I’m sitting here watching Julie & Julia. Again. Adorable movie. About a girl and her blog. And lots of decadent cooking. It inspired me to get onto my own blog and bring you guys a bit up to date on things.

Our summer break is plodding along here. A slower pace than last month, which is a welcome change. It’s hard to believe my boys only have about a month left before Jacob starts 2nd grade, and Timmy starts KINDERGARTEN! I still can’t believe both my boys will be in school in a month!

Anyway, this past month, from mid-June till mid-July, was full of travel! First Dave took the boys to Pennsylvania for the Vollmer family reunion, then I took a TDY with my reserve job, then hopped in our truck on July 3rd with Dave, Timmy and Howie (Jacob was in NY visiting Dave’s parents) and declared “EASTWARD HO!”

First stop: My parents house in West Virginia. We spent a couple days visiting with my parents, my sister and her kids. We arrived on July 4th, and brought so many fireworks with us!

From 2010 07 04 Vacation Day 1-2

After 2 days with my parents, Dave and I headed up to Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario. This would be Dave’s first visit to Canada, but I had been to Toronto in 1992. We stopped in Buffalo for lunch, and met an old Air Force friend from Florida, Rich:

From 2010 07 06 Anchor Bar & Niagara on the Lake

From 2010 07 06 Anchor Bar & Niagara on the Lake

Niagara-on-the-Lake is simply enchanting!

From 2010 07 06 Anchor Bar & Niagara on the Lake

From 2010 07 06 Anchor Bar & Niagara on the Lake

From 2010 07 06 Anchor Bar & Niagara on the Lake

We really enjoyed the pubs in the town:

From 2010 07 06 Anchor Bar & Niagara on the Lake

We hadn’t planned too much time in the town itself, which is regrettable. The Shaw Festival was playing in full force, and one of my favorite plays was on the docket: An Ideal Husband by Oscar Wilde. Unfortunately, the two days it played while we were there were both at 2pm. We had plans both days….

The day after our arrival was spent at Niagara Falls. A campy thing to do when you have a few days without the kids, I know, but it wasn’t the Honeymoon Capital of the World for nothing. We had a delightful, although HOT, afternoon at the falls. We bought this “Adventure Pass” which covered 4 attractions on the Canada side, including the Maid of the Mist. It was great to be on the Maid of the Mist on the hottest day of the year, that’s for sure! Some pictures from our day at Niagara:

My Canada donut from Tim Horton’s, our new favorite restaurant in the whole world! We ate there 3 times in 3 days!

From 2010 07 07 Niagara Falls

This doesn’t even look real, does it? Yes, I took this picture with our own camera!

From 2010 07 07 Niagara Falls

Preparing to board the Maid of the Mist:

From 2010 07 07 Niagara Falls

This is at the White Water Walk, which is a walk alongside the Whirlpool Rapids, which my still pictures don’t do justice. Let’s see if this video will work, click the thumbnail below:

From 2010 07 07 Niagara Falls

Also, enjoy this gum-covered wall, which is some sort of tradition at this attraction (ew!):

From 2010 07 07 Niagara Falls

We took our time driving back up to Niagara-on-the-Lake, and even made it to a winery for a tasting before they closed! I didn’t get any pictures from it, sorry!

I’ll stop now, and cover the rest of our trip on another post.