The sweet 16

February 15 Bailey (Justin's oldest son) turned 16. Seriously. I am old. The end. It seems like just yesterday, ok, maybe not yesterday but really not that long ago, I was BEGGING my mom to take her gray dodge caravan out because on my 16th birthday I managed to (baaarely) pass my driving test and earned myself a driver's license. I don't know that I've ever been happier. Ok, I take that back. I have been happier but that was one of those transforming moments in the life of a 16 year old where you have just a glimpse of freedom. True, I didn't have a car but still I HAD A LICENSE. Nevermind that I only passed by one point because I flunked parallel parking (come ON  I took the test in a minivan!) and because the lady felt sorry for me because it was my birthday. THAT DOESN'T MATTER. Why? Because at 16, I was definitely a rockstar (or at least not in tune with the word humility yet) and I had my driver's license, which, of course, was the epitome of cool. My bubble was quickly burst when my parents told me that I would not be driving alone until I drove SEVEN HUNDRED miles with them. Do you know how long it takes to drive 700 miles when you live in the midwest and are only going about 10 miles to get ANYWHERE? Oh, yeah, and when we went on a road trip to Iowa (500 miles RIGHT THERE!), they wouldn't let me drive. I don't even know if I ever ended up driving those 700 miles. Shoot, maybe I still shouldn't be driving by myself. Or at least not when there are tanker trucks around? If only I'd driven those 700 miles, maybe I would have avoided that little situation.....

Anyway, this is not about me. It's about Bailey. And his 16th birthday. We celebrated early as we didn't have him on his actual birthday. So we bought a few little presents, and cake. Of course. And naturally, given my camera taking abilities (ahem, sporadic) only cake pictures were taken: 

Bailey and Justin showing off the cake. I think at this point, someone had already decided it looked good enough to eat. And the progression of events follows:



At the end of the day, I think that Bailey had a great birthday. A small family party with us and a bigger party with his friends at home. It was pretty cool to share part of this day with him.