Bats

I finally got to see the famous bats of Austin. Okay- these are the famous bats of Round Rock, and I still haven't ever actually seen the bats off of Congress bridge BUT I was glad to have my curiosity satisfied. There are lots of bats and right as the sun is beginning to set, they begin flying out in hordes to seek out their food. Hogan thought this was pretty neat. It has opened a whole discussion of nighttime animals, something he didn't know existed, and he's been working really hard to wrap his 3-year old mind around the idea that some animals are awake while he's sleeping.

And of course, I have to add the now-standard silly face picture that he's currently obssessed with.

Dancing with Opa

Putting on the record

And then dancing

and dancing

and dancing!

Hogan says: "Thank you for letting me go to Oma and Opa's house. I love my Opa, but I miss him. I'm so sad about it. They're not here."

Friends

We are so lucky to have such wonderful friends. My bookclub group has been meeting for almost five years. We've read lots of books and in that time we've celebrated births, adoptions, marriages, and other amazing accomplishments. This week we all met with our kids to swim and play. We were all being so self-congratulatory about how sweet, cute, and wonderful our kids are. They played well together and had such a good time. I didn't get any pictures of our swimming, but afterwards the kids played in this shaded courtyard. The sticks were magic wands, the brick foyer was a house, and I'm not sure about the poles, but at one time four of the kids were on the poles lining the sidewalk trying to climb them. They played for almost an hour running around the courtyard together in a little gang, never once fighting, tattling or whining. It was a delightful afternoon!

Six Flags

Last Friday we took Hogan to Six Flags for the first time. We went after Troy got off of work, which was the perfect time to go. It wasn't as busy or as hot and four hours at the park was plenty for a first visit. Luckily, Hogan was right at 36 inches so there were lots of rides that he could ride. He loved the mini mine train and the antique cars, but the Roaring Rapids and the Cave ride on the boat kind of scared him. He was really bothered by that bad guy Yosemite Sam and kept asking us if Bugs Bunny had really caught him.

We got the Big Six pass (an awesome deal by the way) so we'll get to go 5 more times this summer. Hopefully our camera won't run out of batteries like it did this time and we can get some more pics of Hogan enjoying the rides.

It's very rare that Hogan asks to go to bed, but by the end of the night once we'd got in the car and were on our way home Hogan actually said he was ready to get in his own bed. I think Six Flags is just the right speed for Hogan's energy!

Climbing Trees

My grandparents have this pole in their basement. I think it's part of the support structure, but as a kid it was the coolest thing to have this fireman pole downstairs. Everytime I visited when I was younger my brother, sister, all the cousins and I all tried to climb this pole. At the time it seemed so tall and it was quite a feat for a cousin to scale it and touch the ceiling. Seeing the pole now from adult eyes makes me laugh. I can touch the basement ceiling with my hand probably and the pole is maybe only six feet tall.

Watching Hogan climb these trees makes me remember that pole in the basement. I know he thinks he's climbed great heights. He just can't believe that he made it up these trees. I laugh to think what he'll say when we come back years from now to visit his first home-to see these trees that seemed so big when he was 3.

Hogan says: "I was climbing the trees. Lots of trees. Five trees. Six trees. Nine trees. Seven trees. Eight trees. That's a lot of trees.

More Spring Break Pictures

Still hiking the around the beautiful waterfalls in Tennessee!

Spring Break

I realized that I never finished adding pictures from Spring Break. I think the only ones that got put up were the ones that Hogan took at the bowling alley. These pictures are from a beautiful hike that we went on with Nana and Papa. The drive was worth the waterfall views. The narrow suspension bridge across the river added even more fun to the hike.

Funny Face

Well, we've progressed from the Cheeeese! smile to the to goofy face for pictures. Several times over the weekend when Troy or I would say, "Hogan, look at the camera..." this is the face we got.

Hogan says: "Here I am at the lake. Remember the little boy that went under the water with me?"

Second picture: "I've got to go where the creaky sound is." (We were in this old barn taking a tour of a historical farm at the state park and the door outside made this eerie creaky sound and there were these huge scavenger birds indside ruffling their feathers. Hogan and I both got a little jumpy, and it has made quite an impact on Hogan. He keeps talking about the creaky sound.)

Junior Angler

This past weekend we went camping at Cedar Hill State Park. We just happened to be there on the Saturday that the park was hosting a Family Fishing Day. The kids began by rotating through three stations. In one station they learned water safety (that's the first picture where Hogan is racing to put on the lifejacket). In another station they practiced casting and fishing for magnetic fish (that's the second picture). And in the third station we practiced tying knots and learned about different kinds of fish. Did you know that the Guadelupe Bass is the state fish of Texas?

After the stations, we got to go out and actually fish. The park provided all of the fishing rods and the bait. Hogan loved fishing. It was a really hot day and Troy and I thought that our fishing adventure might end up in a fit, but Hogan was so patient and never whined or cried despite the 90 degree sun beating down on us. Troy and I were very impressed. Hogan especially loved picking up the worms and minnows for bait.

At the end of the time, each child was awarded a Junior Angler pin and a certificate. Great fun!

Hogan says: "Remember when I was trying to catch a big fish and I couldn't get one?"

Last Day of School

Hogan ended his year at school with a bang, or rather, a POW! His school had a fun splash day with plenty of cupcakes, water, and mud to keep Hogan engaged and busy.

Hogan says: "I was playing with Robert and that puddle. Robert was in there and I was playing with him (there's a big mud puddle and a friend behind Hogan in the last picture- that's what he's referring to here). I was having sunglasses and eating a cupcake."

Baseball Season

These are pics from our first baseball game of the season and can you believe all I got to commemorate the even were two pictures of Hogan stuffing his face with cotton candy??? Nice!

We can mark Hogan's growth by how many innings he can make it through each year. His very first game he slept most of the way through- he was only about 3 months old. The next year he could only sit for an inning or two before I'd have to take him out to toddle about. Last year he could make it about 3 or 4 innings before I had to take him out to run about. And this year he made it through 7 whole innings before we had to go out and take a break. He's almost there!!!