We celebrated New Years at Kelly and Jeff’s house this year. Jake looks stumped.
Somehow I convinced Kelly that the mess wouldn’t be too bad for this party toy…
Sonora got Maggie to spend the night, so when we went home, we took Maggie with us. Then Maggie and Sonora went ice skating.
Seems like a decent start to a new year!
Hogan Haake
Jake and I had not met up in quite a while. We decided to meet early morning and go on a hike. Its always fun to hike with long time friends as there is always plenty to talk about. We started out on the White Bison Trail that goes around the park. During the hike we saw several deer that Jake wished he saw during hunting season.
About half way through the hike, we saw a female elk standing there. It was far enough away, we were not concerned. However, as we came around a nearby building, we saw her male counterpart very close. The trail went between the pair. We waited for a couple minutes, but they didn’t move and we didn’t want to get in their way, so we hiked back the way we came.
Back at the parking lot, there was a group of elk between the truck and us. They watched us for a while before Jake slowly went around and got in so we could leave them in peace.
What a great way to catch up with a friend and enjoy a morning! During the hike I used my new Zippo pocket hand warmer. It was very good at keeping me warm and I was glad that I had it!
Hogan Haake
The annual tradition continued this year. The group was a bit smaller, but Jake came out for the first time. We met Laura downtown as well. As normal, there was too much drinking by all, but we won’t talk a bout that. Ohh, and its the first year we made it out early enough for the parade. How about some photos…
And how about some drama… We met the girl below when she fell over next to us and seemed to need some help.
The heel of her boot was coming off, she lost her friends, and was very drunk. We had an awkward moment when we helped her zip up her coat. We were actually doing our best to be gentleman and did not want to take any advantage of her. Eventually we walked her all the way back to the Hilton hotel where she finally met up with her friends. That whole ordeal took nearly 2 hours, but was worth it to do the right thing. But it sure was nice to get home!
Hogan Haake
Jake and Robin sold their house, and were moving to a new neighborhood in St. Louis. Like I would for any of my friends, I offered my back to help him move. So the whole family showed up at his old house to load up the moving truck! Jake bought pizza and some soda that we were all happy to partake in.
I didn’t waste any time getting the truck loaded. Moving is the kind of thing you build up a rhythm for. Once it breaks, its hard to resume.
With the truck totally packed, we drove over to the new house. Jake was thinking of waiting till Saturday to unload, but I strongly insisted that we get started. Since all of his help was still around, we got started with the dreaded piano. My third time moving the wonderful instrument. Then we just kept going till the truck was empty! 
By the end, I was more interested in photos than helping, a sure sign I”m getting old 🙁
Hogan Haake
Jake and Robin invited us to go camping with them at Onondaga Cave state park. They gave us the date and told us the campsite they would be staying at. We had the weekend open and decided it would be a fun time to hang out with them. We booked the campsite next to them.
We spent the day doing a short hike to Onondaga Cave to explore the visitor’s center. Of course the kids just wanted snacks and to see the cave, so we did all of that.
Corvin and I went for a long hike while the others hung out and Jake drank fancy wine at the campfire.
We spent some time swimming in the Meramec and trying to avoid all the drunk boaters coming down the river. Corvin got into a bike wreck with a kid running and sent him to the hospital. Just your normal weekend.
Here is a video of us taking down camp.
Hogan Haake