So let me tell you about that 12-hour flight from hell.

Leading up to our big trip to Canada, J hadn’t been feeling well. He was running a fever for a few days and my mommy-instinct told me it might be an ear infection so we took him in to see the doc the morning of our flight. Lo and behold, ear infection. We picked up the prescribed antibiotics (sigh…) and headed home to pack up. It was a fight to get him to take the meds, only for him to throw it all up. It was an eventful start to our trip and we hadn’t even left home yet.

Luckily, the airport shuttle ride lined up with his nap-time (these are the logistics of parenthood people don’t tell you about) and once we arrived to Incheon Airport, J was in good spirits. That all went out the window once the plane took off. And rightly so. Poor guy was in so much pain with his ear infection and the cabin air pressure.

I am not kidding you when I say, he cried at a four-minute interval for the entire flight. It didn’t help that the flight attendants were crabby and unhelpful. Boy were we glad to land and get off that plane! (Understatement of the year)

It didn’t end there. We picked up our rental car and then had a two-hour drive ahead of us to Niagara Falls. (What possessed us to think THAT was a good idea…?) But thanks to dear husband, J and I had a nice sleep in the car.

We arrived to a rainy, dreary Niagara Falls but it called for snuggles and room service. I ordered myself a glass of red wine (yes, please!) and chocolate chip cookies along with our dinner.

Hotel beds & room service. My son after my own heart

We looked out our window to an incredible Falls’ view and fell asleep brimming with anticipation to meet it up-close and personal.

Day 1:

The next morning, we enjoyed a lovely breakfast buffet where we each had our fill of our favs: coffee for me, yogurt for J and pastries for Y. With tummies full, we sat J in his stroller (our hero: best investment ever!) and walked over to the Falls.

Family selfie, fail. But makes for good laughs.

We snapped a ton of photos (Y captured some of J+mommy’s love fest: shown above), walked even more and got our introduction to Tim Horton’s. Despite the large amounts of coffee consumed, on my part, jet lag hit us hard and we all rolled into bed for a slightly-too-long-to-be-considered-a-nap nap.

We closed out of our first full day in Canada at the outlets, J and daddy enjoyed some ice cream fireside, I strolled and shopped.

Day 2:

Traveling with a sick toddler is not for the faint-hearted. On Day 2, I woke up achy and feverish with a sore throat. With a busy itinerary ahead of us, I decided to take it easy. Dear husband took J out for the day and I spent it in bed. The boys took an excursion to the nearby Butterfly Conservatory and J absolutely loved it.

When the boys returned, I had a major case of FOMO. Being our last evening in Niagara, I mustered up every bit of energy and made it out to the Peller Estates for a wine tasting. Mixing cold meds and wine was probably not my brightest moment. Neither was doing three flights of tastings. But hey ho, you only live once. And come on, ice wine? How can you resist?

By the time I finished my three flights of wine tastings, it was well past dinnertime. With a hungry toddler in tow and no shoddy internet connection, we frantically searched for a place that would serve us food late at night. After several fails, we finally settled down at a pub and helped ourselves to a large serving of fish and chips and a burger.