"Dee God, Thank you for Coley and....Cole and... Happy Birthday to Cole."

The big day finally came!  Cole is 6 years old.  He and I were ecstatic, but Mom was a little melancholy as usual.

Cole is getting pretty big and more and more independent.  We went bowling and he didn't even need the rack!

Hi Dad!

Tania came too!

I was in fine form.  Thanks to Cole's help, I bowled a 78!

Okay Daddy helped too.

He was very strongly rebuked for trying to help Cole.

Clearly, he can handle it!

You may worry that I would be slightly jealous about all the attention my big brother got, but I was thrilled to sing to him and give him gifts.  I said over and over "It's Coley's birthday!  He's you cake, he's you present Coley!"

It's not hard to be happy for a kid this great.  Also, it helps that he shares EVERYTHING with me :)

Happy Birthday Cole.  We love you so much it hurts.  You're the best big brother I could ever hope for.

Indy Explorers

Can you believe Tania and Derek came home with us too!?  The good thing about having guests from out of town is that it forces you to explore your own city.  We took them to our beautiful downtown and went all the way UP to the top of the War Memorial.  I know what you're thinking and the answer is YES.  I climbed all 330 stairs by myself. 

It's no Chicago, but the city was pretty cool to see.

Brycey made it up about 120 steps and then Daddy lugged him the rest of the way.  It got pretty hot and congested towards the top.

Tania and Derek liked our little city!

I discovered a new talent.  Squirrel taming!  This little guy loved me!

B was pretty worn out and happily sat in his stroller which we wished we'd had all week!

He put on quite a 2 year old show at lunch though!

Derek and Tania's Indy experience!

Which was made much more interesting thanks to B and I.

Do they look tired yet?

Not quite!

Once we got home, I made my own little Chicago with Derek and Daddy's help.  That's a red firework on the top of the Willis, er... Sears tower.

Take Me Out to the Ball Game!

We finished our Chicago experience with a bang!  Mommy and Tania got us box seats to the Cubs game!

There is no better way to experience your first Cubs game than with all the food/drinks you can eat and spectacular seats courtesy of thinkorswim/TD Ameritrade.

I watched the whole game and really enjoyed it!  B passed out so Mom got to enjoy it too!

Not before charming all the pretty ladies though.  We made sure to shake hands and give hugs to show how much we appreciated the opportunity.

I really appreciated the chips, peanuts and dessert tray too!

The Cubbies didn't win, but man did we ever have a great time.  Thank you so much TD Ameritrade!

What Choo Talkin 'Bout Willis?!

Derek really wanted to see the Sears, err... Willis Tower while we were in Chicago.  So... we went!

We waited in line and took an elevator alllllll the way up up up to the tip top of Chicago!

It was pretty cool to see the beautiful city.

You know your parents are getting old when they refuse to call landmarks by their new names.  We were not allowed to say "Willis Tower."  No way!

We saw the glass ledge in a movie before we went up and Cole couldn't get to it fast enough.  Mom and Dad were super nervous, but my big brother was dancing and jumping and just having a blast in there!

Fearless.  We love you Coley!

Happy 4th!

We braved the hoards of people and walked all the way to Navy Pier to celebrate the 4th of July Chicago style!  We found the perfect spot on the grass and got busy wrestling Tania to pass the time.

Coley did a little entertaining.

Even when he's being silly, my big brother is STILL handsome.

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It finally got dark and we snuggled up.  Just when the fireworks started, everyone stood up!?  Oh man.. Mommy was already on edge after having to wait an hour for the porta potty.  We thought there may be a riot but she kept it together. 

Daddy bought us glow necklaces and we settled in on his shoulders to see the show.

It was fantastic!  Just like our country!  Happy Birthday America!

Then it was time to fight the mob back to the hotel. 

The grown ups took turns giving Mommy a break from me.  Apparently I'm pretty heavy these days.

Derek has the perfect shoulder for snuggling.

See?

We did stop here and there to explore thanks to our much more patient parent.