Road Trip, day 24 - Niagara Falls

Shelle very graciously dropped Katherine and J.J. and I off at my cousin Lynn and her family's hotel this morning. My two aunts, Sue and Nancy (and their husbands) had already arrived and were finishing their lunches so we broke out our sandwiches while we got acquainted with precious little Lia and Jaden.
Katherine was feeling dizzy and tired this morning (what I thought was a leftover affect from yesterday's roller coasters turned out to be a really nasty virus, and I only hope none of our family we visited caught it from her), so Dick and Nancy drove her with Sue and Don down to the Niagara Falls viewing area (on the Canadian side). Mike, Lynn, and their kids walked down to the falls with J.J. and I and we had a bit of a hard time connecting with the driving group (it was pretty crowded with this being Memorial Day weekend).
It was a warm, sunny day and the mist coming off the falls was refreshing! I was surprised that the water was so beautiful - a clear greenish-blue with little pools of foam from the churching waters along the shore. The American Falls were beautiful and rocky at the bottom, but the Horseshoe Falls were the most impressive - so wide and high with so much water tumbling over that you can't see much of the bottom for all the spray coming up.
After we all joined up, the Donoahues and Pens decided to try the Maid of the Mist boat tour of the falls and headed off to do that while my aunts and uncles stayed back on shore. We donned our blue plastic ponchos and boarded America's oldest tourist attraction that's been running since 1846. After being herded down the gangplank and into the boat like a bunch of cattle, we found a place on the top deck where we could see the falls, hear the roar and feel the full spray from one of the world's 7 wonders. It was amazing to go so close to the falls and hear stories of people who had gone over these falls and lived to tell about it.
We met back up with family on the shore, got some frozen yogurt for the kids, and enjoyed a leisurely stroll along the park that borders the falls view walk. It was nice to have time to talk with my family and get caught up on life. Dick was very kind to J.J., letting him take pictures with his big, fancy camera, and it was a blast to see the cousins playing together and pick wildflowers and climb trees along the way.
We walked a little further to the Macaroni Grill, which we soon learned was their grand opening night. Staff were swarming everywhere and nervous servers took our orders and brought our food. The meals were delicioius, though, and we left with full, happy bellies (once they sorted out our bill, which took quite awhile for some reason). They even sang to us in Italian (two girls with lovely voices) and when J.J. requested they come back and sing (in French), he gave them his pocket change as a tip.
Jaden kept us entertained by making hilarious faces and trying to stuff noodles into his apple juice cup - I think he's destined for the stage because he is just such a character! Poor Lynn lost her voice during the meal, so it was a good thing we had paper table-covers to write on to communicate (and play tic-tac-toe on, too.
After dinner, we said our goodbyes and walked back to the hotel where we would be picked up and rejoin our group, but not before ducking into a souvenir shop on the way. What a beautiful day to share with wonderful family at an amazing place! Back at the hotel, we tucked the sickies into bed and a rep. from each room did a load of laundry (I hear they didn't get to bed until after 1 AM).