These 6 months flew by. Looking at the pictures below I am just realizing how much we have done in a short span of time.

You are about to end your preschool year and gear up for kindergarten in the fall with your sister at St. Joe’s. We actually looked at another private school here called Riverstone International which is the highest rated school in Idaho and is nationally ranked. At the end of the day though you wanted to be with your “sis”, so you will be going to school with her.

I haven’t really brought it up yet as I wanted to see how things played out, but the reason we looked at Riverstone for you is because it is clear that you are an unnaturally intelligent child. Your ability to grasp concepts, retain information and apply knowledge to things is far beyond what a 5 year old should be capable of doing. This is not just a dad being bias and complimentary of his child. In fact we have heard it from others including teachers, family and coaches. I just wanted you to know at this point we have realized it. When you read this I have no clue who you will be or what you will be doing, but there is no doubt that you have a special gift.

I never did well in school. It was never because I didn’t understand the information or curriculum – it was because I was not interested in doing things like homework or studying. I would get A’s in the classes I liked, and I would fail those I did not. I wish that I had applied myself more. I will strive to make that the case for you.

Covid

Back to normal? No. We are not there yet. But it’s coming

You guys are now fully vaccinated and we even got the booster. The mandates, for the most part, have been lifted. The economy is thriving and people are no longer hiding in their homes or distancing 6 feet. Sounds like back to normal, right?

Getting goods is still taking months because of shipping backups and product shortages. Flying is terrible because the airlines are unable to staff up appropriately following a surge in travel, causing cancellations all over the place. I am still working from home (more on that later). Prices on lumber, eggs, microchips, cars and a bunch of other things are through the roof because demand is high and supply is low. The national debt is through the roof due to bailout packages, and therefore taxes are exorbitant. Restaurants are reducing hours or shutting down entirely because they can’t hire servers – same with retail and hospitality.

All that said, there is at least light to be seen at the end of the tunnel of getting back to normal. These past two years have been like nothing the world has seen. This is something your children will learn about in history books, and there will always be the debate on if we did too much or not enough. All I can say right now is that it is great to have some sense of normalcy.

Thanksgiving in Tucson

Speaking of which, we took the opportunity to head to Tucson for Thanksgiving. You guys hadn’t seen Boppie in nearly two years, and while I am adamant about having holidays at home I felt this was a needed exception.

Have to say this was probably the best trip we have had to Tucson so far. We went to Colossal Cave, a place that I hadn’t been since I was your age, and went through the caverns. We went to the Sonoran Desert Museum and got to see a ton of desert animals which you of course loved. We bought passes to a pool at the JW Marriott Starr Pass Resort and swam, ate, and went on the lazy river. We spent time at Boppy’s house as well and say both coyotes and javelina in his backyard.

We then had Thanksgiving dinner at Boppie’s house. I cooked everything for everyone and it was fantastic. We also had quite the crew. In attendance: me, mom, you, Harper, Boppie, Nonnie, Boppie Barnes, Nonnie Barnes, Aunt Maddie, Justin, Uncle Mark, Aunt Terry, Aunt Mindy and Boppie’s girlfriend Maria. It was great to have so many people in one place and felt like things were back to normal.

After leaving you told us on the plane home that you were going to grow up and move to Tucson and live with Boppie while you went to UA – and you have stuck by that since, mentioning it many times. Will see how that stands up when you read this :).

IPO

My company, Vacasa, finally went public. I was there for Series B, C, D and the IPO. It was anti-climactic. The stock price as since dropped in half, and there is no sign of recovery. I have to hold on to my shares until June before I can sell them so hopefully it can at least keep the value it has at this time. Anyway, I have no interest in working for a public company as it is just a quarter-by-quarter game which is really uninteresting to me. Which leads me to…

New Job

I took a new job which I started May 9, just a few days ago. I will periodically update you on happenings outside of you just to keep you apprised. But I took a new job with a company called Shiftkey. It is back in tech and a company in growth mode. We are basically the Uber for nurses and facilities. We have a pool of nurses and a pool of facilities that have shifts that need to be filled and we use technology to connect them. I was looking to get back to a startup and get back into tech, so this checks both boxes. I am excited about it and really happy to be out of the public company space.

Disneyland

I love surprises. I love giving surprises. This was one of my favorite ever.

For Christmas we surprised you guys with your first trip to Disneyland. We sent you on a scavenger hunt on Xmas day to find it, and you guys were absolutely stoked. We left on the trip on January 2nd and went for three days.

The first day we just did Disneyland. Your favorite ride was Thunder Mountain Railroad and Splash mountain. We actually went on Splash Mountain multiple times, and the last time you and I sat in the front and got so drenched we had to go back and change. Actually, as I write this I remember that Autotopia was your favorite ride, which is so random since we almost didn’t go on it as it was an afterthought. You loved driving the cars. We took a break after that and went to the pool and had shirley temples that you still talk about. Then we went back to the park for some nighttime fun.

The second day we did California Adventure. You guys loved this too. We waited like 1.5 hours for the Cars ride, and did pretty much every other ride other than the rollercoaster (you guys wouldn’t go on it). We also did the ferris wheel and I almost past out as I hate heights (there is a picture below where you can kind of see me bent over in it). We had corn dogs and a bunch of other fun food. Cars was your favorite ride, but Soaring Over the World was a close second. While we were at Disneyland the night before until pretty late, this night we had dinner at 7 and you guys were exhausted so we went back to the room. This actually gave me the chance to sneak back out and do the rollercoaster – I did it 4 times in a row :).

The last day we did Disneyland for most of the day and the did a bit at California Adventure. That afternoon we flew back to Boise.

Other items of note

• Every morning you got a Mickey Mouse waffle with chocolate and whipped cream
• We stayed at the Grand Californian which was connected to California Adventure, so was really easy to go back and forth
• You did Space Mountain three times only for us to find out afterwards you were scared and didn’t like it – but you did it because it was your sister’s favorite ride
• It was just after Christmas so the trees were still up and they still did the parade at nighttime
• The only ride you couldn’t go on was Indiana Jones. Harper and I went on it but neither of us liked it that much
• We had dinner at the Blue Bayou
• You had churros for the first time
• I pushed our stroller with a flat tire for two of the days
• Finally, no one would go see Great Moments with Abraham Lincoln with me

Palm Springs/Maui

Not that these are small events to gloss over, but you guys are quite spoiled so it kinda feels that way since we do them every year. We went to PD for spring break and enjoyed some beautiful weather, went to the Living Desert, had some In-n-Out, went to the date farm and really just used the time to relax. We stayed at Tita’s house and had a great time.

Maui was my favorite trip so far. You guys can both swim now, so your mom and I can read a book when we aren’t playing in the pool with you. We stayed pretty close to home with the exception of the aquarium trip. Lots of beach, lots of pool, lots of food and a good amount of relaxation.

Soccer

You started and are playing on a soccer team. I am not yet sure if you like it or not..but I will say that at first look it appears it may not be your sport. It’s early though, so more to come on that.

As I said – a lot has happened. That said, when it comes to who you are not much as changed. I am consistently amazed at how you grow and mature, but continue to retain the characteristics and qualities that make you so amazing. You are still sweet, caring, loving, fun and athletic. You love your sis more and more each day it seems, and you are a well mannered boy. You are becoming more fun to hang out with each day as you grow and are finding new things interesting all the time. You are a joy to be around, and couldn’t ask for more in a son.

I love you more than all the world,

Love, Dad