Here this time with the ED sports update. As always there is a lot going on between school, trips, activities, etc.. But this post we are going to focus on sports as they have now become a pretty big part of your life. I will close with some additional thoughts but with 5 sports going at once I figure it’s a good chance to keep you posted on progress.
Sports
Soccer
Well – gonna be honest. Not your thing.
You showed up to practice and games, you are energized by it and you throw that energy towards it. That said, you are simply not very good. Positions are not really a thing at your age so pretty much everyone runs at the ball and tries to move it – it is chaos. However, when this happens you will get near the group but stay on the outside of the circle and do what, I would call, dance around it. You don’t get into the circle but rather just shuffle around it, and if it does get to you you normally miss the kick. Thinking this might not be your sport, and you have also realized it and decided not to continue.
Tee-Ball
Solid. You can hit, field and throw. Interested in seeing where this goes.
Golf
Again, you can swing. You have a solid swing but need to keep your head down and see the ball through. We go to the range and work on it and you love it. You do not like my tips (but I hated when my dad gave me tips too, so we have that in common). We go out when we can and you are excited about doing so.
Hockey
This will be interesting. Not sure if you love it or not. You do it, say you want to do it, and continue to push forward. You don’t like how cold it is or the process of getting ready. Right now it is just basically getting you to be able to skate properly. They take toys and throw them on the ice and you chase them down and put them in a bin. No sticks but you are wearing full pads. Not sure if this will stick or not.
Skiing
You are tips down! You just wanna go fast and it really counters your sister’s approach or slow and steady. We go up together and you last a couople hours before getting too cold and wanting to stop, but it is promising for sure.
Non-Sports
You absolutely love legos. There is an app on your iPad that golds all the instructions, so we will get a lego set and you will look it up and build it. It is amazing to watch as you will stay focused for hours to assemble it correctly.
We also went to Sun Valley and stayed at the lodge for a little vacation, just the four of us. We went to the pool one of the days when it was 10 degrees outside, and you swam like a little fish. We also went to the arcade there and you played every game there was, with a focus on the MarioCart arcade game. We even play air hockey, where I destroyed you :).
You are continuing to be a sweet and lovable boy. Every day you become more fun to hang out with. We are so lucky to have you, and I could never ask for a better son.
You are one third of the way to receiving this gift. I know when you read this it might seem not that monumental, but being in the moment please trust me IT IS.
A lot to cover from the last 6 months. But really – look at you. Look at pictures from this post and compare even to 5.5, let alone 5. It’s incredible the visible difference in you. While it’s impossible to see, your personality and maturity differences are also crazy to comprehend. But what is consistent is that you are just as happy as always. You have this amazing knack at seeing the positive in everything, and very little rattles you. If that continues it will serve you well.
Started Kindergarten
You are heading to real school – kindergarten. As I mentioned in the last post, you chose to attend St. Joes with Harper and you started in August. They did a full on graduation for you at Wesleyan and you said bye to Mrs. Gina and Mrs. Katie. You are currently in Kindergarten with Mrs. Marcus as your teacher, and you so far love it.
The best part about it (for me) is that I now get to take you both to school every day. The routine is this:
Wake up around 6:45
Make lunches
Make breakfast
Get water bottles
Load up backpacks
Warm up the car
Throw you monkeys in at 7:35am
Arrive around 7:50am
Park and walk you both in while you hold my hand
Walk Harper to her class, and you give her a big hug every day
We go to your class and I wait there with you until your teacher comes and gets you at 8am
Rinse and repeat
It is my favorite part of every day. It is still early as you are only a few months in, but you are adapting well as we knew you would.
Cousins Visited
Your cousins came for a few days at the end of July and you guys had a blast. Since you really don’t have any cousins, they have become the closest thing. You floated the river with them, played more games at the house than I can even count, we had bbq’s and just a lot of fun. You have taken to all of them, but Addison specifically.
Airstream
We bought an Airstream. I mean why not buy the most expensive trailer that you can possibly buy versus a cheaper one being that we have never owned one before and never used one before and know nothing about trailer camping, you ask. Allow me to introduce you to your mother, who requires the best of everything and doesn’t apologize for it.
