Day 3 - Niagara on the Lake and Andrew's Birthday

We decided to avoid the craziness of downtown Niagara and headed out to Niagara On the Lake where part of our group was going to do a jet boat ride up the rapids on the Niagara River in the whirlpool area. They had a blast riding the waves and getting wet from the spray.  If you like speedboats and getting wet, this is definitely a must-do activity. Unfortunately, we didn't get any pictures, but you can check out their website to get an idea of what this was.

The rest of us walked around the  village, did some shopping, and had some ice cream, cause that's  what you do in a little town like this one.  I think we picked the best ice cream shop (it seemed like this place had one every 30 feet).  I wish I could have taken a pint home with me! Chocolate covered sea salt toffee with caramel swirls in vanilla ice cream. Yum!

Today was also Andrew's 13th birthday. So to celebrate, I baked him a red velvet cake for after dinner.  Because the oven is so small, I had to make a 2 layer cake and bake each layer separately.  I was a bit concerned on how it would turn out, but Marc had read that putting a pizza stone in the bottom of the oven helps even out the heat. It worked like a charm!  To make his cake extra special, I put a saxophone ornament on it for decoration. I just happened across it earlier that day while shopping and thought he'd like it.  Based on his reaction, I think he did.

By now, you may have noticed that we are making our plans day by day.  We have a rough idea of what we want to do, but have waited until the night before to solidify things.  Originally we thought we'd go see the Falls lit up and watch the fireworks, but we needed to leave pretty early the next day in order to get to the Ben & Jerry's Factory tour before it closed at 6pm for the day.  Since  going to B&J's was pretty high on our to do list along with getting enough sleep for the long drive, we decided to skip the nighttime activities at the Falls.  We went to bed early (compared to other nights), so we could get up and leave before 7am.  Hopefully, we'll get there before it closes!

Day 2 - Niagara Falls, Ontario

We spent the day hitting some classic Niagara Falls attractions. We picked up an Adventure Pass that covered a boat trip on the Hornblower Niagara (the Canadian version of Maid of the Mist), White Water Walk, Journey Behind the Falls and Niagara Fury (a 4D Movie).  It was a good deal and we got to see some great sites in a fairly short period of time. Lots of walking and lots of water!

I forgot how much mist comes off the falls, it's almost like a constant sprinkle, but worse cause it feels so cold. The air temperature was just about perfect, so in the sun the mist felt refreshing, in the shade it was a bit chilly.

Of the four sites we saw, the boat ride and the White Water Walk were by far our favorites. Lots of great scenery and photo opps. Unfortunately, Sarah was suffering from one of her stomach aches, so pictures with her were hit or miss.  The only thing that seemed to help her was staying warm, so even though it was in the upper 70s to low 80s, she wore a sweatshirt most of the time. And as usual, we didn't have one with us, so she's sporting a nice Niagara Falls one!

The Canadian side of the Falls is just beautiful.  You really get the best views from here.  This last picture was from the Journey Behind the Falls, where you can get up close to the water.  The tour itself was a bit of a let down as we didn't see much "behind" the falls, just 2 little inlets with a lot of water gushing in front of us.  The American side appeared to have fun and very wet tour that has you walk along side the falls that looked much more exciting!

We managed to avoid what we coined Crazytown, the tacky tourist area. We debated on walking around there tomorrow, but decided the drive through it once was enough!  We plan to head North to Niagara on the Lake tomorrow.

RV Trip - The Northeast Edition

It's been three years since our last big RV adventure, one we enjoyed so much, that we decided we needed to do it again. Yes, I know we're not in an RV this time, but seriously, travel trailer adventure just didn't have quite the same ring to it!  This time we're heading East, Niagara Falls to Acadia National Park, Boston to Gettysburg. It's going to be a great trip!

Preparations for this trip seemed a bit more relaxed, probably because we had our own trailers, but more likely because we were seasoned campers on trips like this, so we thought! Things were going smoothly, gear packed, refrigerator working, and campsites reserved. We were confident this trip would be a breeze, no mishaps like our first trip.  (For those unfamiliar with our first big trip, you can read about it here).  We drove for about 4 hours and then made our first stop for gas. That's when things went downhill fast!

As we were pulling out of the gas station, we made a turn that needed to be wider. Much wider. Our hearts sank, we popped a tire. One of our brand new tires that we never would have imagined would blow, flattened by a cement barrier.  I'm not going to deny the irony of the situation.  It took me right back to that Oasis in DeKalb, Illinois, as Marc and I stood there looking at our trailer tire with a gash in it's side.  I couldn't bear to take a picture, I just wanted it changed and to get back on the road. Fortunately, we had a spare and it only held us up an hour.

Old school mapping techniques!

Our next challenge was trying to find our way without the convenience of the GPS on our phones. Because we were driving though Canada, we would have incurred international charges, charges I didn't feel like paying for. This didn't really stress me out until we were getting closer to our campground. I spent most of the trip using a paper map and some handwritten directions I pulled from Google maps before we crossed the border. Kind of forgot how fun it was to fold and unfold a map!  We were lucky that the highway signs were pretty good. I just needed to pay attention more than usual.

So, what should have taken a regular car 4.5 hours, took us 6 hours, including our 1 hour stop to change a tire. We made it to our first stop, Niagara Falls, Ontario and hooked up with the Hans Family once they arrived.  Looking forward to some awesome sight-seeing tomorrow. But for now, we are planning to relax and enjoy our first night ever camping internationally!

