177/366
     It was Miguel's 30th birthday today. He had to work during the day and Z had school but Az and I decided that there was no reason why we couldn't celebrate for him. We went to the Big Park, where the water feature was going strong. I hadn't planned on Az getting soaked but hey, her dad only turns thirty once right? In the spirit of continuing the celebration and because she'd been asking after ice cream all day I got her a popsicle before we headed off to pick up Z and then Miguel.

      Az's newest favorite food is ice cream, which she has come to associate with gas stations. Whenever we pull up to the pump she asks hopefully, "Ice cream?" On our way to Lake Shasta I had stopped to get gas and returned with an ice cream bar to share with Z and her. The next time she realized we were at a gas station she remembered this and asked for ice cream again. It was the day Miguel was attempting to reinstall my van window so we were there for at least an hour and it just so happened that the gas station had soft serve for a dollar so I went ahead and got her one. That was all it took to cement the connection, gas stations equal ice cream, in her mind despite the fact that she hasn't gotten ice cream at one since. It never hurts to ask though I suppose.

After Miguel got off of work we went home. We had thrown around various ideas but since I was throwing a big 30th bash for Miguel that weekend we settled on just coming home and hanging out. After a couple of hours at home I decided that I didn't care if Miguel was having a party in a few days, today was today and Miguel was thirty. So at the last minute we threw some blankets and an emergency radio into the van, stopped for pie since Miguel much prefers it to cake, and then we headed to the Concord Drive-Ins to watch Brave and then The Avengers.

Az had been gifted a Brave doll at her birthday party, which she had instantly loved without knowing there was a character attached. She grabbed Merida to come with us on her own (though if she hadn't I would have.) When the movie came on Az was instantly transfixed. She held the doll up so she could see the big screen and kept exclaiming, "See?! See?!" Merida the Doll's new official name according to Az is now "Movie Doll." As in, "Bring Movie Doll to bed?"

The kids had a blast at the drive-in. This was Az's third or fourth time, but the last time she had been much younger. She was mostly attentive to the movie, though she did spend some of it running around the small asphalt hills of the parking lot. When The Avengers came on I had Z climb into the back seat of the van so he could lay down and watch from inside with the van parked backwards and Az and I settled in behind him on a bed of sleeping bags. The three of us all passed out not that far into the movie, but Miguel reports it was good.

We didn't get home until after 4 in the morning. Az had slept so long by that time that we did a second bedtime. We read Shoe La La, her new favorite book, and then I tucked her in and she nursed back to sleep, staying asleep for about five more hours. I kept Z home from school and we all continued celebrating by sleeping in nice and late.

Just before The Avengers began. Can you tell which two of the three were just minutes from passing out?