALLS. The falls themselves are magical!  It's like looking at a Real-Life Wintery Wonderland.  Of course the water is flowing underneath the ice, but one person who works there said 2 weeks ago, the whole thing was frozen over!  Wow.  I'm giving you lots of pictures because A) I love pictures, and B) my guess is, most of you won't be visiting Niagara Falls in February anytime soon. Only the lucky ones :)

thick ice on all of the railings!

from Canada, viewing the American Falls

from the American side, Goat Island, viewing Rainbow Bridge

will this bus never come??

on top of the world

colored lights on the American Falls

Now, you have been on vacation to Ontario in February!  And you did it from the comfort of your own home, and it cost you nothing.  Can't beat that :)

Back to reality...we did miss another major snowstorm while we were gone (happy-happy-happy about that!), and in 2 more days it will be...drumroll please...the LAST DAY of FEBRUARY!

Have a good rest of your week,
Kari