Lockport Cave & The Beach!!

I had the opportunity to continue my tradition of chaperoning one field trip during the summer today. I think I was looking forward to it more than Tyler as The Lockport Cave has been on my list of things to do for a long time and I got to spend my day with one of my three favorite people in the whole world.

We arrived and were treated to a tour of the double lock first. I believe the guide said it is the only double lock on the Erie Canal, allowing boats to rise and fall 50 feet! I'm not sure if you can see it in this picture, but there is also an upside down railroad bridge in the background. The guide said that the speculation of the locals is that the bridge was built upside down so that large boats couldn't use the canal... the railroad business was hit hard!

One of the locks.

Then it was on to the cave. I was very concerned when we stopped in front of these stairs that we'd have to climb all of them to get in the cave, but no...

We were going in through a pipe! No, I'm not kidding.

This is a man-made cave used to power three factories with the water that used to flow through it. The water right next to the path was crystal clear and very cold.

Tyler was a little freaked out and spent his time in the cave latched on to my arm. See?

He was very concerned about bats. He was in a cave and bats live in caves, that was all that mattered. Even through the guide explained that there is no natural light in the cave, therefore, nothing grows so nothing can survive in the cave as there is nothing to eat. Tyler was convinced there were bats... vampire bats! I think we need to stay away from the zoo!

He did let go of my arm (it wasn't just my hand) for the boat ride. I had to coax this smile out of him with his friend Dylan.

As soon as we were out of the cave, and onto those stairs I was concerned about in the beginning, Tyler announced that it was very cool. Hmm.

Then it was on to the beach!! We picked up a friend, Ryan and off we went to a friend's beach house for the afternoon.

I am not a big fan of rocky beaches, but Tyler absolutely loves them. We now have a new bucket of rocks. Fun stuff!

Ryan wasn't comfortable leaving the towel for a while.

But, then he found some level of comfort filling his bucket with water and then dumping it out. Over and over again.

All three kids built a sandcastle... sort of. Notice who is doing all the work?

I could not believe that the boys wouldn't get in the water. I spent a good amount of time out there and it was wonderful. I am seriously lacking water time this year.

Maybe a dislike of natural bodies of water is hereditary? What is all the water for Ry?

Despite not enjoying the water, all three kids had a fabulous time. Maybe there is time for one more beach run this year?

Back to the real world tomorrow.

Talent Show

Tuesday was Tyler's first official talent show. When we first heard about it, I didn't plan on going. But, hearts break easy so I worked an early shift and made it to the show along with Dan and Aunt Donna. I love having a flexible job so that I can be there for these kinds of things... although, I did not like the 4 on the alarm clock in the morning!!

Tyler had demonstrated a small part of a group dance that he was participating in so that is what I was expecting. Imagine my surprise when he ended up closing the show! Turns out that Ty grabbed his joke book on the way out that morning and sprung it on his teacher. Good thing he's got a great teacher.

Here he is after the show with his book of jokes. Very proud of himself... as he should be.

I'm having some trouble posting the videos which is why this is late. If this doesn't work, I'll have to come back and play around with it. Here is the group dance:

http://s719.photobucket.com/albums/ww196/ldekruger/?action=view&current=100_5383.mp4

And, Tyler the comedian:

http://s719.photobucket.com/albums/ww196/ldekruger/?action=view&current=100_5384.mp4

In case you didn't catch them all, here are his jokes:

• What did the mummy say to the skeleton? I have a bone to pick with you.





• Why are mummies good at keeping secrets? They keep stuff under wrap.





• What is the most dangerous thing in outer space? A shooting star.





• What do you call ladybugs on the moon? Lunarticks.





• What are planets favorite kind of books? Comet books.





• Did you hear the joke about the space ship? It is out of this world.

I am very proud of this boy for getting up there and carrying through with it.

Adventure Aquarium

In between two very full days at Sesame Place, we spent a day indoors at the Adventure Aquarium.It was a neat place... once the summer camp kids left. I sure hope Tyler was respectful of the non-camp kids yesterday on his field trip... yes, we did have a talk about it in the morning.

They either had one huge tank that you could see from all over the place or there were a lot of big tanks with all sorts of different creatures.

The boys enjoyed the real creatures and the fakes.

They even enjoyed the fake scenery. Don't you love the flash off the background?