Anyway, here we are. I bought it from a dealer in California and drove down to pick it up and drive it back. We did get it out once this season before it ended and took it to Ponderosa State Park in McCall for the night. Gotta say – it’s nice to sleep inside. You guys brought your bikes and rode around. We went with another couple who had two boys your age, and you guys had a blast. Before we winterized it and stored it you and I also slept in it two nights in a row in the cul-de-sac.
Next summer we have plans to use it a lot, and hoping this will be one of those things that we can do every summer for many years to come.
First Tooth Lost
You are losing your teeth now! You had a loose tooth for quite a bit and it finally came out, and then another came out soon after. I told you about the trick of tying string to it and then slamming the door. You thought this was awesome and wanted to do it, so when your mom was gone we gave it a shot. I tied the string to your tooth and then to the front door, and right when I was about to slam it you called it off. It came out on its own the next day. 🙂
As always a lot going on but fun stuff. You are growing up so fast. It’s hard to put into words.
Please stay as sweet and amazing as you are today and have been to this point.
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.
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.
Hello there buddy. Man – so much to say but too much to write.
We are still in the covid cloud. That said, major breakthrough – there is a vaccine and your mom and I got it! But the story is awesome.
We had plans to go to Maui in April of this year (2021). It was going to be the first trip we had done since January of 2020 due to the covid outbreak. Being blunt, as I normally am, your mother and I see this whole thing a bit differently. If you can imagine this – she is overboard cautious and I am likely underboard (is that a word?) concerned. She is quite scared of this thing while I don’t see it as a serious threat, more like a cold/flu that you should try to protect against and be aware of, but not something to change the world for. We will see how this opinion ages in time :).
Anyway – we had Maui planned and both really wanted to go, as did both of you. Your mom was reticent if we were not vaccinated, which I can understand but would not have stopped me. We continued to converse about it for weeks. Finally she came to the conclusion that if we were not vaccinated that we could not travel. I of course would respect her wishes, but also realllllly want to go.
The Saturday morning following this decision I woke up and decided I needed to solve for it. I left early (after brining you guys your hot chocolate that you get every Saturday morning – you also get donuts every Sunday), and went to the pharmacies. We were not yet eligible to get the vaccine as it was reserved only for those that were 65+ or had illnesses that warranted it. But you could go to the various places and get on wait lists, and if someone didn’t show they would give you a ring and you could come get the dose so it didn’t go to waste (it was time sensitive).
I went to 8 pharmacies. All 8 put me on a list with very little expectations around calling. But, around 3:30 that day, I got a call from Fred Meyer up on Federal Way. They had two doses that were going to go un-used, but they needed to be used by 4pm. I told your mom, we, almost literally, threw you both in the car, and headed up. We got our first dose and were guaranteed our second while there. It gave your mom the solace she needed to get on a plane and fly to Maui (btw, for the last two years nearly it has been required to wear masks on planes, and many other places, which is why you are wearing them in the pictures).
I copied this to your sister’s webpage as well – not being lazy just trying to be consistent 🙂
McCall
We had a great trip to McCall. We rented a Vacasa unit right on the golf course, and there was a ton of snow. We skied, went out to eat, played a ton of board games, and took Layla out all the time. It was a fantastic trip, and as you can see we got a ton of amazing pictures.
Maui
As mentioned above, we went to Maui! It was the first vacation other than to SV that we had taken since covid began. Cannot tell you how great it was. Being locked down for over a year and then getting to do that was wildy freeing and a great mental health break for us all.
That said, Hawaii was super locked down. They required masks even outside on paths, and on the beach you had to maintain a healthy distance. Most of the businesses were closed, and the opportunity to go out to dinner and things of that nature were very limited.
It was worth it though, and we all had a great time.
Skiing
You are becoming quite the little skier. Unlike your sister who I had to push to go faster and take some chances, you are of course the opposite. I have had to chase you down a number of times just trying to bomb down the mountain as fast as you can go. Mom calls you me – and while she’s using it in a way of explaining recklessness, I love it.
Outside of all this, you are with us a lot. Your school got cancelled due to covidd (although it was only from 9-12 4 days a week). I am still working from home as well and it has now been over a year. I don’t know what is going to happen or if I will ever return to an office. Still rocking my home depot $30 table that I bought in March of 2020 that I figured I would need for a few weeks until this blew over – but instead here I am a year later.
