Niagra Falls and the "not so" Sacred Grove.

    On Friday afternoon we decided to make the most of our weekend and go see some of the sights.  As soon as Jake got home we jumped in the car and made the four hour drive to Palmyra, NY.  Ellie must not have wanted us to waste a minute of our weekend, as she made sure to wake us up all through the night by screaming. She was also sweet enough to wake us up at dawn to insure we would have the whole day for sight seeing.
   The first place we visited was the sacred grove.  Oddly enough, we were the first people there that morning. It was such a beautiful morning!  The visitor center was not open that early so we decided to take a walk through the grove until the center opened.  As we walked into the thick forested grove we joked that it was the "not so" sacred grove with our noisy kids running along its paths.  However, the spirit there was so strong that Ellie and Hudson couldn't even detract from it. As we stood surrounded by trees I knew without a doubt that something amazing had happened there.  It felt like we were in the celestial room at the temple.  I know that Heavenly Father and Jesus appeared at that spot in answer to a young boys prayer. I feel so blessed that I got to be there to feel it for myself.  It was powerful and even thinking of it now brings tears to my eyes. 

Hudson had been complaining of a stomach ace all morning. We think it was due largely to the fact that he ate an enormous amount of cherry tomatoes the day before. 

Unfortunately, before we got out of the grove "cherry tomato's revenge" struck Hudson.  We ended up having to wash him up in the rest room sink near the entrance to the grove. We were quite a ways from our car so Hudson had to hang out in one of Ellie's Diapers.

This might have been the last time this very tired little girl smiled all morning.

She did cheer up when we found a "Kitty" on the trail.

    We found some new shorts and shoes for Hudson and took the tour of the Smith family farm then headed down the road to the hill Cumorah. At the hill Cumorah we toured the visitors center and climbed the very steep hill to the top of the monument.  Both of the kids were beyond exhausted by this point.

This was the last of the complete breakdowns that Ellie had before both kids slept the full two hours it took us to drive to Niagara Falls

    When we got to Niagara Falls we took a boat ride on the Maid of the Mist. It took us up right to the base of the falls.  The falls were so SO amazing! I loved it! It was something I have always wanted to experience and I am so glad I did.

Hudson loved his blue coat.

On Board the Maid of the Mist.

It was so surreal. I wish the pictures could have captured it better.

We had such a fantastic time getting sprayed by the waterfall on our boat ride.

     It was the Niagara Falls Blues festival as well so we walked around town and listened to music for a while before heading home. What a wonderful day! I wish the kids were big enough to remember it all.  At least we have lots of pictures.  More adventures to come, I'm sure!