Lark Toys and Eagle Center

On Sat February 7, we took a day trip to the Lark Toy Store and the National Eagle Center in Wabasha Minnesota, similar to our day trip about a year ago.

First, we ate a picnic lunch near the carousel. I brought homemade lasagna from the night before and it worked out perfectly! 

Then, we got on the merry-go-round. It was Dallin's first time. Tanner remembered being on the ride from last year! 

Every animal on this carousel was hand carved by the Lark Toy maker. Aren't they beautiful?

Dallin was a little squished sharing a seat with me. But once the ride finally started going, he was okay. Not many smiles from him during the ride, but he did say "wee, wee!" and watched wide-eyed.

Here are the exhibits of toys throughout the ages.

Puppet show

There are SO many toys to play with here! And there is a bookstore area, too.

The Eagle Center was beautiful. We got to see the ambassador eagles up close and watched an eagle presentation where we learned a lot. Clearly, there is a lot to learn about eagles; I learned so much even though we came here last year! So I'll include a few cool facts...

It is illegal to have any part of a bald eagle's body in your possession- even if you find a bald eagle feather or claw in the wild, you cannot keep it, unless you want to be a felon. Only Native Americans can own eagle feathers, and they must have a permit for the feathers, using them only for ceremonial things.

Bald eagles are very territorial. They make a terribly annoying screeching sound when they want you to leave their area. This is how we got warning that bald eagles were flying by outside--these ambassador eagles would see them through the windows and squawk at them.

They only weigh 8-10 pounds! Their bone marrow is different than ours, making them very light for good flight.

Below is a golden eagle. This animal is really good at hunting land animals and can even kill deer all by itself!

Eagles have extremely acidic stomach acid, similar to battery acid. It helps them digest their food because they don't chew it. They can even digest bones! Only the hair and fur of their prey comes back out of their mouth in the form of an eagle pellet.

Eagles can get led poisoning from bullet specks in deer and other animals they scavenge. Their stomach acid actually digests the led, getting into their blood stream and killing them. So if you hunt or fish, please use led-free bullets and equipment.

Tanner was really curious with lots of good questions. He takes after his mommy.

We saw four bald eagles flying in the wild along the Mississippi River by the eagle center. This winter is much warmer than last year (hard to believe), so many of the eagles haven't needed to migrate to this part of the river. That's why last year we saw a lot more eagles here. But it was still a really fun, educational trip. Here's the boys in front of a mural. 

We ate at the Silver Star restaurant. I had a peanut butter burger, YUM!

The boys were pretty well-behaved during dinner. They were actually well behaved the entire day. 

What a successful and fun day-trip with my adorable family!

Sleepover in the Cities

We took a fun overnight trip to the twin cities Jan 31 and Feb 1. (I still cringe having to call it "the cities" because it reminds me that we don't live in one). We enjoyed the Children's Museum with our boys and then Greek food, Ice Castles and fire throwers with Stacy and Dan! We spent the night at their house and went to church with them the following day. Then, we enjoyed more of the Children's Museum before going home. Thanks to Grandma Z for the museum gift cards. We all had a really great time!

Make sure to wear snow boots and snow pants when going to see ice castles. It was gorgious!! But our feet sunk ankle deep into the foamy snow.

Back at home, I realized how long Jeremy's hair was getting. I kinda like it!

Jeremy cleaned out the garage, and it looks so amazing! The boys tried riding their bikes in it, but on that particular day, it got too cold for them.

Also, I wanted to show these adorable pictures of Dallin falling asleep on my chest one day. He still is my little Lovebug and Cuddlebug.