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!

 

Holly Jolly Christmas

The holiday season is in full swing and we are getting into the spirit by visiting Santa, listening to carols, looking at decorations, and baking goodies.  We love receiving everyone's holiday cards in the mail, too!  Nina is also currently into playing Apples to Apples.  Mostly she has fun talking about the words; as a side benefit, it seems to help her gain vocabulary and work on her debate skills. 

The girls recently had two other enjoyable nights.  First, they got to go to a Chemistry magic show, an annual event at Kara's work.  They were enthralled with all the activities, volunteered to help (only Nina was chosen), and were very sad to have to leave early for bedtime.  Second, we were honored to spend an evening babysitting Clara.  The girls danced, brought her toys, and read her books to help entertain.  Clara is an easy-going baby and we all had a good time.  Pip was very sad that Clara didn't spend the night at our house.