Are you still out there?

It's been a while. How've you been? Us, busy. More like, crazy. I feel bad for not staying in touch. A lot can happen in a day around here. Heck, just a few seconds. Who remembers the haircut Katie gave herself last spring? Exactly. So, when six months (okay seven or eight) go by, I don't even know where to begin. Did I tell you about Hawaii? Christmas? The Pink Panther? Turning 40? Easter? London? Zurich? The chickens? And what about all the life in between? No? Really? You're kidding. This is going to take a while. So, grab a drink (some of you might need two), sit back and relax. Here's what we've been doing all this time...

HAWAII - October 2010

This is all Butch's fault. Katie's birthday is ill-timed and ALWAYS conflicts with his hunting trip. Despite what Dan may claim, I did NOT plan this! I've actually felt bad that Butch has missed the trip so I budgeted my vacation days carefully, saving time so I could stay home with Katie if her Fall Break happened to coincide with his hunting trip. Yep, it did; and yep, we had it covered. Early birthday party, Butch goes hunting, I stay home with Bugsie Magoo. Until I realized that we're talking about five whole days of vacation. In October. In Seattle. There's a better plan out there and it involved Hawaii. Yeah, baby! Mom and Magoo are heading to paradise!!! Sun, sand, sun, and more sun! And, in a rare feat, I actually found a pretty good deal. Well, for you readers out there, you have to decide for yourself what you would do in Butch's predicament - go hunting for the first time in six years? Or Hawaii? You guys are just being silly!!! Of course you go to Hawaii!!! It was a fabulous time, topped off with a luau on Katie's birthday. She LOVED it and shook her hips right along with the hula girls. With "back-to-back" trips to Disneyland in September and Hawaii in October, where does my girl want to go back? HAWAII!!!! It's almost all she talks about. In fact, when she sees the Alaska Airlines website on my computer, she asks if we're going to Hawaii. If we mention vacation, she asks about Hawaii. When it rains in Seattle, she asks about Hawaii. If we didn't like Hawaii so much, it might just get on our nerves!

Katiebug loved the pool and the beach. We rented a boogie board with a viewing window so she could see the fish. We didn't do a great job taking pictures, but here's a few that captured some of the fun.

And a couple of recent pics:

I'm not sure if you'll be able to see the freckles in this picture. If it doesn't come through, I'll try to find a closer shot so you can see "where Mr. Sun kisses her cheeks!"

Hope you are doing well. I'll try to do a better job of staying in touch.