Florida trip

We had an amazing trip to Anna Maria Island, Florida at the end of January!  It was the perfect time to get out of Minnesota with the Polar Vortex in town...even though Florida was cooler than normal, it was still about 100 degrees warmer than it was in Minnesota!  I even got four personal days back and the girls only missed one day of school due to all of the snow/cold days.  

Our first day was rainy, so we spent it at the Mote Aquarium.

The house we stayed at was so nice!  It was spacious and clean, just a block away from the beach, and a bike ride away from the donut shop and our favorite Mexican restaurant.  It had a "heated" pool, which the girls enjoyed even though it wasn't super warm.

We played lots of cards at night--"I Doubt It" and "President"

On Monday night, we all (except for Norah and my mom) drove to Orlando for the night.  We spent some time eating dinner and shopping at Disney Springs.

On Tuesday, we met up with Greg and Rose Mary at Universal Studios.  We spent most of our day at the Harry Potter lands--the rides were amazing!  We also enjoyed other rides and the parade later in the day. 

 We enjoyed lots of time at the beach!

The girls loved when Grandpa rented a golf cart to get around the island!

We enjoyed a day on the water with a boat ride, where our guide stopped a various places to try to find sea creatures to look at.  With the recent red tide, there wasn't a whole lot to find besides smaller fish, crabs, and shrimp, but we had fun anyway!

Norah was exhausted on our ride to the airport at the end of the trip!

Spelling Bee

Abby was selected to be in her school spelling bee this year.  She was one of 25 fifth graders who were the top spellers at Falcon Ridge.  She made it to the 5th round, and went out on the word "supposedly".  After the 5th round, there were only 3 kids remaining, so she did well!  Her friend Kira ended up in 3rd place. 

After the spelling bee, we enjoyed some treats at Lau's Bakery with Grandma and Grandpa Olsen! 

Winter Break

We had a wonderful winter break!  I had an extra day off when the girls were still in school, so I joined Norah's class for making gingerbread houses and seeing some plays that her class put on:

We spend the weekend before Christmas down in Iowa.  Abby was in love with all of the babies!

 We were able to spend Christmas Eve/Day at home for only the second time in my life.  The girls enjoyed being able to open presents on Christmas Eve, sleep under the tree, and wake up at home to see what Santa brought:

My parents and sister came up on Christmas Day and we had fun watching movies, doing a puzzle, and making homemade ice cream.  The rest of the week was a nice opportunity to relax!

We ended the week with a trip to Albert Lea for Christmas with Dave's side of the family and a quiet New Year's Eve at home.  It was a great break!