Vacationing in Winona, Minnesota!

We took off for an extended weekend the first of March in celebration of our 6th Anniversary! So what do we do to celebrate and relax?

Go to my mom's.

No, really.


That's what we did! Last year my mom relocated to Winona, MN, to live with her new husband post-(her)retirement. It was difficult to wrap my head around initially, but I'm ok with it now. Winona is really pretty, very laid back, just a nice kind of place close to a lot of fun stuff. Can't beat the savings in skipping a hotel, either! And mostly eating meals at home. Actually, that's kind of the best part. My mom is an excellent cook- she was braver than I and jumped into attempting gluten free pancakes for us(more on that later).

My hubs surprised me with a nice massage by a lady in town on Friday afternoon. She was very kind and a wealth of knowledge in all things homeopathic. Yeah, I'm the talk-through-the-whole-massage kind of girl. Just act surprised. Really how could I not? I've never met anyone that so openly shared their journey to homeopathic medicine. Very interesting!

After the massage we went to The Lorax. I loved it, though it very well done. All the kids did well in the theatre, too. I told the fam later it was my kids' version of our Fern Gully. Remember that movie? I took it very seriously as a kid. Can't help but wonder how that affected this path to environmentally friendlier living. There were many different themes in the movie, any of which I'd be happy to have my kids pick up.

The next day we packed a lunch and hit up the The National Eagle Center in Wabasha, MN. It was way fun! We attended a live program just before lunch and got to 'meet' three eagles up close. They really are amazing creatures. Rather intimidating, but amazing. My mom is supposed to send us the pictures they took with their camera as I brilliantly forgot mine!

On the way back to my mom/stepdad's, we stopped at Lark Toys. Lark is a giant toy shop with a carousel, mini golf, fudge place, bookstore, etc. Just when I thought we hit the back of the store, it went on! We picked up a couple Schleich figurines for the kids. My stepdad found The Sleep Book, by Dr. Seuss. Then we had a couple treats, rode the carousel and headed on back.

That night we went to a local restaurant, just the hubs and I, for our anniversary. We intended on splurging at their only 'fine dining' place in town but he forgot dress slacks and shoes, and me, nice shoes. So we opted for a more casual place and called it good. I also took him to their local co-op to show him all the fun things there. We may or may not have spent the money 'saved' from skipping that nicer restaurant. What can I say, I love trying new things!

Sunday we took a little easier and left after lunch. It was a fun, full weekend. Happy Anniversary to us!