Michigan and Niagara Falls

Last weekend I was able to go on an amazing trip thanks to a wonderful birthday gift from Ryan! Thursday morning, I flew into Detroit to hang out with my sister, Shawnta, her hubby, Terry, and my nephews and niece, TJ, Kaleb, and Keiana. It was so great to see all of them because the last time I saw Shawnta was when Dani graduated from the Kitchen Academy and I had not seen Terry or the kids since my grandma passed away. There was so much going on then, I was barely able to spend time with the kids and I felt like we didn't get the opportunity to get to know each other. This time though, it felt so great to be called Auntie Renee!

This is my nephew, Kaleb, and my niece, Keiana.


Here's TJ, doing his favorite thing: playing video games! He and Ryan have so much in common!


And here's my beautiful sister, Shawnta, not letting me help make dinner!


It was so great to see Shawnta, even if only for a day! I'm looking forward to my next visit and being able to see their new home!

Friday morning, bright and early, Shawnta took me to meet Jenn, Jacque, Matt (Jac's little brother), Darlene (Jac's mom), and Mark (Jac's dad) at the airport for our drive to Lansing (with a delicious stop at Cracker Barrel) where Jacque attended Thomas Cooley Law School. It's amazing how quickly time flies!! I think Jacque and I found so much comfort in our late night phone calls; we definitely welcomed the study breaks and were able to share so much about being away from home, being away from our boyfriend's, and pushing through school. I felt so honored being able to be there for her graduation!! All of the other good times we had were a fabulous bonus!

Before we checked into our hotel, we picked up Jacque's grad gear and I got the "grand" tour of Lansing/East Lansing. They were all ready for a nap by then because they flew red eye from California, so we checked in and every relaxed until it was snack time. I was then introduced to the delicious freshly made ice cream at The Dairy Store on the campus of Michigan State. We ended up at The Dairy a couple of times on our trip! It was so yummy!

Here we are at Jacque's school before getting her cap and gown.


That night, we met with Jacque's wonderful Aunt Liz and her former roommate, Stephanie, at one of Jacque's favorite Italian restaurants. Seriously, everyone should have an Aunt Liz! Dinner was so much fun and the food was yummy!

Of course, we made Jacque wear the "Grad Diva" crown!


After dinner that night, we headed to a nearby Irish pub, and I have to admit it was so weird to drink with Jacque's little brother! I mean, he's by no means little anymore, but when you have known someone since they were nine and then you sit next to them in a bar, it's a strange experience!

Saturday was Jacque's big day!!

Here's Jenn, me, Jac, and Stephanie outside of the Jack Breslin Center at Michigan State, where the ceremony was held.


Jacque's regalia is pretty cool! We all loved the hat, but Jacque didn't!


We think she had the best fan club!


We celebrated that evening with all of Jacque's family and friends from school and Jacque-tini's!


It was a fun party but exhausting!


Sunday, we had a great day at the ballpark, watching the Lansing Lugnuts lose, unfortunately! It was still fun though!


As soon as the game was over, we started our "kids only" five-hour road trip to Niagara Falls in Canada! Woo hoo! First of all, the drive was gorgeous! Canada is so green! Our first stop was at McDonald's where we were shocked to learn that they don't have a 99 cent menu even though the US dollar is on par with the Canadian dollar! Everything was $1.39 or more! We were able to pay with US cash though, we just got Canadian change! By the time we left McDonald's it was getting dark so we weren't able to see any more of the landscape. We didn't even realize until our drive home that we drove along a huge expanse of Lake Ontario! Looking over to Toronto was like looking from Long Beach to Catalina!

When we got to the hotel, we checked-in, headed up to our room, and were disappointed to learn that we didn't have the view of the falls we had hoped for. Neither of us had been there before so we weren't sure what we should be looking for, but we were pretty sure that our city view had nothing to do with the falls. Jacque called the front desk to explain that we weren't sure if we were looking in the right place, but we couldn't see the falls, and the lady on the phone, in pure Canadian accent said, "so you lost the river, eh?" We were on the floor cracking up! It was so funny the way Jacque repeated it! We just went to bed, content that we were nowhere near water!

The next morning, I was the first one up, so when I finished getting ready, I headed to the lobby to get some Starbuck's and a Canada beanie because it was freezing!! As soon as I got off the elevator, I realized we should have looked at a map or paid more attention when we checked in because the drop of the horseshoe falls was directly outside of the lobby windows! I just gasped in amazement when I realized the plume of fog outside of the window was actually the mist from the gigantic falls!

This is a close-up of what we could see from the lobby.


As soon as everyone was ready, we headed to the river for the Maid of the Mist tour which took us right by the American falls and almost directly into the center of the Canadain/horseshoe falls! It was amazing!! The boat was rocking and heavy mist was flying at us from all directions!! Even when we were right in the center if the horseshoe falls, I stayed at the very front of the boat, gazing directly up at the crest if the falls peering around my plastic poncho whenever the mist permitted. It was breathtaking to be surrounded by so much power! It was one of the greatest moments of my life!






Our boat went farther in than this boat!


We survived! Do we look cold?? We were wet! And, the mist coming from below was turning into snowflakes as it floated around us!


After our tour, we decided to go behind the scenes into the tunnel behind the falls and the viewing platform at the base of the falls.



Our trip mascot, Cooley the Cat, survived too!


Jacque and I look so small compared to the massive falls!





Niagara Falls was pretty freaking awesome! I highly recommend it to anyone looking for a fun family vacation!! We could have spent a few more days there because the city around it has so many activities. It was definitely a great way to spend a birthday and to celebrate a graduation!

We drove back to Lansing that night and spent the next day having a leisurely breakfast at Cracker Barrel again (yum!) and visiting the Potter Park Zoo in Lansing!


They tried to lock us in!


They thought we looked like kangaroos...


And Alphies...


But we survived the whole crazy trip and all made it home safely that day!

Overall, this was one of the best vacation's I have ever had!! I am so glad I was able to spend so much time with Jenn and Jacque and to be able to visit Shawnta!! I miss them all so much!