Devil's Hole Trail and Niagara Falls

The weather is finally improving here in the NE so a friend and I ventured over to the Niagara gorge for some hiking and sightseeing. First we hiked 4 miles on the Devils Hole trail along the river and saw the whirlpools and the cave. The water level was pretty high and turbulent!

And since we were so close, why not head over to Niagara falls? We parked and walked around the park to see the falls from different views.

Even caught a hint of a rainbow

Mud season is my least favorite time to get out however it's a necessary evil to get myself back into shape after hibernating all winter! Time to start planning summer hiking trips ...

Jacob Turns 11

Yesterday my sweet boy Jacob turned 11 years old! We had a small family party at the house with his favorite cake (lime jello cake) and ice cream (cookie dough). He requested homemade butter chicken and naan for dinner, so that's what I made! I also made everyone a big brunch for the afternoon.

He opened his presents in the morning because why not? His dad built him a fancy new gamer computer with all sorts of flashy lights, so he loved that and immediately had to set it up. After brunch we did cake and ice cream, with more after dinner that evening! He had a fun day of relaxing.

His uncle Eric sent him a Minecraft Lego set as well. No word from any grandparents.....

Once the weather warms up a bit, he'll have a party with friends for more fun!

Check back soon for an updated post on Bradley's college journey ....

Marching Into April

April is here and we are officially already 1/3 of the way thru 2026 if you can believe it! My days are starting to go more quickly now with spring craft shows, gardening, summer outings, and getting ready for Bradley's graduation and move to college. Wow!

I started my seedlings on Feb 28 and after much TLC they are popping up and happy. I just turned off the warming mat since germination is complete, and now just have them under the grow lights. Hopefully soon the days will get warm enough that I can start hardening them off to go into the dirt! My sunflowers have gotten so tall already that I had to move them into my sunny bay window.

In the quest for fun side hustles I sent in a short audition video for a commercial (I didn't get it!) so I took advantage of pretty hair and makeup since I don't usually do the selfies.

Jacob has had a couple Science Olympiad competitions for 5th grade, and in the Marble Maze he won FIRST place for his marble race track he built!

I participated in the elementary school's first Career Fair and had a booth about being a nurse! It was fun to explain to the kids about what a nurse does and all the options there are for a job. Jacob enjoyed going around and of course seeing the video game guy.

In preparation for my spring craft shows, I've been busy pouring new limited edition candles in these beautiful jars I got! They smell SO good (shop any time online on my store website but these specific candles are just for my shows).

This weekend I got Nick and I tickets to see a comedian Des Bishop in Rochester. We made a date night of it and first got an appetizer and coffee before the show. After the show we grabbed some dinner then headed home. He was a great comedian!