MarineLand

Obviously I knew that Niagara Falls had a lot of water. But I had no idea it had water like this!

MarineLand is like a small Sea World, though I give them credit for developing shows and exhibits that set them apart. For instance, the stars of MarineLand seems to be the dolphins. That was clearly evident when we allowed each of the kids to pick out one souvenir. And they all picked the same thing.

The whale exhibits were also fun. They were set up in a way that allowed us to get surprisingly close. (Is that due to a difference in liability insurance costs in Canada versus the U.S., I wonder?) The Killer Whales swam in a large pool with only a 3-foot wall around the edge, so we could look right over at them.

The calmer Beluga Whales were in a similar exhibit, where kids could touch and feed them. Sydney was quite excited about the opportunity initially. Afterall, as she repeatedly told me, "Diego saves Beluga whales!"

Alas, when it came time to get up close to the big guy/gal, she wanted nothing to do with it. Not a problem! Her protective big brother was more than willing to take her turn. What a guy!

AJ informed me later that the whales felt like rubber.

One of the funniest moments came right at the beginning. All of the kids were beyond excited as they ran toward the entrance. I was with Sydney in the rear and could see, as they got closer to the ticket counter, that - almost in unison - Jeff grabbed AJ and Scott grabbed Ben. I assumed the two dads were giving the boys a "settle down" sort of instruction. No. The two dads had caught sight of the ticket prices, which showed kids four and younger were free, while five-year-olds were $32.95. Just as I caught up to them, I overheard AJ exclaim to Ben, "They want us to be four!"

Thankfully, AJ's still young enough to just find this oddly amusing, rather than a reason to question everything we've tried to teach him about the importance of honesty.