Kitchen Remodel: It's just the beginning...

I'm so excited to finally be able to show you the preliminary plans for our kitchen remodel.  As some of you know, we bought a house that was in foreclosure and the bank put in a kitchen that wasn't quite up to the neighborhood standards.  Since we got a great deal on the house, we were able to design a kitchen that I think will fit in quite nicely around here.  Plus, it's a kitchen I could only dream of having someday, so I'm thrilled!

Here are a couple shots of the current kitchen.  It's not a bad kitchen by any means, it just lacks character, and granite countertops!  :)

The double oven was nice, but it's too narrow for most of my cookie sheets.  Looking forward to a bigger double oven!

Butler Pantry!

It has been a long process, to say the least.  We started out by having a company that specializes in designing kitchens work out a plan, hoping to get a design that would help us figure out what to do with this space.  Remolding a kitchen is a huge investment, so we wanted to do it right.  We tried Kurtis Kitchens and I have to say, what a huge disappointment.  Our salesman was unhelpful and condescending, which in turn led me to be unhelpful and condescending back.  So as you can guess, it didn't go well.  After a few meetings, we determined that a trip to Home Depot was in order and were pleasantly surprised at what we were able to come up with.  Here's a peek at the plans!

This first one shows the island, which I am most excited about.  Unfortunately, I don't have a color rendering of it.  It will be a black finish with rubbed edges to give it an antique look.  Our microwave will be a drawer type in the island on the right side, seating for 3 on the left.

These next three pics show the cabinet color and style.  The countertop will be a black and tan granite, tiled backsplash and an earth tone paint color yet to be determined!

The kitchen sink base bumps out a little.

This is the butler pantry.  I got the design idea off Pinterest!  My favorite part is the wine cubbies under the center cabinet.

So that's the design.  Tomorrow I'm off to Home Depot to send in the cabinet order.  Hoping all goes well so it gets done by mid June! 

House Warming Gift Idea

Here's a fun idea for a housewarming or hostess gift that I put together for a friend.  I was struggling to find a unique and useful idea for a good friend we were visiting recently and came up with this.  A basket with homemade granola, a jar of dried cherries, raisens and a scoop.  As I was tying the bow on it, I thought this was worthy of sharing on my blog!  Unfortunately, I didn't get a pic of the final product, but I did get pics of the basket contents.  

(Imagine this with a big shimmery gold bow tied across it!)

The jars and basket were purchased at Meijer.  I used a large cracker jar for the granola and pint and 1/2 pint mason jars for the dried fruit.  Ball makes a set of mason jars specifically for gifts with silver lids that matched nicely with the cracker jar.  I also included a recipe card for the granola.  

The granola recipe is pretty easy, but you'll have to play around with it.  It has multiple options for sweetener and what to put in it.  I found doing a combination of a couple sweeteners (honey, maple syrup and brown sugar) worked nicely.  I also cut back on the salt as one batch I made was pretty salty.  It's still a work in progress, but I'm getting close to a recipe I like.

First Big Project!

Well, so much for good intentions. I had planned to document the move and transition to Michigan, but shortly after we moved my mom's health took a turn for the worse and we found ourselves immersed in caring for her during her last days. It's been tough, to say the least, but we're finding our way back to routines and diving into house projects. So many ideas, but we have to pace ourselves.

So here's a look at our first big project. I say "our" but those that know us, will know that this was all Marc! Honestly, I was skeptical at first, really did we need a third room to watch TV together as a family? But Marc insisted that we needed to do this and, of course, he had a plan. Besides, this was going to be the room specifically to watch movies, so that made it different in his mind. I was thinking we already had a 60 inch TV in the basement that was perfectly suited to watching movies. So while I was off visiting friends in Illinois, he was busy working on the media room.

I have to say it turned out fantastic. I should have never doubted it for a minute. He built a nice cabinet in the back to hold the DVD player, surround sound system and projector. Eventually we plan to hook up the cable box as well. For the screen, he painted the wall white, framed it and built a shelf to hold DVDs. We had our first movie night last night and there's not a bad seat in the room. I think we'll need to do something with the plaid couches, but for now it will do.

Here's a picture with the lights out. I think we'll need to do a Harry Potter marathon soon! Marc also hooked up the Wii in this room so we can get our Glee on or race Mario on the big screen. :)

Our New Home

A good friend of mine suggested that I blog about our move from Illinois back to our home state of Michigan and I thought, "That's not a bad idea!" So here I am, attempting to chronicle the chaos that is about to take over our lives for the next unkown period of time. It will be a crazy time, and I'm sure there will be some fun stories to share!

Today, Marc closed on our new house in South Lyon, Michigan, while I stayed behind, spending one last normal night in our current house. We have had so many good times here, it will be sad to see it all packed up. I can barely bring myself to think about it. The friends and family that have visited us, the New Year's Eve parties, the backyard movies, sleepovers, the last minute invites for dinner are just a few ways that have made this house more than a home. We will miss it greatly, but more than that we will miss the people who became our Illinois family. I hope we will be able to stay in touch. :)

Tomrrow the moving company will be here to pack up the house. I'll try to capture some of the action while franctically preventing them from packing the stuff we will need for the next few days. Wish me luck!