Postcard from Niagara Falls, Ontario

Who knew Niagara Falls could be so magical, fun and kid-friendly? After an hour and a half drive from our home in Toronto, my family and I arrived on the outskirts of the city, catching anticipatory glimpses of some of its brightly lit attractions. During our three-day stay, my six-year-old daughter confronted her fears as we journeyed behind the roaring Falls, rode the 175-foot-high SkyWheel, and flew down a giant waterslide. I confronted my fears in the foyers of a haunted house or two in Clifton Hill, the action-packed main strip by the Falls. My four-year-old son discovered the glory of fudge and turned blue from cotton candy, and my husband became a kid again in a dazzling arcade. (For the record, it was me who scored our daughter the little panda she wanted in one of the arcade’s impossible claw machines!).

A version of this article appeared in our May 2012 issue, with the headline Postcard From ...Niagara Falls, Ont. (p. 30).