A Lot of Catching Up to Do

Wow!  It's been a really long time since we've updated my blog.  Cappy and John have been really busy, and we've been doing a lot of traveling.  So we'll try to get everyone caught up with all the fun things I've been doing.

Last summer, I learned a lot about boat stuff.  They say it's called tradition, but I'm still not really sure what all of that means.  John told me that whenever a boat gets a new name, it has to be Christened with the new name.  When he said Christened, I thought he meant we were going to have another Christmas, but that wasn't quite right.  Anyway, since we had always had the boat out somewhere when the local Christenings were going on, we never had this happen for her (Boats are girls they tell me.).  So, last year she was in the right place and we had her Christened.  I figured out that what that means is:  You get the boat all dressed up with a bunch of flags and get her really clean; then you make a bunch of food and other party stuff and have that ready for people; and then you smack the front (bow) of the boat with a bottle of something with a lot of bubbles; and someone wearing white says some special stuff.  Then, everybody parties!  I like that part.


We all had fun Christening the boat!




Party food!



I partied too hard!  Had to have a nap.

We had a lot of my family there with us, and we all had a good time.  A lot of people I didn't know came to see the boat and then went downstairs (I think they call that the "cabin.") to do some party stuff.  People just kept coming and I finally had to take a nap because I partied too much.  But John made me a little bed so I could get some rest.

In July, one of my girls, Molly, and her son Riley (He's funny!) came to visit us for a few days and they went to this place in Galveston called Moody Gardens.  They must've had a really good time because they were all still talking about it when they got home.  Riley was telling me all about his mom and him being in a shark tank, just for fun, but that really scared me!

Molly and Riley in the shark tank!!!!!

Later that summer, one of my girls, Maddie, wanted to do some sailing in our little bitty sailboat, so John took her out and they had a lot of fun.  The little boat is called an Opti, at least that's what I heard them say, and it's name is White Caps.  They had a really good time and by the time they were finished, I had to have another nap.

John and Maddie in White Caps

Nap time again

In October, some of my family from a place called Rhode Island came to visit, and I got to see them again.  I don't get to see them very often, but it's always fun when I do. 

Right after that, John and Cappy and I set out on another voyage to Florida on the big sailboat.  The first time we went to Florida a couple of years ago, we sailed way out in the ocean to get there, but this time, we stayed closer to the shore and made some overnight visits to some towns along the way that had these things called marinas.  That's just a funny name for a place you can park your boat for a while, and you can even get fresh water and have electricity.
We sailed for a really long time, even overnight, and then found this marina in a state called Alabama.  It was really cold and wet there, and we had to stay for over a week before the weather was good enough for us to leave.  There was a little beach there that I liked to run on and have fun, and one morning, Cappy and I jumped off the boat to go there, but there was ice on the ground and we almost fell down.  That was really cold!  The good news was that I got to wear my pirate jacket and my Snoopy and Sally sweater.  That was fun.


That's me in my pirate jacket

Me again in my Snoopy and Sally sweater

Brrrrrrrr!

Looks like someone left the comforter on the floor



John was cold too

My little beach in Alabama

Who's that looking over John's shoulder at our dinner?

After that, we kept on sailing and made a few other stops along the way until we got to Naples, Florida.  My Uncle Tom lives there and he was going to help us out with the boat.  I heard him and John talking one time about us leaving the boat there for a while so we could go back to Texas to take care of some business.  John said one of his customers was having some problems and he needed to go and see if he could fix things.
So, Cappy rented a car and the three of us drove back home, with the car loaded with all kinds of boat stuff.  I was hoping we would get to fly home that time, but John said we had too much stuff to put on an airplane.  Oh, well, maybe one of these days.
We got back home just before Christmas, and I was happy about that.  I like to be with my kids at Christmas.  I got to spend time with all of them, Riley, Travis, Harrison, Maddie, Mercedes, and Austin.  I even got to visit with my girl Casey for a couple of days.  I love Christmas!


I love Christmas!

My girls Maddie and Mercedes at the ballet



That's my Casey at Christmas

After that, everybody was really busy, but we made a couple of trips to see my family in Austin, and I even got to see my great-grandpa and my Uncle Cliff, who lives in a state way far away called New Hampshire.  We had fun together.  I always like to see my GP because he likes me a lot and plays with me.

Grandpa and Uncle Cliff

A couple of weeks ago, John and Cappy said it was time to go back to the boat.  The three little girls who live next door to us agreed to watch our house and water Cappy's plants while we were gone, so that made everyone feel good.  They are so cute, and sometimes when I'm out in the back yard, they come to the fence and talk to me.  I like that.
Finally, we all piled into John's truck with all of our boat stuff, and off we went.  It took us two days to get all the way to Naples, but we made it.  Before we left  home, we all decided that if we could manage the time, we would sail around Florida for a while, then spend some time sailing around some little islands they call the Keys.  I'm not sure why they call them that, but they do.  After that, we want to go to some bigger islands called the Bahamas.  But it seems that the Bahamas are a foreign country and since they are not very close to this country, we have to have more insurance on our boat, just in case something bad happens to it.  John made the arrangements to get the insurance changed, but there was one problem:  someone would have to do something called a survey on the boat, and to do that meant the boat would have to be pulled out of the water.  Seems like a lot of trouble to me!

Anyway, the guy couldn't come to do the survey thing until next week, so we all decided to use the time to sail down to these Key places, and then sail back up to Naples in time for the survey.  For now, at least we're having a grand time!
We spent a few days getting the boat ready to go, and then we headed south.  We spent two nights floating around in the water instead of being at a marina.  John said that's called being at anchor.  Whatever.  Then, we sailed to Marathon Key, Florida.  We've been to Florida a bunch of times, but we never got this far south, or at least that's what John said.  We were there for a couple of days, and then we went to some other place called Key West.  John and Cappy were both excited about that.
One afternoon, we all got into the little boat that we carry around with us and did something called sightseeing.  The little boat is called a dinghy.  Funny word, huh?  It's not a very big boat, and it bounces around a lot, so I had to wear my life jacket.  We stayed out in the dinghy until we all got too hot, at least I did, and it was time to go back in.  But it was still fun!

I have to wear my life jacket in the dinghy

Now, we're in Key West and it's a really cool place.  I've been on walks and I keep running into these weird looking birds called chickens and they make a lot noise!  They're everywhere!  There are a lot of people here, and the marina where we're staying has a lot of boats.  But it's fun to see all the  people and some of them stop and talk to me.  There is all kinds of cool stuff going on here. 

They also have the strangest cats I've ever seen.  They do all kinds of tricks and they even jump through this funny looking ring that's on fire!  I don't think I would want to do that.