Day 3 - animals and home.

Sunday, day 3 was departure day from Canada. We had breakfast and went back to the room to pack everything up and head out. We had 2 options left for Canada: go to a nearby indoor waterpark and buy 4-hour passes (another $90!) and splash with Helaina until we're beat, or head to the Clifton Hill area to walk around, shop a little, have lunch then head out. I really wasn't in the mood for either, then Jim and I thought the same thing at the same time: cross the Rainbow Bridge back into NY early to avoid a huge Sunday afternoon backlog then make a stop at the Buffalo Zoo. Sounds like a plan. The Buffalo Zoo is nice, just the right size and has several animals that Helaina has never seen before (polar bears, rhinos & zebras).

The thinker! I lucked out with this picture. Wonder what he was thinking about.

"That rhino not real!" Nope ...

... but these guys are.

She loved this wagon. She was pretending to hold the reigns of a horse and kept saying "giddy-up".

There was a small playground at the zoo. Helaina spotted it and took off running, "I go there!"

Pretty flowers.

The polar bears are always exciting to see.

It was a hot day and lots of the animals were just laying around.

After a quick lunch we headed home. Helaina was asleep in less than 5 minutes.

Funny Helaina:
Tonight before dinner Helaina and Josh were upstairs fiddling around. I called both of them several times to no avail. I called Helaina one more time and told her to come downstairs or she'd lose her beloved Nemo Dolphin for the night. I immediately heard footsteps racing down the stairs as she yells "I'm coming right at the moment!"

The other morning I asked Helaina what she wanted for breakfast and she couldn't make up her mind. I reminded her that we had a new box of cereal I bought at the grocery store. "I'll have that. Thanks, Mommy. Thank you for buying it. I appreciate it." I appreciate it??!!

Lately if you ask Helaina if she wants something and the answer is no, she'll say "No, but thanks for asking." So funny and so sweet.

Canada, Day 2

Helaina took a while to "wake up" Saturday morning - think she was still tired from yesterday's adventures. She watched a cartoon with Nemo before we got her going.

Off to see the Falls for the first time.

Her first glimpse of Horseshoe Falls from the best viewing point, in my opinion. You are so close to the water rushing over the edge, it's an amazing view. All of a sudden Helaina starts yelling something while staring at the water. Jim and I look at each other and laugh when we realize what she's yelling: "Swim, Lassie, swim!!!" Helaina loves the Lassie movies and one of the more recent ones about a sheep herding adventure is her favorite. Lassie gets swept over a waterfall after saving her young owner (of course), while the boy is yelling "Swim, Lassie, swim!!" Too funny that she thought of that.

Horseshoe Falls.

Maid of the Mist, here comes Helaina!

She looked so adorable in her little blue raincoat. "When we gonna get soaked?" she kept asking.

Right now! She loved getting sprayed with the mist. Riding the Maid of the Mist is the best adventure at Niagara Falls.

The American Falls on the way back to the landing.

An afternoon swim in the hotel's outdoor pool.

"When we going to ride that elevator?" She asked this question constantly until we took her.

Helaina had the perfect viewing spot in the elevator - right in front.

Birds-eye view from the observation deck.

We went to a Macaroni Grill restaurant right next to our hotel. We ate a little late and Helaina was ravenous. We ordered her the children's spaghetti. On the menu it said that it came with one giant meatball. They weren't kidding - it was huge - and the plate was piled high with spaghetti. Jim and I watched in astonishment as Helaina was silent and shoveled the food in like she had never eaten before. When I saw that she was nearing the bottom of the plate I told her that she didn't have to finish all the food and to stop eating when she was full. She looked at me, burped like a sailor, and continued to eat. Oy, macaroni is definately her favorite meal but I don't know where she put it all. When she finally pushed the plate away she immediately asked "When we going for ice cream?"

We had a nice balcony in our hotel room. It made me nervous, though, with Helaina Houdini.

Jim and I were in Niagara Falls in 2005 to celebrate our 1-year wedding anniversary and then again in 2007 to ride the Whirlpool Jetboat (now that was a frightening experience). No matter how many times I visit the Falls it's still an amazing sight to see.

Guess where we went?

Yuppie doooo, as Helaina would say. We went to Niagara Falls, Canada to check out Marineland, see the Falls, ride the Maid of the Mist and do whatever else we could cram into 3 days. At the end of it all we were all exhausted - and Jim was broke! If you plan on visiting the Canadian side, just bring your bankbook and turn it over when you cross the border - which we nearly didn't get across. (Note to parents of internationally adopted children - bring your child's ORIGINAL citizenship certificate and avoid the bast**d border guard that we were unfortunate enough to meet that day. More on that another time, if I have the energy to relive the extremely frustrating experience.) Here's a little clip of our car trip with Helaina (the impatient child) and a few Marineland rides that Jim and I took turns on.

Make an on-line slide show at www.OneTrueMedia.com

The whale that splashed Jim and Helaina during the "splash & meet" session.

A bit wet after the splash. Helaina thought it was great.

The trainers working with the whales made me nervous. I didn't want to be a witness to something similar that happened a few months ago between a whale and it's trainer.

