Gorge-eous Vacation

While Jamie explores France and Spain with a bunch of high schoolers, I opted to take the kids on a little trip to Ithaca, NY.  My best bud Erin and her son met up with us, and we rented a house for 5 days.  I was nervous about making the drive and being the only parent... turned out it was no big deal at all with Erin's help, and we had a really great time!  I love waterfalls, so we picked the area around the Finger Lakes to explore - I already want to go back!

Missing Jamie, but a great trip overall!

We went to Taughannok Falls on our first day, which was just down the road from our place.  We actually stopped there last year on our way to the east coast, but it was cool to see it again!  A pretty little hike ending in a super tall waterfall!

Pretty little falls in the beginning of the hike

Wading in the water and collecting rocks
was Ben's favorite part

Evie got the hang of skipping rocks!
(I still can't manage to do it, sigh)

Ben collecting rocks and sticks to make a fire...

Taughannok Falls

Erin and James

So sweaty...

We went kayaking in pairs on Lake Cayuga, and all the kids did awesome!  I was a little worried having Ben in the front, but he was totally into it!  The pictures didn't turn out great, but at least we have the memories!

Evie and Erin as a powerhouse team...

My crew mate

We took a boat tour of Seneca Lake, which was the perfect length of time for the kids.

Mother and Daughter

Yay boat rides!

Boat hair!

2 out of 3?

Watkins Glen State Park was by far my favorite part of the trip.  We got to see 19 waterfalls in one morning of hiking!  There were a lot of stairs and inclines, but totally worth the effort.  The kids only slightly ruined the vibe complaining half the time... would love to do this again (alone, ha ha).

Explorers

That's us up on the bridge, hard to see

Really impressed with all the paths and
stairways that were built into the landscape, can't imagine 
trying to design it all!

Lots of sprinkling areas like this

TLC was wrong - you absolutely SHOULD
go chasing waterfalls

Gotta love a waterfall you can walk under

One of the big boys

The temps were in the 90s and super humid throughout the entire trip... so naturally a bonfire was necessary.  The kids rrrrrrrrreally wanted to do one, so Erin and James made it happen!

Trying not to pass out from the heat

Worth it for the s'mores

Erin took the kids to a really cool Science Center one day while I stayed back for Ben's nap (she's my hero).  Evie and Maggie both loved it, said it was one of the best parts of the trip!

It really blew her hair back

Outdoor playground!

We went to a little park one day attempting to find open swimming... the swimmable area was actually pretty gross, so we had some unsatisfied kids.

Oh Evie

Such a sweetheart

Some other randoms from the trip:

Evie's first game of pool... I am definitely not the person
who should be teaching her

Evie bought a rubber snake, affectionately named Stacy

Erin helped her with a fashion show, creating this lovely
scarf and tube dress!

Ben is obsessed with his captain hat

Whipped cream is becoming a food group in my family...

MANY games of Jenga, Uno and Spoons
were had

The house had a hot tub... which sounded cool when we booked it,
but was less exciting in 90-degree heat.  Unsurprisingly the kids
insisted on becoming soup as soon as we arrived!