It might not seem like it in the scheme of things, but this is actually a hard thing to keep up with. I can’t tell you how fast the time flies by and then I realize it is time for another post. I then go back through the pictures of the last six months just to remember what happened and am always amazed and how much has occurred.

That said, I love writing these posts. I look forward to it every time I get to do it for you or your brother’s website. The reason is it reminds me just how much fun we have as a family, and makes me smile.

While the above is true, this has probably been the hardest six months in my life and many others in this world. We have been dealing with a pandemic that started just after your birthday, around mid-March, that has shut the entire world down. It is called coronavirus, or Covid-19, and it is a virus that has so far killed millions of people and infected hundreds of millions more.

Covid-19

Ok – so I am going to write this section so that it can be repurposed on Ethan’s website as well. 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.

I think this is a post that I missed so many things but likely is the longest one I have ever written. I will add additional comments that are unique to you both below, as the next one for Ethan won’t be until 11/15 and I imagine over the next 2.5 months we will see a lot of changes. I hope the story above is at least worth reading, and I selfishly took the opportunity to write it. Hopefully it provides some insight into me, the time we are in, and the thoughts happening in the moment.

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.

Bike

Ok, so back to just your Harper Mae – this section is unique to your website. One other thing that was a benefit of this time is that I was able to teach you how to write a bike!

It was end of March, and as you can probably figure based on the story above I was a bit down. One day you came to me and said you wanted your training wheels off. So we went out to the garage and took them off and started riding around the driveway while I held you. Well, you are not one to fail. Has never been your style. You didn’t walk until you were 14 months old, but once you did you never fell. You didn’t ski until 5, and you clung to me the first few times, but again, once you decided to do it you were great at it. Riding a bike was the same.

The driveway was not a great place to teach you so we went to Baggley Park down the street. We went into the grass and had you try a few times. You made me hold you and not let go, and when I did let go scolded me for doing so. After about an hour you had a couple decent rides. We went back the next day and I took you on the cement path. I got you going and you said let go – then proceeded to ride about 30 feet before putting your feet down and stopping. We did that another 20 or so times, and by the end you were able to ride a couple hundred yards before stopping.

On the third day we went and you rode the entire path all by yourself. You never fell. I taught you how to start on your own and get going, and since then you have ridden your bike nearly every day. You impress me every time you try something new with not just your devotion to figuring it out, but your competitive nature to master it.

Ok this post has gone on long enough. I want you to know how proud I am about the way you are growing up. You are kind, loving, mannered and just an all around good person. Could not ask for a better Buggy.

I love you more than anything in the world.

Love, Dad

You are turning six today (well, you turned six recently and have probably found out I don’t write these in real time every time). You are in the third quarter of your kindergarten year at St. Joes. As you can see from the pictures, you are starting to look like a real human :). You have had a number of new experiences I will discuss, but it’s worth mentioning that when I write these I don’t always reflect back on what I wrote last time so there may be redundancies. Plus my memory is garbage so…

If you had not noticed based on the pictures, you and Ethan are incredibly close. You guys play every day, and for two kids this small you get along surprisingly well. You also still play with the girls next door and down the street. Mom is not a big fan of the girls (although not surprising since she isn’t a fan of most), but you have a great time. After school and over breaks that is where most of your time is spent.

Skiing

As always we took a number of trips to SV. The difference this time was that you went skiing on Dollar! I took you up on the lift, we got off, and you were so brave. We went down the hill as I skied backwards in front of you. The first time down you were noticeably nervous, but in true Buggy fashion by the time you got to the bottom you wanted to race back up. We spent a couple hours doing this routine, and you never fell once.

We did a lot of skiing this year. We even went to McCall and you got to ski with Ali and Maci from our street. With them you were even more brave as they had a lot more experience – but you totally hung with them. We skied for a few hours again and you had a blast. We actually went to McCall for your birthday and celebrated it in a cabin there. My Aunt Jane and her wife Karen joined us and we all had an amazing time.

Outside of that we got another half a dozen or so days on the mountain in Boise at Bogus. We got you some lessons with a guy, Kihle, that you really liked. You are timid in your approach, but you figure things out quickly without ever falling. I would go ski during your one hour lessons, and then we would normally get hot chocolate. It is only about a 45 minute drive to the base so we made it a normal routine either on the weekend or after school. We also skied together a few times if you didn’t have a lesson or after it.