You also love your “sissy” more than anything, and as you can see in the pictures you guys spend a ton of time together. It’s great because we can’t really spend too much time with others right now but that doesn’t seem to bother either of you.
You are growing into a loving, sweet, excited, ambitious, athletic young boy – and I could not be happier. Looking forward to the next time we get to talk when you turn 5.
It is a good thing you are cute, because otherwise this would be a pretty boring set of pictures as we have not done much outside of the house in the 6 months since we last talked. More on that later. What is truly unbelievable though is that we just celebrated four years with you on this planet!
We are still in covid – what seems like the thick of it. You will see it in the pictures that we do, well, basically not much. You did go camping and fishing, but you will notice not a single picture has anyone other than us in it.
Unfortunately your school year got cancelled as well. You are currently in what I would call pre-preschool, in that you still have another year before you go to legit kindergarten. But due to covid they just cancelled your entire year. You get some packets once in a while that we go pick up with work, but you’re not all that keen on doing them and there is little context for them as well. I will say, as long as this covid thing is figured out soon, this is probably a good time for it to happen as there is nothing monumental of which you are missing.
The world is weird. I work from home 100% of the time and have since March. I mentioned at the end of your last post that the world was shut down almost entirely, and as I write this it is very much the same. We cannot go out to eat, we cannot go with friends and hang out, we cannot really go into any establishment without a mask. There is a vaccine in the works, one that is hopefully available come 2021, that we hope will make the world more normal again. All I can say is right now it is daunting and depressing. Not sure there has been anything like this in our country’s history. I just hope things go back to normal someday.
As for you – man, you are making this weird time tolerable. Your energy is amazing. You are the happiest boy, and you and your sister play together all day and love each other so much. You can see in the pic below you sleeping with Woof Woof, and yes you are still using a pacifier. Genuinely though, just try to find a picture where you are not smiling.
Riding a bike
One cool thing that came from covid is that we have to find things to do that don’t involve others, and as a result you were able to learn how to ride a bike! I took you down to Baggley park which is down the street from us. We started on the grass, and I swear within 10 minutes you were riding by yourself. There is a sidewalk that goes through the park and after you got the hang of it you started riding on the sidewalk. At one point I was running full steam to keep up with you as you flew around the park.
We did all this on your sister’s old bike (who I taught to ride without training wheels like a month before this). For your birthday Boppie bought you a brand new bike, and it became your favorite thing to do.
Camping/Fishing
We also went camping north of Stanley this last summer, only the second time you have been camping before. We spent a couple nights out there and you had a blast. We went down to Lake Pettit one day and had a picnic and swam as well.
You also did some fishing at Penny lake outside of Ketchum. We caught a few fish (although I missed the pic). I am really excited to get you on a fly rod, but we are a bit of time out from that.
In other news, you love to do the following: sing, dance, hit tee-balls, kick soccer balls, sleep, watch tv, play with your sister, play outside with your cars and scooters, and books on tape.
I am sorry that this post is a bit lame, but honestly that has basically been the last 8 months. We don’t get out much and activities are hard to come by. Really hope that this ends sooner than later so we can get back after it.
You are sweet. You are fun. You are loving. You are funny. And I can’t imagine life without you. Thank you for brightening this dark time with your amazing nature.
It is hard to believe that you are well on your way to being four, and just how much we have done in the first three and a half years of your life. I am going to update you on some fun activities and new experiences, and then close with an update on this thing called Covid-19 that made it’s first appearance in March of this year.
Potty Training
Yes – you are now trained to piss and shit not in your pants but on a toilet (although you still sometimes choose your pants). This is a major milestone for your mother and I as it means no more diapers! As you can see from the photos below, like many things, you have been challenging during the process. Not really to get you to do it, but more-so to keep you from destroying the bathroom when you do. But I would rather waste tons of toilet paper and get pee on the seat than have to change a diaper.
Trips
In Nov/Dec we did a few trips to SV as we always do. We did some skiing (if you can call it that), sledding, playing in the snow and got a lot of family time. You also met your cousin Milo for the first time (a lot to unpack there and won’t go there).
In January of this year we went down to Tucson and stayed at Boppie’s new house. You loved Tucson as you are a freak about animals, and there are plenty to see. We went downtown to the children’s museum, spent a lot of time with your great grandparents, went on walks on Boppie’s property through the cactus and had Eegee’s. You also went to your first UA basketball game! You made it about 3/4 of the way through which was a win in my book. It was a fantastic trip – and unknowingly would be the last one we take for some time. See below as to why.
