...7...

My baby is SEVEN!

Family party the night before the big day.

Drake requested a pinata, and picked this one out.

 Mason trying to hit it was so cute!

 I didn't get a very good shot, so you may not be able to tell, but that would be a Lone Ranger cake.  I felt so bad.  It was crunch time for bar study, and I was planning on just buying a cake from a store.  But then when it came down to actually doing it, I couldn't.  I had to bake a cake, but took a short cut with a Lone Ranger Lego set on top.  He was stoked.  Phew.

 That night I kissed my sweet little SIX year old boy good bye forever.

I cuddled that sweet baby boy so hard!

And in the morning, he magically was my sweet SEVEN year old baby.

He slept with his new Lone Ranger set.

This may be his favorite present of the day.

The Lone Ranger silver mine. 

If you haven't noticed, Drake loves the Lone Ranger.

And he LOVES Legos. 

 It turned out to be one of the best days of bar study I had.

These two sat quietly at their table working on that silver mine for hours!

If only I could have purchased a huge expensive Lego set everyday to occupy them.

When you don't get a b-day party, you get to go to Perter Piper Pizza

Drake's birthday was up in the air.  He chose going to Jack's house in California and going to Legoland with him over having a birthday party.

The problem with that was we were planning on Ryan taking Thursday and Friday off for our trip, but then last minute Ryan had a trial that looked like it was going to go for Friday, so he wasn't able to get Friday off.  But then Thursday he found out it wouldn't go.  Ugh!

So we packed up fast and hit the road.   

These boys were so happy to be together again!

 So were these boys.

 Unfortunately, I had to close myself off and study the whole trip, including while the dads took the kids to Legoland.

It better be worth it.

I better pass the bar for missing out on this.

 At least I got to see my sister.  Tara and I are due only days apart!

This happened before, and our boys were born on the same day... maybe it could happen again?

Curleyhair girls 7 months pregnant.

Happy birthday buddy.

We love you!

MAY

A post of pictures:

So, after Ragnar So Cal, and my 10 miler in 100º, my iPod was kaput.  Not because of the lake that I jumped in to keep cool (I kept it in my hand out of the water), but because of the many bottles of water dumped over me to cool me down.  So the screen didn't work.  I took it into the Apple store to find out I had three days left on my warranty.  They handed me a brand new one! L.O.V.E. it!  

But then a week later, I dropped my iPod and this happened:

And now there is no more warranty.  Boo.  So I just took some packaging tape and laminated the glass so that it won't keep chipping off.  My iPod now looks like this:

Also in May was Mother's Day.  This has got the be the greatest holiday ever thought up.  My kids and husband celebrating me?  Yes please!!

Look what my cute boy did-

He made my bed (super good BTW), and then he leaves this behind so I know that this good deed was done by him.

My babies and I on Mother's Day-

Drake also has been obsessed with "Army guys" lately.  He harassed me to make him an Army guy outfit, so I raided the thrift stores and Party City, and came up with this.  You can't see the sweet patches I sewed on the sleeves, but just know that this Army dude outfit is legit.  

Our next adventure was a trip to Northern California.  Whilst there, I went for a long run with my friend Kassidy (since I'm supposedly training for a marathon next weekend.  I'm gonna die!).

All I have to say is that if I lived in Sacramento, I'd run the river trail every Saturday and never get bored with it!  

Especially since I'd be keeping an eye out for these-

From Sacramento, we cruised over to Concord to round up the Taylors, then headed out to Santa Cruz for beach camping over Memorial Day weekend.  

 Jack and Drake were overjoyed to be together again.

 And Gwen and Aubrey got right to playing house.

 Yes, we let Drake use a pocket knife to whittle a stick.  Don't you let your 5 year old play with knifes?

 Look at how gorgeous this place is!  And this campground is on a cliff just above the beach.

 And this is the stuff I've been dreaming about since returning....  Pizza My Heart pesto pizza.  mmmmm!

 pure silliness

 This Gwenny girl was so determined to boogy board.

 She braved the FREEZING cold water...

 and tried,

 and tried,

 and tried,

 and finally rode a wave in.

Then we packed up and drove the 12 hours home.  

 Just in time to start swim team.

Gwen got right back in the swing of it.

 Drake is still trying so hard to get it down.

 And a shot of this cute boy's belly profile.

 These AZ babies are freezing when they get to the other end of the pool and have to get out of the water, so they lay on the side walk to stay warm.  I mean it's only 105º, who can blame them for being so cold?  ;)