I love skiing with you so much. You are so much fun to watch and you have such a great time. My hope is that we can do it together for the rest of my life.

Tucson

We also took a trip to Tucson in January to see Boppy and his new house. Boppy built a new house on a very cool plot of land in the desert in Tucson. For the first time that you could really understand you were exposed to the desert. We went in January so it wouldn’t be too hot.

While in Tucson we did a bunch of stuff. We started with the children’s museum, where you learned about cactus, trains and desert animals. We took the trolly from university where we got to walk campus a bit and you could see where I went to school, and even the dorm your mom lived in during her one year there. At the museum you, and Ethan, especially liked the train part. You dressed up as engineers and conductors and pretended for quite a while. On the way out we got you Dippin’ Dots which you had not had at the time, and since have grown to love.

After the children’s museum we went to the Tucson Train Museum. As you know, Boppy worked for the railroad for 42 years. What you might not know is that he was the 5th generation of Donegan’s to work on trains – I busted the streak. After that we had some amazing Mexican food at Cafe Poca Cosa downtown, and headed back.

While there we say Nonnie and Boppie Barnes a lot, went and saw Brad and Beth Benites one night to have a pizza dinner, drove by the airfields of retired airplanes, and one night Aunt Maddie and Boppy babysat you so mom and I could go to dinner at Tito and Pep. But the highlight of the trip was of course…

OUR FIRST UA BASKETBALL GAME!!!

On game-day we went to McKale Center, parked in the Cherry Creek garage, and sat about 20 rows up in the southeast corner. We brought you and Ethan ear protection for the sold out game. You, me, Ethan, mom and Boppy came and we had a great time. Well…Boppy and I had a great time. About halftime you and Ethan were pretty bored and spent the second half on our phones playing games. Boppy and I jumped and yelled and cheered the Cats on to a win.

While this is non-consequential for you, and something that you may never be interested in (although at home when I watch games you get excited about watching “Bear Down” rather than the Wildcats), it was something I have wanted to do with you since before you were born. When you were little we went to McKale and walked the courts, but a game was so different. This was something that I shared with my dad and uncle growing up, and to share it with you and Ethan was more than I could have hoped for.

Daddy/Daughter Dance

Speaking of things I have been wanting to do before you were born…we went to our first daddy/daughter dance at your school. Fortunately, you don’t get to pick your date and was stuck with me.

As you can see from the picture, I got you a corsage and you got me a boutonnière. We went to dinner at 13th Street in Hyde Park and then went over to the dance. We took pictures in a photo booth with silly props, and then proceeded to dance for about an hour.

You were about as cute as they come, and seemed genuinely proud to be there with me. This was not the case with all the girls and their dads, and whether you were just pretending to make me feel better or really was proud doesn’t matter. There was nothing crazy or memorable about the night other than its significance…that you are on your way to becoming a young lady.

As with every year that goes by there is so much I miss in talking about here and only highlight a few items. I wish I could write daily, as there is enough content to do so. Regardless, I am so happy and excited and proud of who you are becoming. Please stay sweet and amazing, and I can’t wait to write to you again soon.

I love you more than anything in the world.

Love, Dad

As the title give away, this post will focus on likely the largest milestone to date – you started kindergarten!

This post might be a bit shorter than normal because things are a bit nutty right now. That said, the last six months have been exciting as always.

You played T-ball this year, and as you can see from the picture below you LOVED it. Ok, that’s a bit of an exaggeration. You enjoyed hitting but not really fielding, running, the outfits, the gear you had to wear or much else. I took you to all your games and mom and Ethan came to watch. You hit pretty well, and running is improving. Fielding though, especially with a bunch of boys, was not your thing. You were the only girl on your team (although that didn’t phase you a bit), and 5/6 year old boys are, well, annoying. When playing in the field I would go out with you to help everyone. The ball would be hit, and every boy would run as fast as possible and dog pile on it – then struggle to pull it away from one another. You would stay back and let them have it.

The best part was the look on your face when this occurred. You would stare at them like they were terrible idiots. There was a specific case where it was more disgust than anything – “how could they be so dumb” sums it up well. There was one occasion where the ball came your way, you fielded it and as a boy came over and tried to grab it you yanked it away. It was great.

Outside of T-ball, you can see we also took some trips. Palm Desert was great, you guys love it there. We try to get there at least once a year. We went to McCall as well and stayed in one of my company’s units. Also did some SV trips and are planning some more for next year.

