Fishing

Hogan's big wish was to go fishing on our vacation. I don't why. He just had it stuck in his head. But everyone in the family was super accomodating and the place we were staying had several fishing ponds. The first day, although the view was magnificent, we didn't get a single bite!

Tia and Carlos helped Hogan fish in style. They bought him the fishing vest he's wearing in the first picture and a very hip Spiderman tackle box. Thanks guys!

The next time we went fishing we had more luck. Papa G had hunted out a perfect fishing spot and Hogan (with Troy's help) caught his first fish! I should add that Papa G. caught the most fish!

Hotdog!

Two cool dudes with matching shirts and toothpicks

Uncool mom who begs for a picture of the matching shirts sans toothpicks

One sighing mom and one pleased boy with a toothpick in his mouth

Vacation

Hogan starting out our roadtrip in style. By the return trip, we looked much worse for the wear. I wouldn't even let him go into a grocery store at one point on the way home because he had an orange drink mustache from the morning's breakfast mixed with a Fanta Red beard from lunch, his transformer PJs still on (even though it was 7 at night), and crazy car hair. I wish I had taken that photo.

One of the pleasant things about this trip was that Hogan was 4! There was so much that he could do. He made it through two rounds of golf during the week. And during those rounds, he learned a few important lessons: 1. the girls play much differently than the boys (girls' balls miraculously always make it to the fairway- some by greatness others by a swift kick in that direction when noone's looking); 2. When the marshall comes toodling by 4 year olds who didn't pay to play should always stay by the cart and show that they are uninterested in golf and are in no way slowing down the golf game; 3. If you whiff the ball, just say it's a "practice swing" Hogan funnily took to this one quite well.

It's a miracle, I know! I'm finally putting some pictures up. I had, much to my embarrassment, pictures from February still on my camera. It's been a busy year so far. My loyal family following has probably even stopped checking in to see if I've updated, BUT just for my own pleasure at least, and for those still faithful to give the Hogan blog a click every once and awhile....here are some vacation pictures!

Birthday

So...we have had the Chuck E. Cheese birthday experience. Hogan had the night of his life and Troy and I left exhausted, with our ears ringing and our child hyped up on cake, tokens, and soda. The greatest part of the evening was the big Chuck E. show. When Chuck E. finally came out (after all the parents stood by uncomfortably watching the interminably long countdown), Hogan's face just lit up. He was so excited and he really boogied down. It was hilarious. I took about 50 pictures and about 3 of them came out focused. Everyone and everything moves way to fast at Chuck E. Cheese for a slow mom trying to capture moments!

We are so thankful for all of our friends and family who are a part of Hogan's life and who helped us to celebrate his 4th birthday!

Skiing

Sad to say, but these are my only action shots of Hogan skiing. And I had to be undercover about getting these few. The first day of ski school Hogan cried most of the morning and Nana and Papa had to go pick him up at lunchtime. The second day after we had bribed and convinced him that ski school was super fun, he skeptically, and with a few tears, went in. BUT he ended up having a great time and got a lot of skiing in. We wanted to get pictures of him, but we didn't want him to see us- hence the far-off shots here.

It was amazing to see someone so small skiing straight down the hill, hands on his knees, with no fear. It made me wish that I could be 3 again. When I look down the hill all I see is fear. Hogan's new year's resolution is to ski with mommy. It's so great that he thinks that skiing with me is the pinnacle of skiing. I'm going to let him keep this illusion while I can, but oh, he'll be so disappointed when he realizes that mommy stays on the beginner hill all day long. The fun skiing is with daddy!

Glorieta

For Christmas we went to Glorieta, NM to go skiing with Nana, Papa G., Tia, and Carlos. When we arrived in NM just days before Christmas we were greeted with this beautiful snowy view. And at any time we could open our cabin door and see snow and trees. For Hogan, the snow was a full-body experience. He tasted it, tromped in it, made snow angels in it, and slid in it. In fact, I think it's a perfect picture of how he approaches life in general!

Decorating Cookies!

Hogan's friend Emory invited us over to decorate cookies today. Her mom- Mary Beth posted pics and wrote a list of funny guidelines that everyone should refer to when decorating cookies with preschoolers. Check it out: http://sweetsong-sweetestsong.blogspot.com/2009/12/pre-schoolers-guide-to-awesome-cookies.html

Now for my list of the top 5 comments made by mothers while their children are cookie decorating:

1. "Aaaaaa! Don't put that spoon in your mouth!" (This said while frantically trying to grab the spoon before it gets put back into the frosting bowl)

2. "You need to put frosting on before you pour the whole bottle of sprinkles on the cookie. The frosting will make it stick."

3. "I guess it's okay if they mix all the colors....right?"

4. "Why didn't the sprinkle people put a darn shaker lid on these chocolate sprinkles?"

5. "Why don't you try making a candy cane or an angel? I think we have enough Christmas cats." (there was one Halloween cookie cutter in the mix and of course it got used a lot!)

Thanks Mary Beth and Emory for the fun morning!