Getting lost and found at Dad 2.0

By the time you are reading this, hundreds of dads have reconvened at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel in Washington D.C. for the Annual Dad 2.0 summit. Every year this is a great way for Dad Bloggers from all over the country to get together and continue working to advance fatherhood. I know that sounds like an odd thing to say, but honesetly, after a weekend with these amazing dads, you feel ready to take on the world.

"Here I am" A weekend in San Diego with Dadbloggers, LEGO Batman and Andrew McCarthy.

Going to Dad 2.0 Summit is one of my favorite times of the year. I get to hang out with the fellow dads I talk to online throughout the year and I get to learn some new things for the blog. Trying to recap the Dad 2.0 Summit is pretty hard to do in one post, so I am just going to highlight some events that happened this year.

T-Shirt Thursday

Today's T-shirt Thursday comes to you from sunny San Diego. The fantastic folks at Fodada have supplied the shirts for this year's Dad 2.0 Summit and they are comfortable.  The back of the shirt reads "San Diego 2017" and with the long sleeves it will keep me warm on those cold Chicago nights.

Until next week, friends!

Lessons from Dad 2.0 Summit in Washington D.C.

By the time you read this I will already be home. Depending on the day I post this I might be doing laundry, working at one of my two jobs or just hanging out with my children. The Dad 2.0 summit would have been over and everything has returned back to normal. 

Don’t get me wrong I am happy with everything going back to normal. The weekend of the summit feels so rushed and busy that I feel better with the slowed down pace of my home life. I enjoy soaking in all the moments with my family at home. As much I as am happy to be home though, I am also sad that the Summit has ended too fast.

Running "on your left" in Washington D.C. or Look at me trying to be sporty #100.

Last week I posted the above photo to our Instagram page and asked the question "What does this have to do with being a #FitDad?" We, let me answer that question for you, it is actually the beginning of a new way of life for me. If I want to return to the Spartan Race and finish this year I must take my training seriously.

Playing it safe with the Kidde RemoteLync Monitor. #Sponsored

When I was little I never really was concerned with safety. I would ride my bike everywhere without a helmet. I would jump over fences without looking at what was below and just rough house with my friends throughout the day until it was time to come inside.

It seems that when you were younger safety was not really a big concern, but as you got older, you started becoming more conscious as to what you were doing and what was going on around you.

Now, as a parent, I am constantly thinking about the safety of my children and with the RemoteLync Monitor from Kidde, that is one thing that I do not have to worry about too much.

My home is now Cybertron.

If you are a fan of our Facebook page you may have seen this blue box from Hasbro before.  You may have also seen us tease about the contents of this box and if you have read our post about the Dad 2.0 experience you already know what's in the box.

Now if you haven't done any of the previous mentioned things: A. You are a slacker and need to start visiting us more, B. You do not really care about mysteries or C. You like to be surprised.  Ok, so if you are either of the above, let's help you out and dig into the box.

My experience at my first Dad 2.0

The main stage for Dad 2.0

Before I begin my recap of my experience at Dad 2.0, I will say that this will not be a play-by-play account.  I will not bore you with the minutiae of every second that I was there. Instead, I will tell you a tale that includes, friendship, magicians, robots and dust in the eyes.  Let's continue on, shall we?

Lessons learned from Dad 2.0.

I just returned from the chilly streets of San Francisco to the freezing streets of Chicago after attending the Dad 2.0 Summit and I feel a little saddened when I think about it.  You know, like on the last day of camp everyone promises to write to each other and be best friends forever. The last day of the summit was like that, but the only difference is most of us are already best friends when we meet there and we will always be connected thanks to the internet.

Now I am going to write a full post on my experience at the Dad 2.0 Summit, but this is the TL:DR version, which will just highlight a few takeaways from the trip.