Apparently you are a fan of the band Queen

Colby:

This past weekend I had an absolute blast with you.  We played a serious amount of hockey, swam, went to the zoo, and you helped me cook!

A funny story from the weekend is when we were at a wake.  Normally not a place of funny stories but you made an exception.  Earlier that morning you heard a song by Queen on the radio and decided that the funeral parlor would be a place to start singing it again.  Normally it is not a big deal but when the song is "Another One Bites the Dust!", that makes it a little bit different. :)  At the moment I was horrified and did manage to get you to stop singing it before anyone heard , but now I can laugh about it.

Love you so much,
Dad

Pic of you, me and Santa:

Drawing

Colby,

Quick short story.  You were drawing me a picture where you drew a dragon and and wrote your name.  You also scribbled in a small area and turned to me and said "Dad, you know what this says?  It says 'I love daddy!' You can take it to work."

That made my week!

Love you,
Dad

Ps:  For the fun of it, here is a picture of you at a Western Michigan volleyball game.  You were giving Vienna quite the look!

Bedtime Song

Colby,

The other night when you were going to bed, I asked you what song would you like to hear.  You said "Go Cubs Go!"  That made me smile so big.

Over the past weekend you had a great time with G'ma Nancy and G'pa Bear.  Here is a picture of you being a ninja warrior at the arboretum.

At the arboretum, I told you I used to push you in the jogging stroller while running the big hills there.  You said, oh yeah, that was easy for me because I would just sit and watch Umi Zoomi.  That was more than a year earlier...your memory amazes me.

Love you,

Dad

Ninja Warrior!

Colby,

In the past month you went from barely being able to do a wrung or two on the monkey bars to handling them like a pro.  I think this relates to you watching "American Ninja Warrior".  Here is a video of you dominating the tougher monkey bars:

I am so proud of you!

Love you,

Dad

Gone Fishing...

Colby,

This is from a few weeks back.  We got to spend the 4th of July together at a lake house in Michigan.  You made a new friend, Treyden.  Over the weekend, you became great friends and were known as "fire" and "ice" as you had a blue giant glow stick and he had a red glow stick.  My favorite thing over the weekend was when Treyden lost his fish and got very upset.  You grabbed your fishing pole (without a hook) and said "I'm going to go catch you a fish!"  Here is a picture of us fishing (I didn't have a hook either, :) ).

Also, here is a picture of you enjoying the fireworks:

Love you,

Dad

Colby the Cowboy

Colby,

I had a great time with you in South Dakota this past week.  We went to Mount Rushmore and the Thompson Family Ranch.  Here are some pics:

One of my favorite things you said on the trip was at Mt. Rushmore when you said "Dad, why isn't your face on that mountain?"  I said not yet...give it time.  :)

You had such a great time with your cousins and even got on a horse!  I will post the video later.

Thank you for a great trip!

Love,
Dad

Ps:  The video.

$2.50 Well Spent

Colby,

This past weekend your grandma and grandpa came to town.  One of my favorite memories was when I gave you a whoopee cushion (cost me $2.50).  You were so excited to play with it...you immediately turned to grandma and said "Grandma, can you hold this while I fart?"  I am still giggling about it several days later.  Here is a video of you laughing after sitting on the whoopee cushion:

A couple of other highlights include making your own pizza and you graduating from preschool.  Here are a few pics:

Thank you and for another great weekend together.

Love you and so proud of you!
Dad

Long Weekend

Dear Colby:

I had a great time with you this past weekend.  You said something to me that made my heart melt..."Dad, I love my time with you."  That made my month.  :)

A fun memory from this past weekend was you getting your face painted like a tiger at a Zoo event.  Here is a picture:

At Costco later, you kept fake clawing at me and other customers.  It was so cute!  Also over the weekend, we got to watch your beloved Blackhawks beat the Blues in the playoffs.  Here is a picture of you and me grabbing dinner before a game:

Thank you for another great weekend.  Love you so much!

Dad

Spring!

Dear Colby:

Spring in Chicago...there is nothing like it.  Yesterday (Sunday), we were playing baseball in shorts and a t-shirt.  Today (Monday), we are getting an inch of snow!  Anyways, I had a great time playing baseball with you over the past weekend.  I think we spent a solid 4 hours at the park playing.  I was sore on Sunday morning when I woke up (never been so happy to be so sore).  Here is a video of you hitting a home run:

Many people walking by gave genuine compliments on how well you can hit for a 4-year old.  I am so proud!

Love you,
Dad

Fight Fire with Gas?

Colby,

Last week you and I went to "Wonder Works" in Oak Park.  You dressed up as a fireman and put out the fire next door in the house several times.  You kept answering the phone and saying "your house is on fire...again!  Ugh." My favorite part was when you needed to refill your hose:

Nothing like putting out a fire with gasoline!

Thanks for another great memory.

Love you!
Dad

Look out for Dibs

Dear Colby,

I had a blast with you this past weekend.  At t-ball practice, you caught a one hopper and stepped on first.  I was so proud!  Here is a pic of you there:

Later in the day, we went to the DePaul/Marquette game.  I spent several minutes convincing you to take a picture by the "Dibs" cardboard cutout.  You are really afraid of Dibs but I finally was able to take a picture with you and your "godcousin" Olivia:  

Right after I took this picture, Dibs appeared out of no where and you absolutely bolted.  I barely caught you.  Needless to say, I don't think I will have success getting you in front of that next time.  Later that night you said, "Dibs is too big so I am afraid.  Maybe in a few years when I am bigger I won't be afraid."

You are soooooo smart!

Love you,
Dad

Pink!

Colby,

A couple of weekends ago you and I went to the DePaul women's game against Creighton.  In honor of breast cancer awareness, we donned pink shirts:

During halftime, we went to shoot hoops in the concourse.  Every time you made one, you did a big fist pump!  I barely caught the end of one here:

Thanks for another great memory!

Love you,
Dad

Good Advice

Colby,

Yesterday morning I was carrying some stuff for you down my wooden stairs and my slippery socks caused me to take a nasty spill.  I was lying there in pain and asked you to give me a minute to recover.  You said "you should have used the railing dad."  I grant that it was good advice but I question your timing just a little (and perhaps your lack of concern).  :)  Below are two pics, one of you and me at the Durham in Omaha in front of a huge tree and one of you and your cousins at the zoo acting like monkeys:

Love you,
Dad

Sledding!

Colby,

This past weekend you and I spent with Olivia and her family in Milwaukee.  We caught a basketball game (Marquette lost in OT) and went sledding.  I failed to bring your snow pants so you borrowed Olivia's hot pink snow pants.  You rocked that look:

Later on the big hill, you went for your first ever sled ride with me.  It didn't go so well, :):

Sorry I laughed at your face plant, but I knew you weren't hurt (save your pride).

Either way, I was very proud of you for going on many more trips down the hill (my back still hurts from dragging you up that hill but it was worth it).

Here are a couple of my favorite pics from the day:

Love you and thanks for the great memories,
Dad