mr. b is 11!

pre breakfast snuggling (he usually gets L out of his crib)

mmm cinnamon rolls

(note to self: it was smart to buy them. you have a new baby!)

off to his writing class

dad drops him off every wednesday

(dad looks like he's off to class too)

later,  a contraption with lots of tricks

 and lego.com

some drawings from F

(and a car from L which he is playing with)

homemade megaphone from A

muddy buddies from S

(she made them early and he shared with his friends)

the biggest lego set he's ever had! and he built it in about 1 1/2 hours!

5 seconds later

a homemade HP wand

it's impressive

vanilla cake with caramel frosting

(s made the cake for me)

not shown: being forced to go to YW in excellence and then babysitting L while building his lego set. 

curly top's 2nd birthday

yep, he sleeps in the girls room

while he's waiting for the kids to do their jobs he likes to have a snack

normally it would be cereal...not cheddar bunnies

 he usually plays animals or cars before breakfast

he carries them around with him

 he likes blueberry muffins  - they're 'muh-muh'

 the kids made him a stuffed animal zoo since it was 'animal week'

 we dug out all the animals which i hid were stored in the garage

he found a way to get a drink

he was pleased with himself

 it didn't always work out 

but a 2 year old never gives up

 we had some exciting water fights

and an attempted water balloon standoff

 we had my favorite summer bbq dinner, with onion rings

(baby #7 asked for those)

he had the best way of eating his hot dog

later, fun presents like cardboard houses, aprons and baby slings

and a bubble mower

animals on the cake

he made sure they were cleaned off

sunday drive

we went to the indian grinding rocks, which i did NOT take a picture of

 

 they were happy to be free

 we had a picnic to celebrate the litigators birthday

 every cliche you can imagine about taking family photos happened while we tried to get just one decent picture.

 he got some beautiful nature shots. this is my favorite.

there he is. happy birthday.

 on the way back, we met a BOBCAT. it was uncomfortably close but never looked at us. 

it caught what it was looking for and left. wild america right in front of us!

when  i was sure it was gone we played again

eh. they're cute but COMEON

  

he's really the cutest.

 all fun and games....

for a few minutes

punishment is swift and horrible

and that's what we did when dad turned 40.