I thought this tunnel was really cool. We were surrounded by sharks!

Check this guy out who was right above us in the tunnel.

They even had a couple of Hippos. We had a chance to see them in the water...

And out... they are rather disgusting animals.

Tyler enjoyed this sign in the Hippo exhibit.

Huge tanks!

Fake or real, they didn't seem to care.

Along with the water slides, this was Tyler's favorite thing that we did on vacation. He touched a sting ray! Actually, he touched lots and lots of sting rays! We had a hard time getting him to leave.

He also enjoyed touching the sharks. These guys are bottom feeders with no teeth. I am still impressed he did this. There were a few times that he almost ended up in the tank!

Ry Ry would put his hand in the water when there was nothing around him and take it out when something swam by... he is a smart boy!

Overall, we really enjoyed ourselves in the aquarium.

Museum Day

We decided to spend our last day of vacation checking out a couple of museums. We started at the Please Touch Museum.





The building itself was beautiful inside and out.

The boys really enjoyed it. Ryan found another turtle and since it wasn't out in the sun, he could get on.

Check out this torch... it was huge!

Statue of Liberty Tyler.

Statue of Liberty Ryan!

The museum was very interactive just like our local children's museum, but it wasn't quite as large. Yes, we are spoiled.

This exhibit was neat because you could change the parts around on the cars. Everything was held on by magnets. Big smile Ryan!

I have a feeling this is a scene we will see again in the future... Ryan working on a car while Tyler supervises.

Tyler looks pretty comfortable in the drivers seat of the city bus.

I need to figure out where to put one of these in our house... a hamster wheel for boys!

It doesn't take much to make Ryan happy...

This was a neat exhibit. Tyler found just the right sized ball to float.

Random elephant!

They even had a mini grocery store. The boys loved it! I have to say that it wasn't as detailed and organized as the one at our favorite museum...

Big smile.

The lower level of the museum had other parts of a city for the kids to explore. In addition to the grocery store, there was a McDonald's, a bunch of businesses and a construction site...

It was really well done. We discovered that Ryan isn't very steady with a wheelbarrow. He'd better study in school!

There was a music room in a jungle theme. Check out the pipe organ.

We ended our visit with a ride on the carousel. It was huge! 3 rows of horses!

In the afternoon we visited the Franklin Institute Science Museum.

There was a whole room dedicated to the heart. Here is something rather gross...

I want to know who thinks of these things. Ok kids, lets go walk through a heart! Yuck.

Oh, and you have to crawl through the arteries too!

Finally it was time to move on to the airplane room.

Here is Tyler in the wind room attempting to fly.

He didn't learn much as you can see in this next photo. He's flying a virtual bi-plane and as you can see in the upper right hand corner... he's going to crash or be a fantastic stunt pilot in future airshows!

This cracks me up. This exhibit was showing how air will keep a bottle up in the air, but Ryan

had other ideas...We went to the sports room, but all the boys were really interested in were the race cars. I know... shocking.

Think Ryan will make a good beach boy?

This room was impressive. It was huge with Ben Franklin in the middle.

We also had an opportunity to see a show about fireworks which ended up being really interesting and had enough fire to keep the boys engaged.

The last room we were in was the Train room. They had an actual engine that was built in 1927 as a company show piece as it was their 60,000. Unfortunately it was too big and destroyed track due to the weight all over the US. So, it was sold to the museum for $1 in 1933 and that is where it has been ever since.

They allowed you to get aboard and go for a 1 mph ride for a few feet. Yes, it actually moved! They boys were excited for their turn.

On the train.

Overall, it was a nice museum and very interactive considering the age. We were hoping it wouldn't be a stuffy museum and it wasn't.

Lately I seem to be measuring the amount of fun we've had by the length of time it takes Ryan to fall asleep after we're done. I think we outdid ourselves on vacation because Ryan fell asleep as soon as we left the museum and stayed asleep as I got him out of the car and into the restaurant. Here he is in the booth. The poor kid slept right through dinner!

This is a quick video from the Please Touch Museum. The boys were sitting in an actual car together while Ryan changed the channel on the radio. It was too funny to watch them rocking to the music. You can see a bit of what we were seeing in the middle of this clip.

Vacation is over. Back to the real world... for a little relaxation and rest!