in lieu of a birthday party this year, brent and i took max and three of his friends (luke, charles and leo) to santa cruz for a birthday celebration!  we spent most of the day at the boardwalk where they rode lots of rides over and over, as many times as they wanted.  they were all brave enough for the haunted hotel and even the huge pirate ship!  we took a break for lunch and then continued the rides. we ended the day with some beach time.  the boys built castles and dug and got wet and sandy. none of them wanted to leave.  they were good boys and we loved spending time with them all.