What a beautiful day for a trip to the National Eagle Center in Wabasha! We weren't sure what to expect, none of us had ever been there before but we were very pleasantly surprised at what a great place the National Eagle Center is! I highly recommend visiting if you are looking for a short day trip for your family some weekend.
After our car ride we got out and were surprised to see a full grown Bald Eagle flying directly over our heads! It was our first ever Bald Eagle sighting in the wild and was so much fun for the children- especially the kindergartners. After we checked in and got our eagle stickers on our shirts we went to a classroom and the children were able to learn about Columbia the Bald Eagle up close and personal! She was beautiful! The same age as Ryan, nearly as tall as our little ones in the class, but not nearly as heavy at only around 10 pounds! She was fed some rabbit by her handler as we learned about her feathers, beak, and talons and the difference between omnivores, carnivores, and herbivores. She even posed for pictures with us! After our little class we went out to the "learning center" and met some more beautiful Eagles. Some Bald Eagles and Golden Eagles- each was hurt at one point and that is why they live at the eagle center. The children were very interested in why, where and when each of the eagles were hurt (maybe because of our recent health unit!) They asked the handlers some questions and loved looking at each of them carefully. We couldn't believe that just ONE of the eagles feathers was as long as the whole arm of each of the children!
After checking out all of the eagles we went upstairs and watched a little movie about Wabasha, and went out on the lookout deck to use the binoculars to see if we could see any eagles flying over the river. We all got our picture taken in the little eagle cut out thing and then got back into the car for our trip home. It was a great trip! We learned a lot and had tons of fun! The friends in our car were already talking about when we could go back to the National Eagle Center again.
Thank you Grandma Joanne and Dave for driving, holding hands with, and helping all of our friends today. It's especially enjoyable to go with fun helpers!