Covid-19
NOTE: This is the same narrative I wrote on Harper’s site. Reason being that it will be long, and it is also applicable to you both. I think it’s worthwhile to have you both know the same story, but also what each was doing and how they did during the pandemic.
On March 9th I landed in Portland to visit my team there, at the time working for Vacasa (still there). There was this new virus that was just starting to make national headlines called Covid-19, or the coronavirus. At this point it was pretty much the first time hearing about it and there was very little known. All I knew was that it had come from Wuhan China, and at the time they said someone there had eaten a bat and contracted it. The virus was, at this time, spreading fast in Wuhan, but they had basically shut the entire region down to avoid mass spread.
I went into my executive meeting that day knowing very little. Our entire exec team had turned over at that time and so we had three new additions from OpenTable. This was my second time meeting our new CEO, but my first meeting the others in person. I remember one of the execs elbow bumped me (the virus spread through touch and was airborne) while the other shook my hand. At this time it was more of a joke than anything. I stayed in PDX that night, went to dinner with my team, worked from the office the next day, and flew back that night not knowing that it would be the last time traveling for a great deal of time.
When I got home everything went nuts. The virus was spreading rapidly, all across Europe and hitting countries like Italy very hard. Quarantines were put in place across Europe, and a travel ban to Europe was put in place by Trump, our current president.
NOTE* I won’t be able to do a play-by-play here as it would take too long to explain, so just know that there are plenty of things I am omitting and perhaps getting wrong. It all happened very fast.
Within a week it was a worldwide issue, which countries shutting down borders and putting in place stay-at-home mandates. My office, as was pretty much every other office in the country, was closed sometime in mid-March, moving us all to a remote work environment. States and cities shut down businesses that were non-essential – think restaurants, salons, movie theatres, bars, sports, etc. Only non-essential businesses like grocery stores, pharmacies and other businesses that the public required stayed open.
It would be impossible to capture how this changed the landscape of our society, likely forever. E-commerce food delivery services like Grubhub and UberEats blew up, since going to a restaurant was prohibited. As did grocery delivery either to your house or outside pickup. Streaming services like Netflix and Hulu saw a huge boom as people were at home all the time, and companies like Zoom emerged as market leaders as they offered video=conferencing capabilities that now everyone would have to rely on as they were now working remotely. All professional sports shut down, all movie and tv production shut down, all travel was shut down so no one was flying or staying in hotels. Everyone was pretty much forced to stay at home. The virus spread through interaction with others so no one could be near one another. It is like nothing that has occurred since the spanish flu, and it spared no one. It affected everyone, everywhere. As I write this we are still on lock-down for the most part. Still working from home, still not going out to eat, still getting groceries delivered, and still not seeing family members as it is not worth the risk. A vaccination is being developed at a rapid pace, but until that arrives we are bound to our homes.
This is taking a toll on the entire population and has changed life forever. I am going to get to the impact on you guys and our family, but I want to capture something specific that I went through as it was the hardest thing I have ever done in my career, and one of the hardest things in my life. I share it from a place of you never knowing it occurred, probably until now, but that even parents are emotional beings tackle some things are nearly impossible to handle. Growing up , at least for me, I always looked at my parents as not only infallible, but also as ready to handle any situation that comes up with objective means. I realized as I got older, and got to know my parents better, that this was not at all true, and now have many stories that in my childhood seemed like no big deal to me but only because they handled it with unwavering ability.
I work in the travel industry. I currently am a VP of Digital for a multi-billion dollar company that offers vacation rentals. Basically, instead of taking your family on vacation and stay in a hotel, we have a huge inventory of homes that owners lease out for vacationers. My job is to get those homes booked through our e-commerce site, vacasa.com, and out channel partners (airbnb, vrbo, booking.com, etc.). At it’s core, we sell vacations.
Covid completely halted our business. Once the state and city mandates, and later the federal mandates, rolled out, there was basically no travel allowed. You could not fly anywhere or travel anywhere without an incredibly good reason. Parents, siblings and other family members would die, and no one could attend their funeral because the risk of getting covid was too high. This lead to over 90% of our bookings getting cancelled in March and April of 2020.