I'm sorry, but the baluga whales are just plain freaky looking to me. I think it's the combination of them being all white and having that strange head shape - just looks to me like they aren't done developing and should be in an alien movie.

The show in the main arena was good. Helaina sat still through the entire show which was nothing short of a miracle.


The underwater viewing areas were neat.

Then there were the rides. We didn't get a chance to take Helaina on all of them because it was very crowded and there were unfortunately 30 minute waits for most of the rides she wanted to go on. Helaina picked the front seat for her ladybug roller coaster ride, much to Jim's delight (not).

Helaina went on this ferris wheel by herself - she wanted to ride alone. I was going to ride with her but she pushed me away and insisted on going herself. Hmmmfff!

They have a deer-feeding area. We entered through the gates (late in the afternoon) and should have known when we weren't stampeded by deer that they weren't hungry. Jim bought Helaina a cone filled with deer food but none of them were interested in eating - most likely full from being fed all day. And I'm sure the Marineland staff are aware of this fact but they keep on selling you the deer food at $2.25 per cone knowing the deer won't eat it. That irked me.

Chinese restaurant on Clifton Hill for dinner. Snacking on crispy noodles dunked in sauce after she had wonton soup, fried rice, stir fry beef and sweet & sour chicken. That's our girl. Josh says that Helaina has the makings of a competitive eater - he may be on to something!

As if we didn't do enough during this very long day, we let Helaina take a quick swim in the hotel's indoor pool before bed.

Sound asleep in her own queen size bed with Siri, Buckle and Nemo the Dolphin from Marineland.

Canada, day 2 to be continued.....

Naso what? Videofluoro what?

Today our little trooper added yet 2 more medical procedures to her ever-growing list of invasive things that a 4-year old should never be subjected to -- all in preparation for possible p-flap surgery in August (I lose so much sleep over these things). First up was the nasopharyngoscopy which involved numbing one of Helaina's nostrils then snaking a very long, thin, flexible tube/camera through her nostril and down the back of her throat (eeewwwww) to view the p-flap in action, all while the doctor instructs her to speak, say certain words and make certain sounds. Before Dr. Bob started (he was absolutely wonderful) I warned him that the adorable, charming little girl he had been chatting with so nicely can go from zero to wildcat in under 4 seconds flat. "Ok, well maybe she should sit on your lap then." Yah, good idea. Our little gal surprised the heck out of Jim and I by being SO brave and so cooperative that we were astonished. There were a few tears when the cotton-soaked numbing solution was being inserted in her nostril then some squirming when the tube was being snaked on through (can you blame her), but she sat still and said all the words and sounds they asked her while capturing the flap in action on several TVs in the room. We even got a DVD copy to take home and watch for ourselves! Helaina is so funny. As soon as we got home she said to Jim "Can we watch the movie of my throat?" Warning: gross picture up next. The flap and x-ray pics on the DVD cover aren't of Helaina. Won't find this movie rental at any video store now, will ya?

Next was the videofluoroscopy - a little bit scarey with the GIANT x-ray machine in a relatively small room. Jim, myself and a crowd of people in the room (technicians, radiologists, our speech pathologist who ran the show, and a few interns) all got lead vests to wear. Helaina then got strawberry scented "milkshake" (which was actually some type of barium) squirted into both nostrils. She was supposed to sniff it in but she fought that part - definately didn't like it and cried a bit. After that she had to stand still in front of the machine while our speech pathologist positioned her head in 100 different directions while instructing her to say certain words and sounds, all being captured on a blue-screen TV in the room. We could see her whole head on the TV and we could see right through it - her eye sockets, nasal area, swallowing movements. I watched for a while then had to turn away because it started to make me feel weak! Jim, of course, thought it was great. "Look, at her teeth." No thanks, that's another future nightmare. Helaina was so good and cooperative through the procedure. She was hungry, thirsty, tired and wanted to go home in the worst way but she endured and did what was asked of her. For both procedures everyone commented on how cooperative she was and what a good sport she was. I was practically in tears, but Helaina did great. We are so proud of her. During her bath tonight the "milkshake" was still leaking out of her nostrils. While trying to clean it up I said to her "You didn't like that stuff being squirted up your nose, did you?" Her response: "No I did not and don't ever take me there again!"

All cozy in bed tonight in her Disney Princess jammies with her clown sheets, Dora pillowcase and her new favorite stuffed animal, Buckle the horse (more on Buckle some other time). Night night, sweet dreams, my brave little warrior - you deserve sweet dreams after the day you had today. We're headed out on a much-needed 3-day adventure tomorrow morning and we can't wait to get out of town and think about nothing but fun!

We went fishing last weekend but caught no fish (gee, what a surprise). It was sunny and not windy at all at our house that morning but out on the lake was an entirely different story. Windy and choppy as all heck. I snapped this picture as we were gaining speed after getting out of the marina and Helaina was laughing hysterically. She loves going fast and bouncing over the waves.

"Daddy, I want the shiny purple octopus on my pole."

Sunny and choppy. There were birds diving into the water after some small fish. At one point I thought they were after us (I had a Tippi Hedren Birds movie flashback). They were coming so close and were very agressive.

Safely made it back to the calm marina. Helaina loves driving the boat with her Daddy.