More Falls and Farms...

Last weekend was actually dry, so on Saturday, we decided to visit a few more local attractions - first, Pratt's Falls in Manlius.  Pratt's Falls is a 137' waterfall which was formed by retreating glaciers and was the site of Onondaga County's first mill operation in 1796.  It was a short, easy, uncrowded, and beautiful hike!  I just need to remember to make Billy hand over the camera on our outings so we have proof he was with us!  :)  I loved how these photos turned out and had fun playing around with them in photoshop! 

After exploring the falls, we took the kids to a farm just down the road to enjoy more fall activities!

The first weeks of October...

October has always been one of my favorite months of the year - sure, when I was younger it was because of my birthday, but as I aged, I began to appreciate the beautiful weather and the vibrant fall colors that often arrived with the 10th month of the year.

Knowing this would be our only fall in New York, we had hoped to spend every weekend in October in the great outdoors, but the first weekend brought with it lots of rain and chilly temps, so we took the kids to 'the dome' to watch some Syracuse football instead.  Brody enjoyed the game until about half time when he laid down on the bleachers and fell asleep!  :)  (Later, when he showed someone a photo from the game, they asked who he was cheering for and he said, "The Cowboys."  Yep, I've successfully brainwashed my son into thinking there's only one team worth cheering for in football...and based on the past few years, they need all the cheering they can get)

On the 7th, my mother-in-law flew in for a visit.  My family completely spoiled me on the 8th with thoughtful gifts and a yummy fruit bouquet.  

  We then took a morning stroll down the walking trails in the neighborhood, ending up at the pond.

 Here Brody is calmly playing in the pond with a stick...this was right before he lost his balance and his feet slipped into the water!

 This photo shows a less than enthusiastic Brody with a very wet shoe...

 But he rebounds quickly and before we started our walk back home, he was all smiles again!  : )

My favorite part of my birthday though was the evening, when my mother-in-law volunteered to stay with the kids so Billy and I could go out!  The weather was AMAZING, allowing us to finally take the motorcycle on a long ride through New York's winding back country roads.  We didn't really have a destination in mind and both of us were pleasantly surprised when at dusk, after about an hour of riding, we found ourselves in a picturesque town with a quaint main street situated right on the banks on one of Central New York's crystal-clear finger lakes.  We immediately found a place to park the bike and spent the next few hours walking the pier and the parks, marveling over the views, and eventually enjoying some amazing seafood for dinner.  Of course, we hadn't brought a camera with us, so these photos from Billy's phone are the only ones I have.  We hope to make it back to Skaneateles (pronounced Skenny-atlas) at some point during our time in NY.  It was truly a perfect evening!  :)

 The next day, the weather was still perfect so Billy decided we should take his mom to Niagara Falls - we hadn't been there yet either, and we all had our passports so we could view the falls from the Canadian side.  The sheer size of the falls is so hard to imagine until you've actually seen them! 

 We went on the Maid of the Mist boat tour as well - a very unique experience! 

I don't think we did a very good job preparing Brody though.  He enjoyed the 'boat ride' until we got to the base of the falls.  When the waves grew in size and the boat began swaying and the water began splashing in from all sides (including down the stairwell from the top deck), he, understandably, began to panic.
 

He calmed down when we moved back into calmer waters (as shown above), but once we exited the boat and removed the rain ponchos, his first words were, "That was NOT cool!!"

Here are some photos showing how close the boat gets to the falls...

I'm guessing it was probably when the boat reached about this point that Brody no longer enjoyed the ride...

Thankfully, I think he enjoyed the rest of our time at Niagara, and I think Alexa enjoyed it all, especially being able to share the experience with her Halmoni.  : )

You may notice in several of the photos, Brody has his arms out to the sides - he's not doing the "King of the World" move from Titanic...he's being the statue of Jesus in Rio de Janeiro.  Ever since we watched the movie Rio, he randomly 'strikes the statue pose'.  He also does an imitation of the Statue of Liberty, usually either right before or after his imitation of the Jesus statue...I'll have to try to catch a photo of that one too.

ANYWAY...the kids did not have school the Monday and Tuesday after Sun Tok arrived, so on Monday, we headed to Ithaca with the neighbors to picnic at Buttermilk Falls and let the kids explore the playground.  Brody has been wanting to climb a tree for quite some time, but there aren't any with low enough branches at the apartment complex.  Thankfully, we found the perfect climbing tree at the park!  :)

 Here is Brody and his friend Mason hiking to the overlook at the top of the falls

 The view from the overlook

 Brody didn't want to get in the photo with Alexa and me, but Mason did!  : )

On Tuesday, we headed up to Syracuse University to meet Billy for lunch and show his mom the campus.  By the time we left, all four of Sun Tok's grandchildren (and Sun herself) had SU apparel.  : )

The next weekend, we headed to Old Forge at the base of the Adirondacks in hopes of enjoying the fall foliage we'd heard so much about.  This was the cabin we stayed in....

It was right on the lake and this was the view from the front deck...

While it was beautiful, those dark clouds never went away and it pretty much rained off and on our entire trip.  This was a photo Billy took of the kids on the dock at about 8:45 in the morning - it was crazy how dark it was (this first image is straight from his camera and NOT a black and white photo)

 But it was such a fun photo, I had to play around with it in photoshop, so the next one IS black and white!  :)

 and a sepia version...

We were a bit concerned when we woke up Saturday morning to no electricity...which, in the cabin, meant not only no lights, but also no heat, and no running water.  Thankfully, it came back on a few hours later!  Once we could take warm showers, we got ready and headed to the Adirondack museum, a really fun place offering beautiful views and lots of interactive exhibits for the kids - plus its free for military!

 The kids loved climbing up in the authentic fire tower!

 The views from the top were gorgeous...

 The kids facial expressions below are so opposite, its funny!

 Just thought this was a cool photo Billy took of a stone wall...

 During lunch, we actually saw the sun, although briefly we managed to capture it!

After the museum, we rode the 'Pumpkin train', a short train ride through the mountains to a small pumpkin patch where each child was able to choose a pumpkin.  (It was pouring rain by the time we reached the station, so we didn't even bother taking the camera out of the car for this outing.)  After the pumpkin ride, they invited everyone to tour the 'haunted house' across the street from the station.  Brody laughed the whole way through it and Alexa cried...I don't think my daughter will be venturing into a haunted house again any time soon, and I'm not sure how to interpret my son's reaction!

Sunday the rain finally ended and we spent our last few hours exploring the small shops in town before heading back home. 

Sun Tok's visit went by way too quickly, and on the 19th, it was time for her to return to Utah.  We were spoiled while she was in town with lots of yummy Korean dinners, and my freezer now has several Korean meals to tide us over until her next visit.

Lastly, while we have driven all over the Central New York region to enjoy the fall colors, we really don't have to look far...this is the view from our apartment building. 

I'm trying to enjoy it while it lasts, because from what I hear, once winter decides to arrive, the only color we'll be seeing is white.  : )