Friday, Part I - Niagara Falls and U of R

I woke the boys this morning at 5:45am. I dreaded doing it -- not many 16 year-olds would be excited -- they all rose with smiles and we were out the door in 15 minutes. We went to the Trading Post for a quick breakfast.

Good spirits at 6am!

I will tell you that for the next 2 hours as I drove to Niagara Falls, I drove to the rhythm of five snoring boys:)

The Horseshoe Falls (Canadian) with a "Maid of the Mist" boat in the foreground.
During our stay here, we saw many, many rainbows (although no pots of gold!)
I wish I had a good picture of the "Observation Deck" we are standing on. If you look to the left you can see that we are above the American Falls. We are suspended over the river below...WAY BELOW! I am not a fan of heights:(
A view across to Canada
Covered and looking forward to our ride
We head toward the falls

More rainbows

A view of the American Falls

WOW!

to the left of the boat

Approaching the Canadian Falls. Time for our hoods.

The right side of the Horsheshoe Falls

Water on my lens:(

I had to put the camera back under my poncho to protect it in the Falls. The boat pulls right up under the falls. It is truly breathtaking!

"That was AWESOME!"

Passing the American Falls again

Looking back

Climbing along side the American Falls

Mom wanted a picture with her "birthday boy!"

Back on the Observation Deck

Good-bye to Niagara Falls ...and the rainbows

After leaving Niagara Falls, we drove toward Rochester. The boys voted to visit the University. We began by eating famous chicken wings for lunch.

The boys managed to eat 30 wings -- 30 LARGE wings!

In front of the academic quad at the University of Rochester

The boys sat through the end of an information session and went on the tour. As new Juniors, it's time to start looking. They asked lots of good questions. We stayed for just over an hour and then took off for the lake.

What I am missing from this afternoon was a picture of a corn field. After seeing SO MANY on our journey and then passing CORNing, the boys began to get silly. Every time they spoke they used the word corn. After about 45 minutes of this, I announced, "Get it out of your system. We are going to the University and you will see admissions representatives." From the back of the car Nick says, "Mrs. U-- are you afraid they'll think we're CORNy?"

Anyone who knows Rochester, knows Wegmans. It is like no other grocery store you have ever seen. The tour guide made mention of it so we stopped at one that we had to pass on the way back to the lake. We loaded up with water and gatorade for the last couple of days.

There were 51 corn fields between Wegmans and the lake house:)

About 40 minutes later, we were back at the lake. Stay tuned for Friday, Part II.