David,
I too am looking to do the upgrade, and moving to FF vs. crop. It sounds like you are shooting a lot of moving creatures (kids?) I would suggest getting a short term rental on the 7d and see if it does what you want. There is no use trying to test this in the camera store or best buy with kids running up and down the aisles ... The other would be to borrow a camera from someone in the local photo club if you have one in your town.

Your request points out the "gap" in reasonably quick frame rate/auto focus. The jump from the 7d to 1 series is pretty darn lengthy.