Hey boy – we have successfully kept you alive for a whole five years now. A lot has happened in the last six months. I will lead with that you are still as sweet and fun as ever. Most of the boys we know that are your ages are psychotic, aggressive, rambunctious and just plan crazy. You will have your moments, but overall you are a chill dude who loves playing just about anything – imaginary or real. You still adore your sister as she does you, and you guys are still best friends. You are also stupid cute which bodes well for you, especially with your mom who you have completely wrapped around your finger.

Ok let’s jump in.

Covid

Still a thing. We are over a year and a half into it and the world is still incredibly weird. I am still working from home, masks are still required in many establishments, travel is still sparse and people are still dying from complications. However, the good news is that we are now fully vaccinated – you and Harper just got yours as well.

After Maui we came back and got our second shot, and recently they released one for ages 5-11. The vaccine won’t necessarily prevent it, but it will help in prevention but also minimize the effects. All this to say that there is comfort in knowing we are better protected.

I will say, as when you read this you will be old enough and mature enough to understand, that your mother and I have different views on covid and the severity. I very much believe it is a virus, and stand behind getting vaccinated. I do not however believe we should have shut the country down the way we did, and also don’t see it as serious of a threat as your mom. Your mom is on the total opposite side, in that she is quite frightened by it and has gone to great lengths to protect herself and us. She thinks the country should shut down, and that we should stay inside. I have honored her requests throughout this ordeal as I don’t want to further her anxiety, but one day we can have an adult conversation about how all this went.

Anyway – the country is starting to open back up but not completely. I hope that the next time I write you this is a non-factor and that we are back to normal. Everyone is ready for that to be the case, especially those of us that thrive on getting out and being around other people.

Denver Trip

While the world is still a weird place, we did get out this summer a bit. My favorite part of the summer was getting to take you to a Rockies game in Denver, just the two of us. I did this with Harper when she was your age and was so excited to get the chance to do it with you. We also met one of my best friends Mike and his son Bohdi there.

We headed out to Denver June 15th, flew out that morning and landed in Denver that morning with the game the following day. We landed at DIA and then took the train into town. The cool thing about going to Denver is we didn’t need a car seat because the train took us straight to where we wanted to go. We got to our hotel around 1pm and got settled. We then decided to go to the Denver Natural History Museum (see you in front of the dinosaur below) which was awesome. We took an Uber so you got to sit on the seat with a seatbelt – don’t tell your mom, this is still a secret as she thinks we took a bus :).

I think I have told you, but you absolutely love animals. We went around this place and saw stuffed deer, elephants, skunks, etc. There were a number of animals though that were not obvious so I would go read what they were (you obviously can’t read yet). I would say 70% of the ones I didn’t know you pointed at and named without any help! Will have to say that some shows, Wild Kratts in this case, can have some real educational value. But we spent a few hours there and saw the whole thing – you loved it. After that we went back and had dinner with Mike and Bohdi, then went for some dessert and walked around for a while. We went back to the room, had some snacks, and went to bed.

The next morning we got up, got dressed and went to breakfast at Snooze with my new boss who was based in Denver. You had french toast while her and I discussed work and met for the first time in person. Following breakfast we went and met up with Mike and Bohdi and headed to the game. It was a Wednesday day game at 1:10pm and the weather was perfect. You ate pretty much everything – hot dogs, popcorn, cotton candy and probably some more that I am forgetting. We also got you a new hat and shirt while there. As a not even a 5 year old you did great – we made it to the 8th inning.

Following the game we headed back to the airport and flew home. It is one of those trips that you won’t remember, but that I will never forget.

Palm Desert Trip

We also took a trip as a family to Palm Desert for Tita’s 90th birthday party. August in PD was very very hot, but we rented a house with a pool with Papa and Damian and your uncle Matt. The house was actually pretty cool in that it had a great pool and a little putting green. We spent most of the time swimming and eating, and got to celebrate Tita with cousins, aunts, uncles and others.

Back to School

Yes! You finally got to go back to school this fall. You are still in preschool at Wesleyan, and there are many safety measures in place, but you are back in the classroom a few days a week for a few hours. You seem to be loving it, and I take solace in knowing that the social aspect of you maturing won’t be dramatically impacted.

Of all things during covid when it comes to kids that concerns me is ensuring that your social acuity and maturity stay in tact – that you are not stymied socially by not being able to see your friends and be in social situations. I am not too worried about it with you, but still feeling much better now that you are back around other kids.

Golfing

Continuing my quest to get you guys into things we can all do together, you are golfing now! You did multiple camps over the summer at Warm Spring Golf Course where you learned the basics. You also love it. You get to do it with your sister as well which makes it that much more fun.

I do love the idea of us someday going out and playing together. I did it with my dad growing up and am obviously bias as a result, but just have so many incredible memories with him as a result.

Well that is the summary. There is of course so much I missed, but would be impossible to include it all. I will say this though – you are getting more and more fun with every day that passes. Just being honest, when you guys were little you were cute and I have great memories, but most of the time you weren’t much fun because you were so little. Now that is no longer the case. I love hanging with you (can prob see in the pics we also chill a lot together) and we have so many things we can do together now. You are an incredible boy, and I could not be luckier to have you.

Love you more than anything in the world

Love, Dad