With a revenue hit like that you have to make changes. Our company was also not in a stellar financial or cash position. In fact, we were in a terrible position. We had recently ousted our CEO and brought in a new one, and that was one of the reasons. We had enough cash to pay our owners their commission only through May, and all of our reservations just went off the books. When facing a position like that you have to create cash, and the easiest way to free up cash is getting rid of people.
Our exec team was meeting every day in response to this crisis, and doing our best to manage it. But knowing our position, we knew layoffs had to happen. We were each given a number we needed to reach, and then a list of our employees and told to get to that number. At the time I had a team of 108 people, and was asked to cut 30-40%. We also needed to turn this around in about 3 days and also keep it quiet from the company. In addition to this, all execs were taking a 25% pay reduction for 3 months, which would be paid back after the wave passed (if it did). I was making $210k at the time, so we were ok with this financially, but it was still quite scary.
So I spent two or three awful days deciding how I was going to make this cut. I went through the decisions day and night, and while some were easy others were insanely hard. It never left my mind either that whoever I cut would go into a job market that does not want them. Every company was doing what we were doing and their opportunities would be next to nothing. These people have families, bills, responsibilities and I was choosing to put them in a spot that would disable them from delivering against those things. It was also never lost on my how lucky I was to be the one making these decisions and not being on the receiving end of one.
Friday, March 20th was the day we delivered this news. I laid off a total of 44 employees that day. I did it over a Zoom videoconference.
Following the layoffs was a much needed weekend to reflect and try to wrap my head around things. I was working 14 hour days and dealing with things I had never faced in my life. I had fired people before either for cause or because their role was no longer necessary, but never in an environment like this or at this scale. I had actually traveled to Fort Walton Beach to let go of 8 people in January with a director of mine, only to then have to layoff that director. It was an incredibly difficult experience.
Then Sunday came around and we received an email from our CEO calling an emergency meeting for Sunday night. We all knew this couldn’t be good. We joined, and long story short were told that the cuts were not enough and that we would need to go deeper – this time eliminating up to 70% of our teams. The caveat, and only silver lining, was that we were going to furlough and not layoff. In three months we were expecting to bring people back, but we all discussed and knew that we have no confidence in that estimate. They were also being furloughed without pay, but would keep their health insurance. So with that, I went back to the exercise of doing a deeper cut knowing that I may never bring these people back.
The other item was that we were not moving to a 50% salary reduction for execs, and a 25% reduction for those that made over $75k. I am not sure what inflation will do to salaries by the time you read this, but as I write this making $210k in Boise is far more than enough money to support a great lifestyle. But with this we were going to $110k, and with no guarantees that I would even be able to keep my job. I had not, until this time, ever worried about job security – but I was frightened. We buttoned up our finances, starting eating leftovers (you mom always makes fun of me because I hate leftovers and love takeout), no more takeout, canceled all unnecessary subscriptions, deferred our mortgage six months, started discussing every expense and so on.
On Friday, March 25th 2020, I furloughed another 52 employees without pay. I did it over a Zoom videoconference. 96 of the 108 people that existed previously were now either let go or furloughed, leaving the team at 12 employees.
At this point not everything was shut down just yet. In April all of the businesses I mentioned above would close their doors either temporarily or forever. The night of the furlough it finally hit me what I had done. I went to a bar to think about it.
I had sent 96 people home to their families to tell them that they have no more income during a time where they could not find a job, and that there were very little prospects for them to find work in the near or even long term. I started thinking about moms and dads having to tell their kids about it, how the things they had been promised are no longer possible. Married couples (which the other spouse may also be in the same boat) sitting down to figure out how to pay the bills. I thought about if I was the one that had to come home and tell you guys that we might have to move to a different home or go to a different school as a result of this. I also thought about how lucky I was, and that made me feel even more grief – and that me even being allowed to be sad or grieve or whatever was selfish in its own right. I was not the one going home delivering this news, I was the one causing it to happen. Why do I deserve to be upset over it? Not much gets to me, I am an “it is what it is” type of person – but this was genuinely the first time in my life that I felt overwhelmed and didn’t know how to handle it. I got back in my car, I drove home, I parked in the garage, and I started to cry like I had never cried before.
I don’t know what the relationship will look like with your mom and me when you read this. It is a long time from now, and marriage is something you work at every day. But I will say that night she was exactly what I needed and helped me through it. We sat on the couch in the den while she held me and I bawled like a baby, unloading on her an amount of emotions I have never done with anyone before. She just listened. She has always encouraged me to be more emotional and open up more often, and that night she got all the pent up emotion she could handle. I do not know that there will ever be a tougher thing that I have to do in my career, but I pray not.
This was the story I wanted to tell – what comes next is happy and unexpected. In May the travel market began to rebound as people wanted to get away. We had our biggest month as a company ever in June, and we brought back the vast majority of those who were furloughed. We even hired back a few that had been laid off as we tried to recover. Since then business has been incredible, I was paid back the money from my reduced salary, I received a raise and a bonus and we are on track to IPO. Throughout it all I was able to keep my optimism, which I think at the end of the day is what got me through it.
At this time we are still mostly at home. This applies to my work, but to you both as well. Let’s talk about that.
Harper – you are currently doing virtual learning. You will see some pictures of you on a laptop where you are doing Zoom calls with your class and teachers. You are in first grade and really focusing on reading and math. You like virtual learning but get annoyed with it relatively easily and begin to act up a bit. I am working from home and pretty pre-occupied, so your mom is bearing the brunt. Virtual learning is hard and definitely not as effective. That said, it looks like you will be back in school soon with a mask mandate. This is a hotly debated topic right now as to whether kids should be in school or at home. Since you go to a private school, they are able to take measures not available at public schools. Public will stay virtual for the foreseeable future. Your mom is adamantly against in person learning due to the covid risk. I am on the fence, as the effectiveness rate of the virus on younger people is far more minimal, and I think you will learn more in a classroom than on a computer. You learn to read in first grade and to me that trumps the risk – not by a lot but by enough.
Ethan – your school got flat out cancelled. Fortunately you are in like pre-pre-school so it’s not a big deal. Only concern is socialization, but pretty confident that you will still have plenty of time to figure that out. You are also a pretty outgoing kid and already had one year at Wesleyan. so the risk is low. Plan is for you to attend again starting next fall. You get packets sent home from school that you work on, and sometimes even enjoy. For the most part this is a time for you to play and get a lot of time with mom and I.
The covid-19 pandemic has taken a toll on many lives in many different ways. I have to say it is like living in a movie sometimes, like when you drive through downtown and don’t see a single person. Or look at pictures of major cities like NYC or San Francisco and there is not a soul to be seen. We still do not have a vaccine, and until we do life likely won’t get back to normal. Even then who know how long it will take to reach some level of normalcy, but at least the hope is that we might be able to socialize in some capacity again.
While covid has been terrible for many, from the pictures you will see in your posts, it was not for us. It brought us closer together and gave us more time with each other. Overall I think it made us a stronger family. All the pictures are happy, and that is not a facade but rather a reflection just how amazing you both are in your ability to look at the good in life. I love you guys very much.
NOTE: that was a copy from Harper’s post but gives a pretty good overview of this never before seen thing we are currently dealing with. As of May 2020, the world is basically shut down. Businesses closed, offices abandoned, and working from home has happened all across the world. Going to the grocery store now looks like going online, ordering what we want, driving to the store, parking, popping the cargo door and someone in a mask coming out and putting it in the back of the car. This is one of many weird things. We still do not know how long this thing will last, or what will happen, but it has become clear that this is not an event that will be forgotten anytime soon.
Even through covid, you have always kept your positivity and light. You are almost always wearing a smile and can make any activity into a fun one. You are your “sissy” love each other and get along amazingly well. We are incredibly lucky to have you, and can wait to talk to you again when you turn 4!
You have survived three years! Sometimes it is a struggle to ensure that happens as you are rambunctious and aggressive in most that you do. The other side though is this sweet, sensitive and snuggle buddy that you balance well. I say aggressive and rambunctious, but you are still very well behaved compared to most children (most of the time). You are also extremely happy. This will hopefully continue as a trend in these posts as you are just smiling, laughing, running, jumping and making every situation a fun one. You are the most carefree child I have ever seen, not an ounce of stress in you. You also had a number of first occur over the last 6 months, so let’s jump in!
Camping
We went camping for the first time as a family this past summer (see some pics below). We spent the day on Redfish lake with Slater, Gina, Eric, Lili and their baby. You loved the lake and even got to drive the boat with both me and Slater. You swam and played on the beach, and watched me jump off the rock cliffs (you were the only one excited about this btw, mom and Harper not so much).
Before we got on the lake we dropped all of you off with the boat and Slater and I went to secure the campground. I laid out our tent to reserve the spot, and then we headed back to the lake.
After we got off the water we went to the lodge and got food and drinks. We then hung out on the grass there for a couple hours and had a pretty good dinner. Slater actually also saved a guy’s life – but that’s another story.
When we were done we all headed over to the campground and I set up the tent for us. We had an air mattress that you, mom and Harper slept on and I slept on a pad on the ground. Sleep is being generous, I think I may have accumulated a full hour of sleep that night. Before bed we did s’mores, you guys played with flashlights around the camp, and then got so tired that you just passed out on the mattress. Passing out from exhaustion was not something you did a lot, and we were a little worried about camping the first time and you getting scared, so this was a nice little surprise. You guys slept straight through the night with no issue whatsoever.
I got up (not woke up, got up) at about 5:15am and went and built a fire. Maybe an hour later you made your way out and came and sat with me. Was at least another hour before anyone else joined us, but you just sat in my lap and talked for the most part – bundled up in your jacket and blankets. It was one of those memories I will never forget. Just sitting by the fire together, half asleep, talking about whatever.
Later we packed up and went home – ending our first successful camping trip.
School
You began school! You are attending Wesleyan, the same place that Harper went. You are definitely a fan of it (most of the time), and have really taking a liking to playing with trucks. You are more social than Harper was at your age and have no problem when I leave you at drop off. There are days when you oppose it, but for the most part you look forward to going.
You are also insistent on shorts at all times. Although this may seem odd to mention, it is relevant because you are so adamant about it all the time. It can be 30 degrees outside and you will insist on shorts and a jacket. Your mom and I have to sometimes hold you down just to get pants on you. While in the moment it is rather frustrating, after the fact it is always hilarious.
Tied to school, your language and number skills are far ahead of what we would have expected and those around you. I believe much of this is due to your exposure to Harper at a time where she is immersed in learning words, letters, numbers and basic math. Your dialect has improved immensely and you are even starting to recognize certain words, even though you can’t yet read. You should thank your sister someday for this advantage.
Trips
We have also gone on a number of trips over the last 6 months. McCall and Sun Valley stand out as that’s where we spent most of our time. We are getting to the point where we are also considering traveling longer distances. After the last Palm Desert trip we decided not to subject ourselves to that again until you were a bit older (you are a handful, but I would say compared to other kids you are good and our it’s really just our tolerance that is low). This winter/spring we are planning some bigger trips.
NOTE* I realize the pictures are duplicated below…I am just a bit too lazy right now to fix it.
Overall you are a hilarious, nearly always happy, very smart little guy. You and your sister love each other so much and play together constantly. You are one of the cutest kids that ever existed as well, and while, as I mentioned, our tolerance for mis-behavior is low, you are also a very well mannered and behaved child. I can’t believe I am writing a three year post for you right now either as the time has truly flown by. Talk to you again in six months.
The title of this post relates to how far you have come over the last six months – easily the most changes, new experiences and development of any timeframe in your life thus far. You are sleeping in your own bed, becoming quite articulate and easily understood, can count to nearly 20 and socially you have thrived. Its is an incredible thing to watch.
Some firsts:
First time skiing
First big kid bed
First movie
First time on a firetruck
Met Santa
First tablet
See that last one? Yeah, got you a tablet for Christmas. You can already operate it entirely – choosing Netflix movies and navigating the PBS Kids app. It is pretty unreal. You also met Santa, which was ridiculously cute.
We also took you skiing, but you were not really into it. We rented you some skis and boots and they were way too big – your foot only filled like half the boot. You gave it a go for a bit but eventually resolved to hot chocolate by the outdoor fire while your sister and I worked on things. I am going to get you back out this winter.
Probably the biggest development is your new bed. You have a new twin bed because you finally figured out how to get out of your crib.
This came in the form of you throwing yourself out of the crib. You see, your sister did this once around your age. She was finally tall enough to get her head and shoulders above the top of the crib, and basically used her head (remember, you both have huge heads) to give her enough weight to carry her legs over. She did it one time, we rushed in to find her crying on the ground. She never did it again and was in the crib until after 3 years old.
You took the same approach, using your head as a weight and throwing yourself over. You fell on your head and started crying. We rushed in to get in the middle of the night and console you. After a little while you were calm and we put you back in your crib. 10 minutes later – you did it again. The following night we woke up to a thump at about 1am, finding you again on the floor. We moved pillows and a cushioned chair next to your crib, but basically then stayed up the rest of the night watching the monitor fearing you will jump again. Apparently the urge to escape (even at the cost of smacking your head each time) was just too great and you could not resist. The next day I set up your twin bed, bought a mattress, and you are now sleeping without killing brain cells. Boys and girls are very, very different.
We have been spending a lot of time in Sun Valley and are gearing up for summer. I have been working quite a bit and spending a day or two every other week in Portland. Mom is busy with mom things and Harper is finishing up preschool and starting kindergarten in the fall.
The next time I write you will be in preschool yourself! You will be in the Beetle class at Wesleyan, going on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 9-12. You will end up going to three years of preschool, but we really like the preschool (same that Harper attended). Mom is struggling a bit with the idea of you going to school and not being with her, but she is coping. It will be the first time that mom is without one of you on a regular basis. You are mixed on it, sometimes excited and other times not. I think you will do very well and enjoy the social aspect.
You are still the happiest little man – playing constantly, always talking, dancing, singing, running, and driving your sister nuts. You guys are still incredibly close and only seem to be getting closer as time passes. I can’t wait to talk to you again when you turn three in just a few months!
Believe it or not we kept you alive to two years old – it was not easy at times.
You are a spirited child. For us, compared to your sister, you are an active monster. That said, when we see other children we realize just how lucky we are to have you as you are actually way better behaved than most boys your age. You are so sweet, talkative, happy…and as you can see from these pics, you are stupid cute. We have people stop us in public just to comment on how cute you are – that’s not an exaggeration.
You are a bit shy but not for too long, you warm up pretty quickly. New people don’t scare you although you are far more comfortable with us. You also LOVE your sister more than anything, you guys are very close. You absolutely love to play and would do so all day and night if we let you. You are a terrible sleeper…still. It doesn’t make sense. You run all day, we can’t figure out how to exhaust you.
Over the last six months we have done a lot. Of note, we did not take any trips because you scarred us from the last time we flew. We go to Sun Valley a lot but try to keep our commutes to under a few hours. As you can see you were also the Beast for Halloween. You are still in a crib but I don’t think that will last much longer as you are beginning to figure out how to scale it. Your favorite thing to watch right now is the Greatest Showman – you can sing most of the songs and you live to dance to them. We spend a lot of time outside where you play in the water, drive the barbie jeep around, throw and hit balls, and just really anything and everything we make available.
Mom and I are chugging along and finally seeing a bit of light at the end of the tunnel with regards to getting out of the small child crazy phase (if you would sleep that would greatly help). You are getting to the point where you can tell us what you need and when, and we can let you play with a bit of a more hands off approach. Basically, we are not having to spend every waking second watching you and your sister and are beginning to do things as a couple again without you guys sometimes. I know that sounds like a weird goal, but when it has been 4-5 years of 100% parental focus just going out to dinner together seems like a major event.
You and I have a blast together. Spend a lot of time playing, watching shows/baseball together, going to the park and on walks. As you get older we do more together. That said, you are a huge momma’s boy. You and your mom are connected at the hip, and whenever you need comfort she is the first place you go. It is pretty amazing to watch your relationship because it is so loving in every single aspect. You also get away with a lot that your sister didn’t because of your connection – she looks at you differently. This is not to say she doesn’t love your sister or treat her like a princess, just that there is something unique about your relationship. Something tells me this will work in your favor later in life.
You are turning into a pretty special person, and seems like you are growing every single day. Having an older sister has served you well as you are progressing (letters, numbers, communication, etc.) at a rate far accelerated when compared to where she was at at your age. I love how fun you are, and that you take after me in approaching the world with a smile rather than skepticism. Your mom and I are incredibly lucky, and we know it. Thank you for being so awesome and, please, keep it up!
