Day before expander

Since Grant is getting his dental expander put in today, we decided to go out to dinner at the Rainforest Cafe last night.  The best part was that Niagara Falls had a bunch of outdoor games.

Papa Jim's

We spent this past weekend camping at Papa Jim's house for 2 nights.  We also got to spend some time with Heather, Cody and Carly while we were there.

July 8

We started the day with a trip to the Dr. for Grace.  Her stomach has been hurting for about 10 days and we thought it was time to have her checked out.  They don’t think it is anything serious but if it continues next week or gets worse we will investigate further.

After that it was a family trip to Allegany, NY to set up some pitfall traps for my research.  The kids were a big help and we also got to see a woodcock and a fawn.

After finishing up our fieldwork we picked up subs for dinner on the way to Grant’s tennis lessons.

July 7th

Summer fun continued today with lots of board games, some bicycle riding, crafts and a trip to the ice skating rink.

Grace and I made a cardboard gumball machine while Grant and Lara made a  water wheel.

Before Gracie and I went skating we were treated to a dinner made by Grant. The first time he's cooked dinner all by himself.

It was my first trip out with some skates I bought online and I was surprised how good they felt compared to the rentals.

We finished up the night watching some of a Star Wars movie...the first time the kids have watched any of them.

July 5th

We continued our festivities with a trip to Lockport, NY.  We had lunch at Tom's Diner...

and then took a 2 hour boat ride up and down a few locks on the Erie Canal. 

It was a fantastic trip but scorching hot, ~94°F, so after the boat ride we went to the Wide Waters Drive-in (in Lockport) to get slush puppies and cool off.

We had another water balloon battle once we made it home.

4th of July

In the morning rather than doing the race and parade that we have done in the past, we decided to take a bike ride out to a peninsula in the Niagara River.  Gracie caught her first fish ever! Grant and I followed suit and each caught one of our own.

We then spent the rest of the day grilling and playing in the backyard: cornhole, water balloon fights, and an inflatable pool.

At night we went to the post office to watch Grand Island's fireworks.  We caught lightning bugs, played catch with a light up ball, and lit some sparklers while we waited for the show.

After the show it was a few minute drive home and we watched the end of the Macys show on tv.