Back from Vacation

[On_Call]

And I think I need to go back to work tomorrow to rest up!!

We were gone a week - to a high traffic, busy, exciting location - we stayed at Niagara Falls (Clifton Hill), ON, and I'm almost afraid to say it, but difficult child was great!! Of course, there were the moments of him dancing to some loud music blaring out of one of the open restaurants - and a few mornings when he pouted because I refused to let him have the 4th pastry at breakfast - but other than that the week was amazing. Even easy child let up a bit on her whining. I can't remember a more relaxing family vacation.

On two separate occasions, difficult child left the pool area, navigated the hotel to return to the room to retrieve something and return to the pool area - in an extremely reasonable amount of time - before I began to rethink my decision to let him do it. He swam in the deep end of the pool. Never argued or grumbled. Weird.

I turned 38 on Thursday - and difficult child and I actually braved the Maid of the Mist. It was amazing - and such a nice thing to share with him. It really could not have been better. husband even bought the picture they took of us on the way to the boat - guess that was part of my birthday gift.

We got home last night - and today was all about laundry, laundry, laundry and getting some groceries in the house. Oh yeah, and that hour-long nap I took in the late afternoon.

I have downloaded my pics from my digital camera - and was shocked to see that I had taken more than 600 pictures - can you believe that??? I am sure there are some bad shots and duplicates that I took of outdoor sights and attractions that I can delete, but I am sure I will still be left with a decadent over-surplus of pictures. Oh well.

Not a vacation I will soon forget - but, man, am I ever glad to be home again!! :wink:

 

[Wiped Out]

I'm glad the vacation was so much fun! I love Niagra Falls!! My grandma lives about 25 minutes from there so I've been there often and am never bored. I love the Maid of the Mist!

Glad to hear that your difficult child did so well!

Happy late Birthday!!

Now rest up!

 

[Marguerite]

Jamie, welcome home. I haven't counted the photos we took in New Zealand - husband & BF1 both brought their laptop computers and would download photos each evening. We have memory cards in all cameras and they STILL filled up! Of course, they also used the cameras for the occasional video footage (example - a geyser; the bubbling mud; the steam vents; a jet boat whizzing past).

In the end, we had to buy some blank CDs and put all the photos on those, because the computers were running out of space! We were away about 25 days and we would have taken an average of sixty shots each day, per camera. easy child & BF1 would have taken 10 for every one of ours.

The Maid in the Mist is wonderful, we've been told. mother in law's been on it (is there anywhere she hasn't been?) and my eldest sister, a number of times. She lived in Ontario for a few years back in the Sixties. I was very little then but I remember seeing photos of her walking on the ice and under the frozen falls one winter. It was like a sparkling cave.

I wouldn't be too upset at difficult child dancing outside a loud store - at least it's happy. Sometimes we foist too many inhibitions on our children, in the name of propriety. But then, I grew up in the Seventies, when we wore flowers and bare feet, dancing in city parks to the music inside our own heads...

I really love the way holidays give our difficult children just that little bit more confidence and poise. I'm still seeing it in difficult child 3. He now feels he can handle a lot more, because he coped with so much change and new discoveries while we were away.

Enjoy your memories.

Marg

 

[On_Call]

Thanks, ladies.

It was a great time. The fact that the 4 of us were in a one-room hotel for an entire week and we all survived is a miracle in itself!!

I have probably looked through my pictures 10 times since we've been home. The Falls are so beautiful - at night they light them - the night before we left they were all the colors of the rainbow - and the Maid of the Mist was, by far, the most adventurous thing I've ever done.

difficult child's newfound pride in his accomplishments while we were gone have carried over - at least for now. It's nice to see. He was a bit tearful when we were leaving the Falls - he said that he wanted to stay there forever because he didn't have any problems there. So, I guess the vacation was stress-free for him too!

I am so exhausted today - work was tiring. Hopefully, I will catch up as the week goes on.

Thanks again! :wink: