Niagara Falls Continued

I figured I better finish my entry about our trip to Niagara Falls before it is next summer and I need to put on our next vacation =).

"Journey Behind the Falls"

This picture is pretty dark but it is Jen, Samantha, Hannah and Anna behind the falls

The Maid of the Mist
This boat takes you right up to the Horseshoe Falls. You get completely soaked so I do not have any pictures from the boat. Annalise LOVED this boat ride. I don't know if it was the excitement of everyone wrapped in crinkly plastic or it she got excited by the LOUD noise of the water fall and people being loud but she was shrieking and smiling the whole time. A lot of people were smiling and pointing at her because she was so funny!

Mommy and Anna on the Maid of the Mist before leaving the dock. This was also before we pulled the poncho over her too!

Everyone (besides Stan) on the Whitewater Walk.

The Whitewater Walk takes you by the most dangerous class of rapids. There is an astronomical fine to pay if someone tries to take a boat on them.

A butterfly in the Butterfly Conservatory that we visited. For some reason most of my butterfly pictures turned out blurry.

Butterflies eating in the conservatory. Of course I really liked this part of the trip.

Hannah and Anna in the conservatory.

The butterflies were landing on people! Unfortunately none landed on me!

Peanut with a butterfly on her head.

The Floral Clock in the gardens that we walked through.

The Cable Car ride that takes you across to the American side of the falls and back again. The ride gives some amazing views.

Cable Car

View from the Cable Car

View from the Cable Car

Daddy and Anna on the Cable Car. She was much more interested in his face =).

Hannah, Jen, Samantha, Uncle Dave, Grammy, Aunt Michelle and Aunt Lisa riding a thing (I forget what it was called) that took you from the falls area up to where the hotels are.

Going up!

Niagara Falls

For four days in August, Annalise took her first vacation to Niagara Falls, Canada. Anna's Grammy, Aunt Lisa, Uncle Dave, Aunt Michelle, Uncle Rich and cousins Jen, Samantha and Hannah all went on the trip too! It was great to be able to spend so much time with them since we rarely do but I have to say I had three small worries about traveling with an 8 month old before we left. I am glad to say that it went well. The first thing I was worried about was where on earth I was going to breastfeed her throughout the day, but with some creativity it was not a problem. I do have to say though that being in a bathroom stall sitting in Anna's stroller is by no means ideal and is pretty hard on the hips, but like I said it all worked out. The second thing I was worried about was the cleanliness of the hotel. Since none of us had been there before I was worried that the carpet was going to old and yucky and that Anna was not going to be able to crawl around at all (which would have made her pretty cranky). Luckily, when we got to the hotel, it looked like it had just recently been redone, and the carpet was not gross at all! What luck! The third thing I was a little worried about was the amount of time that Anna was going to have to be sitting in something (the car, her stroller etc....). Since she can crawl, she is usually most interested in being on the floor to do her thing and tends to get a little on edge if she is not able to. She had some moments of fussiness over the sitting thing, but really did well over all!
I am probably going to have to do this as a series of posts since we actually took quite a few pictures. Here are some pictures of our first evening:

A lunch stop on the way there.

Playing with Daddy and stretching out after a 5 hour car ride.

A rainbow created by the mist of the falls.
I am actually in this picture. Can you find me?

The top of the Horseshoe Falls on the Canadian side.

A smiley Anna getting soaked by the "mist" created by the falls.
Seriously, the mist completely soaked us that first night. For those of you who have been there, you know what it is like. A umbrella is recommended if you mind getting wet!

A view of the American Falls on the left and the Rainbow Bridge that crosses into Canada.

The Horseshoe Falls.
Not a great picture because of the mist but these falls were honestly one of the most beautiful bits of nature I have ever seen.

The Horseshoe Falls.

The Maid of the Mist which takes you right up to the falls.
We rode this the following day.

Jen and Anna waiting to go in "Niagara's Fury".
This was a movie that shows the natural creation of the falls. It was really cool because you got the actual experience of being there...with the earth movement, the water, the storms etc... It was REALLY LOUD when they did the thunderstorm and guess what.....Miss Annalise FELL ASLEEP!!! By the time we went on this it was past 9:00pm which is way past her bedtime and she was so pooped she actually fell asleep during all the noise of the movie the water spraying, floor moving and cousin Hannah screaming =).

Stan, Grammy, Me and Anna waiting to go in Niagara's Fury.

First Balloon

Anna loved the free balloon that she got at the Wayne County Fair. It was the first balloon she ever had. Too bad it has lost the helium in it already =(. It was lots of fun while it lasted!!!!

Wayne County Fair

On Sunday, we went to the Wayne County Fair in Honesdale. We go every summer for a quick visit to see our friends Rammer and Shira who live outside of Honesdale and every summer it rains the evening that we go. This year was no different, although it was the first time that Annalise went to the fair. I told her that it was just a "warm-up" for the Bloomsburg Fair, since I am known to be down there as much as I possibly can during fair week =). Anna had a good time taking in all of the sights and sounds and playing with her balloon....until the rain came and then she was ready to go and let us know it!!!! Hopefully next year we can break our tradition and choose a day with when it doesn't pour!

Taking it all in...

Listening to a conversation between Shira and Mommy.

Taking a break to eat some puffs.

Getting bopped on the head by Daddy...which is very funny.

More funny balloon bopping.

Hands in the Air

Lately Anna has been making fists and putting them out forward while she is eating. She only seems to do it when she is in her booster chair. If you do it back to her, she giggles even more and will do it back to you again. If you do it to her other than in her booster chair, she just looks at you with a blank stare and does not do it back. I guess it is only funny if there is food around! Also, I have no idea why I have the ball hat on her in these pictures....it doesn't even match her outfit!

This is actually her current version waving.

Big Bugs

This is the newest addition to Annalise's insect collection....a very large, black, weird sound making ant. I love kids toys =).

"Mommy, we may need an exterminator."

"Seriously, it's kinda gross."

"Just kidding, I love my bug collection!"

What Girl Doesn't Like Shoes?

My little girl, that's who. I didn't know it until yesterday, but she currently does not like to have shoes on her feet. At all. Even a little bit. Since the warmer weather as been here, I have not put full shoes on Anna's feet at all. I have put two different pairs of sandals on her, but they are Velcro and she usually just pulls them off anyway. Since she can't walk yet, I usually just let her go without shoes. Anyway, the other day, I saw this adorable pair of Nike sneakers at the mall and bought them for her. When I tried them on her at the store, she kept trying to get at them, but I just figured it was because they were something new. I put them on her to wear yesterday, and again she was at them when I first put them on, but then left them alone after a couple of minutes. Fast forward to about an hour later, I was at the hospital visiting the Smiths and seeing the new little one (she is completely adorable by the way) when Annalise started having a fit. And I mean a real face red, screaming, thrashing around fit! I thought OK, this is weird, but usually when she starts to get cranky, I can easily distract her and everything is fine. NOTHING worked to distract her, she just kept screaming. Not wanting further disturb the poor mothers on the Maternity floor, I collected my stuff and left. Quite frankly, she was starting to scare me a little bit because I have NEVER seen her so upset and inconsolable. I got her in the car, screaming and thrashing the whole time. I pulled out of the parking lot at the hospital and suddenly thought that maybe it was the shoes that were bothering her. I pulled the car over and took off her shoes and the instant that I got them off, she stopped having a fit. Clearly, she wanted the shoes off her feet! She was happy as a clam and we headed to Wal-Mart -- which is an errand I thought I was going to have to skip. I ask again "What girl doesn't like a cute pair of pink Nikes?".

8 Months Old - Toothless & On the Move

This Wednesday, Anna will be 8 months old! This past month, she has learned to army crawl (forgive my terminology -- or lack of -- is it called creeping???) and she does it like it is her job! She is really quick and you turn your head for one second and she half way across the room. I laugh now thinking back to before she could roll herself over and I used to put her on her tummy for "tummy time". She HATED being on her tummy so honestly, I didn't do it all that often or for too long each time and I was sooooo concerned that she would never crawl because she wasn't spending the literature recommended amount of time on the floor. How funny -- but seriously, no person with my personality should be permitted to read those baby books! They really gave me way too much to worry and completely obsess over and I am proud to say that I have gotten rid of ALL of them (which is probably I am lacking the proper terminology above!).
Two other things that she did this past month, although she did them only one time each, is pull herself up to a standing position in her crib and going from laying on her tummy to a sitting position. Like I said, she only did both of those things once this week and has not done them again, but I am sure that soon she will be doing them often. We still need to lower her crib mattress though so I about had a heart attack when I came in the room and saw she was standing up peering over the side of the crib.
Also, this past month, Anna has learned to make lots of new sounds that she loves to do at the top of her lungs in the grocery store, Wal-Mart, and at home. Other than those places, she really is usually very quiet and just kind of takes things in. In addition to her sounds, she says Ma-Ma and Da-Da (of course without associating it with us yet), FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF, Heh-Heh-Heh, Ba-Ba, and Tuh-Tuh.
We are working on waving, but she usually just holds her had out straight forward without moving it. Sometimes though she does turn her hand so it is facing her and opens and closes it, most of the time though she just sticks it straight out.
One thing that Annalise completely lacks though is teeth! She chews stuff and drools constantly, but still there are still none coming in. That is fine with me though. I don't care if she doesn't get teeth until I am done nursing her. Stan and I joke that it will save us a bundle at the dentist!

"I'm coming to get you Mommy!"
She LOVES the pool!

"Streeeeetch Daddy!"

"Whew! I made it over to you Mommy".

"I love this pool!"

Um..yeah. Do you think we need to lower her mattress?

"Hi!"
This is how she sticks her hand straight out to say hello. Even though it looks like it is moving here, it usually is not.