| Meeting Julia |
Meeting Julia was the absolute best! She was a complete sweetheart and her children were two of the most darling little angels I have ever met.
I awoke at the crack of dawn on Wednesday, all bright eyed and bushy tailed. I felt like a little kid at Christmas because I was so excited to meet her and her family. Although we weren’t scheduled to meet until 11:00, we had a good couple of hours of driving ahead of us, most of which was through rush hour traffic in Toronto. We wanted to get an early start.
We were scheduled to meet at Niagara Falls. It was a gorgeous sunny day and I actually found it to be quite warm at 28 degrees Celsius (82 degrees Fahrenheit). To Julia however, who lives in the sweltering hot south, our weather was probably closer to a mild fall day.
We made our plans to meet up at the legendary Maid of the Mist. I was nervous that I wouldn’t recognize her, but knowing that she would be with her two little ones and having seen at least 14 million pictures of them, I kept reassuring myself we wouldn’t miss each other.
At around 11:00, our cell phone rang. It was Julia and she was wondering where we were. Deciding to go and take a look around the corner, I immediately recognized her little daughter Alison. As she was talking to Mark on the phone, facing the opposite direction, I told Mark to ask her if she was wearing a pink shirt. She immediately started looking around and when she turned around and saw us, it was like I had known her for years.
Her smile immediately put me at ease. Her eyes had the same warmth that I remember seeing in pictures and her children were even more adorable in person. After hugging, and chatting for a few minutes, we decided to grab some lunch together before heading onto the Maid of the Mist. We found a little cafeteria style restaurant and we all proceeded to find what we wanted to eat.
It was nice to know I would be having lunch with another vegetarian. I have no veggie friends and eating out usually leaves me feeling just a tad bit silly at times when our choices are limited by my vegetarian eating style. Julia is also a vegetarian, and for once, my meat eating husband was the minority. It was great.
We of course, finished up lunch by devouring some yummy ice cream before heading onto the boat to get up close and personal with the powerful falls. I’ve ridden the Maid of the Mist before, but being on the boat with Julia and her two kids made the ride extra special. Children have a unique way of infecting us with their enthusiasm when something thrills them. As we approached the Canadian falls, and we began to rock back and forth and get soaked from all the mist spraying into the boat, the excitement and laughter was absolutely contagious. It was so wonderful to be a part of that experience.
Upon exciting the boat, we stopped at a souvenir shop. Her darling daughter chose a little toothpick holder, and her son chose a bow and arrow set. I won’t reveal what Julia bought for Christi, but let’s just say it will be a special treat from a certain animal that is national symbol of Canada.
While sitting down to rest in the shade, her son started experimenting with his new toy. After a few failed attempts of aiming and shooting his rubber arrow, Mark stepped in to help him out. It just melted my heart watching Mark play with Andrew. He is going to be such a great dad, and I know if Ava was with us today, she probably would have been saying his name already at only 4 months old because he would have blown her little socks (booties) right off.
Although I totally expected Mark and me to have Canadian accents, just like I expected Julia to have a southern accent, I found it very interesting that, although I do have an accent, Mark’s was much heavier. Of course, I can’t tell the difference, which makes it so funny. So what does our accent sound like anyways eh?
Walking around all day at Niagara Falls is no small feat for children (even if they are two of the cutest and smartest kiddos on the planet), and by late afternoon, Andrew and Alison started to tire. I didn’t want to say goodbye, but all good things must come to an end.
Meeting Julia was definitely a good thing. We had such a fantastic day together, and I hope we get to see each other again in the near future.
Have a safe trip home tomorrow Julia. Thank you for gracing us with your presence and sharing in such a wonderful afternoon with us.
Here are some photos from our day.
Me and hubby
The Maid of the Mist approaching the falls
Hubby in his stylish rain coat on the Maid of the Mist (before we went near the falls)
Me in my stylish rain coat on the Maid of the Mist (up close and personal with the falls). Can we say wet, wild and windy?
The picture perfect end to a perfect day
Out of respect for Julia, since I never asked if I could share photos of her online, I’m not going to post any. Labels: Friends |
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Even though I lived in Rochester for 33 years and have been to Niagara Falls numerous times, I've never done the Maid of the Mist. Sounds like it was fun, though. Glad you guys had an awesome day!
I'm glad but not surprised that it worked out well.
Wow, looks like a great time and you were worried.
Your pictures look like a lot of my pictures. lol.
wow, looks fun! The rainbow shot is so pretty!
well it sounds like you had a blast.
Lucky you.
Have a great friday.
It looks like you had so much fun. I'm so excited for you! :)
Oh, I can just imagine how much fun it was when Andrew and Alison got excited! I love it when I go places with them and they get excited. Andrew is so amazed and intuitive, and Alison is so bouncy and well, excited!
I suppose I can be happy for you...a little. I give you permission to post pics of Julia. I want to see them, and I know she wouldn't mind. Come on, come on!
So wonderful that you all had such a grand time!
I'm so glad you had a great day! :)
I have even heard of bloggers who have dated one of their readers!
No Kurt. I know you really were trying to ask me out on a date, but I'm already taken. I hear Todd is available...
I’ve never been in that part of the (either) country, though right now, 82 sounds heavenly – like late fall or early winter.
Nice pitcs, and I’m glad your visitation worked out so very well.
I love the falls and have been there several times..It always amazes me how much water actulaly goes over them.
I'm so glad you had as good a time as I did! It really was like we were old friends, and you are just the same in the real world as you are online! I was just as nervous as you about meeting. I was also kind of nervous that the kids were being spoiled so much by the grandparents that they would go into whiney mode. Andrew did a bit, but it was only partial whiney mode, not full, lol. I'll write more in my blog later when I have the time. I don't really like taking pictures of myself because I always look fat or slackjawed, but I will make myself get over it and say, go ahead and put the pictures up.
Glad you had such a good time..
So cool that you were able to meet a fellow blogger, and a vegetarian too!
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Anonymous : August 19, 2005 
