Have an ice day

It's such a Minnesota heat wave that even Papa decided to make the visit this January.  We basked in the upper 20s at the Winter Carnival and while ice skating down the street.  We all had a great time and were sad to see them go after such a short trip.  

Mears Park    ---  Charlotte's Web sculpture

Crayola Craziness  ---  Puppy Sam from school came to visit

Nickelodeon Universe   ---   sneaking into the Abbey

First day of dance    ---    Tired of skating

One more Christmas

We finally got a chance to celebrate with Annie, Adam, Maggie and Charlie and we all had a wonderful time.  The girls loved playing with family and all their new toys.

 

 

It's been uncharacteristically warm so we've been trying to get outside.  Sadly, it's been warm enough that our rinks are wet, the parks slushy, and the sledding hills are messy.  We've found a few good spots and enjoyed things while we can.  We even made it to the Ice Castles in Stillwater before they closed for a few days to combat the heat.

Star of the Week

It's half-birthday week at the cold Nak household.  To celebrate at school, it means the girls receive a little extra attention and are given classroom responsibilities, present a bit about themselves in front of the class, act as line leaders, and couple other fun little tasks.  The girls also brought shells from Florida for each of their classmates.

 

We tried to make the most of 2016.  The girls learned how to swim and ice skate, Pip learned how to ride a bike, Nina learned how to read, and they get to be in school together.  As a family, we travelled to Colorado, the North Shore, Nebraska, Battle Lake, and Florida.  We climbed mountains, visited waterfalls, kayaked, hit the beach, and hiked all over trails.  We ate a lot of good food, played a lot of cards, and danced to a lot of music.  Here is the new halvesies video to take a look back at a jam-packed year.

HD Link

Otherwise, we've been struggling to stay warm.  It's usually too cold to sled or skate, which is all the more depressing after Florida.  We've been playing indoors and with no Children's museum we're currently suffering from some cabin fever.  Vivian has had a bit of trouble adjusting to the early mornings again and has been falling asleep in the car on the way home.  Nina has found this hilarious and likes to take photos of/with her.

Happy Noon-Year   ----   Reading in the conservatory warmth

Florida Christmas 2016

It was an amazing Christmas and the Naks are feeling very blessed.  We had a wonderful time with family and enjoyed gorgeous weather the entire time we were there.  The girls loved swimming again and had all sorts of other fun adventures with Cassie, Nick, Grandma, and Grandpa.  We had an excellent bonus appearance from Ed and Diane, and the girls had a great time harassing Ed and eating Diane's award-winning cinnamon bread.  Ed was a good sport when the girls continually stole his nose and when he asked Vivian what she would turn after she was done being four, she responded with, "four and a half."

Jellyfish lesson   ---   Sandcastles and boogie-boarding

Bring it on, Ocean!   ---   Jumping in muddy puddles

Sea-shell search   ---   Better than our traditional snow-shadow pic

Johnny Longboats  ---  A 600 ton Christmas tree made of sand!

Fun with Nick & Cassie

The girls insisted on swimming twice a day, once in a pool and once at the beach.  We also had a lot of fun checking out Clematis Street that was full of Christmas spirit.  We made a trip to a turtle sanctuary, where we learned a lot and got to see some cool turtles.  Sailfish Marina was another great spot where the girls managed to buy (or convince someone to buy them) a bunch of trinkets.  Vivian laughed non-stop when they got to feed the fish!  Overall, it was all we could hope for and we're a bit sad to be back in the cold.  What a great way to end the year!