Down by the river...

It was another mini road-trip kind of day.

I wanted to go somewhere down by the River, (Mississippi) 

to hopefully get a glimpse of some eagles. 

I don't know what it is about eagles... they just mesmerize me.

  I love watching them fly over the water looking for an unsuspecting fish.

 So it was Wabasha today, a little river town less than an hour from Rochester.

Lunch first.... We chose Silver Star Saloon & Grill 

Rick and I love trying new diners/grills in these small towns.

 They are usually charming with good eats!

I loved the mural painted on this wall in the back of the diner....

After lunch I asked the waiter for directions to the restroom, and he replied, 

"back there... to the left of the jail. (made me giggle :)

 Lots of dead animal skulls, but it fit the theme well...

 as did the saddle bar stool.

Lunch was delicious, I had the turkey club with raspberry mayo and onion rings, 

I shared the onion rings with my guy!

 Rick had a burrito which he really wasn't too fond  of... too "hot" for his liking,

 but he was a good sport and tolerated it.

We walked around a bit after we ate!

Wabasha's a beautiful town full of character!

 Complete with all the old buildings that scream,

 "Look at me, I'm from the late 1800's".

 Love this bridge...that's Wisconsin on the right.

 Just down a few blocks was the Eagle Center

 We didn't go in, but instead chose to walk around and look for eagles... 

we saw some, but they were far away in the trees, so we got in the car and 

drove down the road a bit to "Reads Landing"....

 Now that's better, close up and beautiful.

Landing

 Minding his own business.

It was a great day, sunny and balmy for February. 

Another successful road trip in the books  :)

They are all the rage...

Shopkins figurines are all the rage now for little girls (elementary age)

 These collectible trinkets are roughly 1 inch in height and 1 inch in width. Each figurine has a face and its own name. They are distributed in bright colored packaging with bubble letters. The first series of Shopkins was revealed in 2014 and were based on grocery items such as a candy bar named Cheeky Chocolate, a sweet apple named Apple Blossom, and a chocolate chip cookie named Kooky Cookie. They now come in accessories such as hats, shoes, and jewelry. They are also around the house items such as staplers, toasters, scissors etc. These little girls love to collect them.....and trade.

Today I had the privledge of taking my oldest granddaughter to a

 "Shopkins trading party" at Claires a small shop in the mall. 

This was her 1st trading party and she had a blast! 

When you're 6 it's a hard concept to grasp... the trading part that is, 

"I'll give you this is,  you give me that". 

I tried to prepped & quiz her the best I could on the way to the mall. 

When we got to the shop we found the crowd of girls and Audrey set up shop. 

I stayed close to encourage her and help her get started. 

She quickly got the hang of it, and was able to nab a few special shopkins that she was hoping for.

 Makin' a trade

Thinking about it

 

 She's still so little

 After all the trading we decided we needed a treat, 

so we stopped for a slushy and looked over the stash.

 Aren't they cute ?

So do you remember the little fads....collectible toys you had as a child? 

I would like to hear about them!

 Remember these from the 80's and 90's, my kids were into some of these...

Pogs were collectible game pieces for a game from the mid 90's

Beanie babies debut 93, During the latter half of the 1990s the toy emerged as a major fad

Slap bracelets were a popular fad among children, in the late 1980s and early 1990s,

My little ponies, popular in the 1980's

My daughter had a whole bucket full.

Power Rangers, debuted in 1993, based on a childrens TV series

I went to great lengths to get these for my boys... was I nuts?

Barbies debuted in 1959, I never owned one but my daughter had about 50.

Sports trading cards, I had hundreds of these cards, and traded often with my "boy friends"!

Oh...  Trolls, I forgot about them, 

I had a bunch  :)

I fall...but I get back up (with a little help from my friend)

 I have never snowshoed, and it's something I've been wanting to try. 

It's on my bucket list for 2016. 

I didn't just want to go anytime on well-traveled  snow-packed trails,

 I wanted to wait until we had a fresh snowfall with unmarked trails.....

Jackpot!!!

 Today was the day!!!

 We decided to go to Oxbow Park where Yeager trail was calling our names. 

 The trails were untouched, with 8 inch of fresh powder snow, It was beautiful!

 So off we went for a first time adventure of snowshoeing.

Back it up a bit....

These guys were right out our car window as we drove into the park, 

they went about their business as if we weren't even there.

 everything was so pretty

 The bright blue sky, contrasting with the new fallen white snow.

One of the park workers fitted us with our snowshoes and was kind enough

 to take a picture of us before we went on our way. 

We joked that if we weren't back by 4pm to please send someone out to look for us :) 

We stopped to look back here...

just our little tracks and the beauty of our surroundings.

Yeager trail is a little over a mile long with gentle hills and valleys,

it was perfect for us first-timers.

 

I used ski poles, Rick didn't.

A little side note....

Snow shoes are fairly easy to use... it's just like walking, but only you have these cumbersome things attached to your boots. Well, as we were walking along...

 I tripped myself up and started to fall. At first I thought "oh this is gonna hurt", then I remembered that I was falling into 8 inches of fresh soft snow, so I went down like a domino... 

didn't even try to stop myself (think belly-flop) 

It was awesome, it felt like slow motion, my face even hit the snow. 

 Rick was ahead of me and didn't know I fell.

He turned to check on me, and what he saw was his wife laying face down in the snow...

It was the best ever, we laughed and together got me back on my feet again. 

I got up unscathed, feeling lucky to be healthy enough to do the things we love to do, to laugh, and explore and  have each other to share life with!

Good news to some...an early Spring?

 Punxsutawney Phil (the infamous groundhog),

 failed to see his shadow at dawn today, 

meaning he "predicted" an early spring.

This is good news to many...

 as for me I'd rather have the 6 more weeks of winter! 

Well it's not Spring yet folks...

It was a perfect day for winter to show up

I went into work today (on my day off) to help out my co-workers who were short-staffed.

When I left at 1pm, I had a bit of the white stuff to brush off my car. 

The temperature was mild so I delighted in this task 

The roof of my car....4 inches perhaps?

 

 Rick had already shoveled twice but I wanted to play in the snow too!

Third times a charm  :)

 

Cleaning up the edges 

6 inches is what we got here at our house. 

Not sure how accurate that is with the wind and all, but I'll take it! 

 OUT MY BACK WINDOW...