Erie Canal

On Saturday Tara told us we should see Pittsford so we did. I loved this little "village". They have preserved the old buildings along the canal and made them into little boutique's. We think we need some of these water fountains put in around Oregon. Hershey would love it.
It was really pretty along this walk.
We took the kids to the movies after our sightseeing. Pete took Connor to see The Sorcerer's apprentice and I took the girls to see Ramona and Beezus. They started within a few minutes of each other. It worked out great! On Sunday we headed home.
Our seasoned travelers!!

Our flight from Rochester to Detroit was great but our flight from Detroit home was a zoo!! We made it home and were ready to be there. We had such a good time seeing Tara, Coley, and Abby and the sights too. Thanks for having us!

Lake Ontario

Tara and Coley took us down to Lake Ontario. This little place served frozen custard. We got the chocolate with hazelnuts. It was yummy!! This is a little strip of land between the lake and one of it's bays. A storm started coming in on our walk out onto the pier. To me this looks like it should be the ocean. I've never not been able to see the other side of a lake!!
The end of the pier.

The girls didn't mind the wind until it started sand washing us.

The wind had fun with Connor's hair.

We had a good time seeing the lake. Tara and Coley have found some really good places!

Palmyra

Our day in Palmyra started at the Hill Cumorah. The Christus statue is in a beautiful circular room with a wall of windows. It was a very peaceful room and we were able to hear a nice testimony of the sister missionary there. We watched a movie there (and I can't wait to purchase it!) and it was the perfect way to start. It outlined Joseph Smith's life and the starting of the church. The kids enjoyed watching the film and they were able to ask questions when they needed to because we had the room to ourselves!
Outside of the visitors center we drove up the hill to the monument there. The drive through the trees was beautiful.
While we were reading the plaques, I saw a few butterflies and couldn't resist taking a picture.

This is inside of the home Joseph grew up in. The home is a replica but they were able to find the foundation and build it like it would have been.

The Palmyra temple is built just across the street from the home and the Sacred Grove.

The golden plates were hidden under these fireplace bricks at one time.

This was a replica of the cooper shop that the Smith's would have had. It was so interesting to see the tools they had to make the barrels and buckets.

The kids in the Sacred Grove. It was such a peaceful, beautiful place to be.

The home where Joseph grew up was very close to the grove. For some reason I had always pictured it further away.

We drove up to the temple. I LOVE the stained glass windows.

Each side was a different picture of the trees.

The next stop was the Grandin Publishing building where the first copies of the Book of Mormon were published. The kids really liked learning about how it was done. This is the original building.

The girls were seeing how the pages were sewn together.

After seeing the sites we headed over to Chill and Grill for ice cream. These were the kiddie sizes.

We had a really good day and I know I loved seeing the places I've learned about in church. I hope the kids will remember it.

The rest of Courtney's Birthday

Courtney wanted to try a new Italian restaurant for her dinner. It was called Carraba's. The food was great. I know we missed having some fantastic Italian but with the kids, chain places go over better. Connor loved that he couldn't finish his portion.Tara and Coley headed back before we did and Tara made her a cake.
Happy 11th Birthday Courtney!

Niagara Falls

On our way back to Tara's from Toronto, we stopped at Niagara Falls. Courtney chose where she could be on her birthday and she chose here. It was beautiful. This is Horseshoe falls.
Courtney took some video so we could hear how loud it was.



The bridge from Canada to the U.S.
and Bridal veil falls.
Getting ready to board the Maid of the Mist.





After seeing how powerful the falls are.

We walked up the road to look through some of the shops.

And we had to stop in the Hershey store.

We didn't let them get anything here. We told them it would have to wait until we could go to Pennsylvania.