Niagara Falls Day 2

We checked out of the hotel, grabbed our Tim Horton's coffee, and arrived at MarineLand five minutes before they opened the gates. There were several school buses and a long, scattered lineup of people waiting when we arrived. One woman was trying to check off the names of adults in the line (parents?) and I overheard her scolding people for not standing together, not being the people who originally signed up for the trip, and generally making her job that much more difficult. She was obviously a school teacher and I planned to avoid her at all costs.

The kids ran as fast as they could to the first ride, a boat that goes forward and backward before adding a sideways spin to the mix. I don't normally do that sort of ride immediately after breakfast, so I was happy that my wife volunteered for the first round.

My daughter wanted to go on the next ride which takes you 30 feet off the ground, then drops you, repeated several times. My wife drew the short straw again, so I was off to find a suitable ride for me and my son.

As we ran around the corner, I had one of the all-time strangest things happen to me. Something hit me in the back of the head! It didn't really hurt, it felt like someone had dinged me with a tennis ball. I heard a squawk and turning around, I saw a medium sized, black bird flying away. Why did this bird decide to dive-bomb my head? I will never know. I hurried on before the school teacher came along and scolded me for teasing the birds like that. My son had seen the attack and laughed uncontrollably for several minutes. I'm sure it was a funny sight.

The kids went on every ride the park had to offer. My daughter went on her first upside-down roller coaster without even the slightest hesitation. I told her repeatedly that she's far braver than I was at eight. At no point did I reveal that she may be braver than I am now.

There were about 20 Mennonites or Amish people at the park that day. I'm not exactly sure of the differences between the two religions and couldn't answer my daughter's questions. She was surprised to discover that they spoke English and marvelled at their clothes.

One of the nice things about MarineLand is that you can break up the rides by seeing the shows. We petted Beluga whales, got soaked by Killer whales and watched jumping dolphins, seals, sea lions and a walrus.

The main show is a bit different this year. They have some younger animals who haven't performed before and they showed us some of the ways they train them to do the jumps and tricks. I found that interesting, but couldn't help wondering if the show should be called "Sorry, we weren't quite ready for you this year."

Our last stop was the gift shop, where the kids picked out their inflatable animals. This year, we adopted "Baffin the Beluga" and "Surfer the Sea Lion," who will be lucky to survive a summer with my aggressive kids. I chuckled at the sight of the Kodak counter, where they sell old-fashioned film for cameras. Kodak and MarineLand are obviously stuck in a contract signed in 1975 and will be lucky to find 10 people a season who haven't graduated to digital cameras.

The school kids are long gone, the Mennonites are likely back in their fields, the kids are tired and I'm extremely dizzy. It looks like it's going to rain...time to go home.