New York

A few weeks ago, DROVE to Buffalo to visit Derek's family. To make it easier on Arden, we decided to split the trip up and drive halfway (5-6 hours) and stay in a hotel. I was not too excited about going on this trip with a 6 month old even if we were breaking the trip up, but she was AMAZING well up until it was bedtime and she wanted to be in her bed. She has no problem taking naps in her carseat, but she knows when it's bedtime and wants to be in bed. On the way back, I made it clear that we would be at the hotel before her bedtime. My mom and Clarisa came with us, so of course they were great help in the backseat with Arden. We left Arden with Nonni, Grandpa and Greg and went to Niagara Falls our second day there. It was really nice and the weather was perfect. I have been to Buffalo a lot since I met Derek, but for some reason it's always in the freezing Buffalo winters. I think there has only been one other time I went in the summer, so although I have seen Niagara Falls before, it was sooo cold, I couldn't pay attention to anything other than keeping my scarf wrapped around my face, but still trying to see enough to walk around...and the idea that my feet might have frost bite. Tons of fun. So anyway, on this beautiful summer day, we decided to go on the Maid of the Mist. SOOOO much fun, we were laughing so hard, people around us probably thought we were on drugs.
This was taken when we were on the boat.
After the ride on the observation deck
Clarisa at The Cave of the Winds getting soaked.

The next day, we all went to the zoo. Derek with his parents and Greg in Africa
The Buffalo zoo is pretty small and in the middle of downtown. I kinda feel sorry for some of the animals. Arden got really excited seeing a turtle(?!?) and a little monkey who came right up to the window in front of her. Then he put his hand on his bottom and sniffed his finger. It was crazy. Then he pooped. wow. Moving on...
Here's the beautiful peacock we saw showing off those feathers. I've been told (a couple years ago when there was a peacock stuck in the woods near our old apt complex) that they spread their feathers like that when they feel threatened. That's how they scare people/animals off. Well this guy looked like he was flaunting it prancing back and forth.

Arden's first time on a ferris wheel. She loved it at first and even grabbed the pole like she knew what she was doing, but towards the end, she seemed a little dizzy.
Wiped out at the zoo We got to visit Grandma Ada at her nursing home. I don't think I've seen her in 2 or 3 years and Derek hasn't seen her in 1.5 years so it was great to see her again!
Arden meeting her great grandma Ada for the first time!

The trip home was eventful. We got a little more than halfway, Arden was trying to pull her belt off, we needed gas and we were hungry so we figured it was time to get a hotel. We checked in and brought our stuff to the room. We were going to eat at Shoney's but the guy at the lobby desk recommended The Waffle Hut. He said it was better than The Waffle House and since it wasn't as far as Shoney's (Arden was already freaking out that we had to put her back in the car) we figured we'd give it a shot. Wow. So the waitress brings us our drinks and I notice crumbs sinking to the bottom of my glass. The waitress comes back to our table, and I politely ask for another water because there is food in this one. She did not apologize AND she left that water on the table the whole time. Needless to say, I did not drink anything from that place. Well I ordered a waffle. I figured I was at The Waffle Hut, so a waffle must be a safe bet. I mean how can you go wrong with that? It wasn't the waffle that was wrong (other than the red thing that was in it) but the syrup. I'm pretty sure it was colored water. Clarisa's drink had bugs stuck to the glass. Our waitress was not at all friendly and barely even acknowledged us and at this point I really wanted to complain, so we go to pay and our waitress was also the cashier. We figured she was probably the cook and the owner so what's the use in complaining? We got out of there at went to McDonalds for ice cream. That makes everything better.
We got an early start the next morning and headed home. A couple of hours in, Clarisa tells us she has to go to the bathroom and that Arden needs her diaper changed. Well we kind of forgot about them with the other 'thing' that happened and drove another hour. Slowly =). Then we finally stopped and Arden's diaper was LOADED. I mean it was all over her leg, and went through the car seat cushion, seeped into the base and onto the actual seat. We got her all cleaned up, then got blizzrds at Dairy Queen. Apparently the country lady taking orders doesn't quite understand non-country people. I ordered Derek a tagalong blizzard and I'm not really sure what we ended up with, but I didn't see anything like it on the menu. We made it home around 2PM and Arden was so excited looking for Tom and Kali with Daddy. We had a great time and can't wait to see nonni, grandpa and greg again!rest stop on the way home