You are also maturing at a rapid rate. You are beginning to read (although it’s rough), getting better with numbers and growing quickly. You are also beautiful – so unbelievably beautiful.

Kindergarten

The big item this time around is that you started real school as a kindergartner at St. Joe’s Catholic School. You started last month, and so far you LOVE it. You have made friends like Remi, Lucy and Norah, plus others. Your teacher is Mrs. Howard, and, of course, your favorite subject is Art. You do also love P.E. (where I volunteer quite a bit for your class), and music. You are also taking Spanish which you really enjoy.

You might be curious as to why you are attending a catholic school. It is a fair question. We, as you know, are not religious – and I personally have an affinity for making fun of organized religion in general. This runs contrary to our decision, but while the religious aspect was a detractor let me give you some reasons:

• It is a great education. They take the time to work with you, and the class sizes are manageable.
• The Boise public school system is not good – Idaho in general ranks 48th in the country regarding academic standards.
• You are an organized individual and do not flourish in chaos. What better place to go than a regimented catholic institution?
• St. Joe’s is a feeder school for Bishop Kelly, one of the best high schools in the state.
• While we are not religious, you are getting exposure to religion you would not get otherwise. Since you won’t get it from us, at least you are getting it from them as it is very important to know religious history (although your least favorite activity is going to Mass each week).
• It is right outside of downtown, which allows me to bring you to school everyday on my way to the office.
• It is wholesome, and they teach solid lessons. Right now (at your age) it is all about the importance of being a good person – what better lesson is there?
• Being that it is a private school, they are able to do things from an academic and teaching perspective not available to public (basically because we pay tuition, so more money = greater opportunities in this case).
• You love it. At least so far. If that changes all this goes out the window and we will start from scratch.

Your teachers all speak incredibly highly of you, calling out your polite demeanor and manners. They love having you in class and use you as an example of what is right. I guess your mom and I aren’t messing up too badly so far.

Normally I take you to school (you have to be there by 8am) and your mom picks you up. This differs when I am traveling or we have an instance where we can switch it up. My favorite days are the ones where I leave the office and walk to your school to pick you up (always surprise you, never let you know ahead of time). We then walk back to my office where you get snacks. You love how fully stocked our office always is with snacks, and you and I hang out for a bit before your mom comes and gets you. You are obviously a favorite of our office staff, specifically Kristi (who is catholic and went to catholic school growing up).

You are only a month or so in to school so we will see how it goes, but so far so good. You are still a bit shy but that is changing by the day. You have maintained your sweet, kind attitude, and with that invites people to take advantage. This has yet to occur, and we hope that having you at a school where personality traits are treated with the same importance as academic ones, that this will help restrict those negative outcomes. Won’t be perfect, but I think you are setup pretty well.

Outside of school you have remained pretty consistent. Your art and creativity is unparalleled, and we have hundreds, if not thousands, of art pieces you have made. You play with the neighborhood girls everyday, even though you don’t go to the same school. You still love Ethan more than anything in the world, and are the best big sister anyone could ask for.

I am so proud of who you are and who you are becoming. Talk to you in a few months, when you turn 6!

I love you more than you will ever know.

Love, Dad

Hey Buggy,

It is such a cliche parent thing to say – but you are growing up so fast!

The last six months I have seen more development in you than any other span that size. Everything from social aspects to life application of learnings to openness to new things and experiences. Your art has improved dramatically, and your knowledge of letters and numbers have evolved at a rapid pace. Even the way you play has taken on a much more mature attitude – taking our orders and cooking us play food is a great example of how you are developing workflows and executing against them. I plan to really begin honing your technical skills and seeing if something like coding is something you find interesting.

Among many things you did for the first time these past six months, one of the more exciting activities is that you went skiing for the first time. Not only that, but you were great at it! We went up to Bogus Basin on a bluebird day, and I was not really sure what to expect. We rented gear for both you and Ethan and just went to the bunny hill to try things out. We got you both all geared up and I started having you hold my hand as we went along. Your brother (mind you, 2 at the time) struggled as the gear was too big for him and he just didn’t really seem that excited about the activity. Mom took him to get some hot chocolate while you and I practiced.

As time went on you progressed quickly, and within an hour I had you near the top of the hill coming all the way down to me. You didn’t fall once. Your balance was incredible and the speed didn’t seem to bother you. You weren’t turning or anything, but it was apparent that for you this just came naturally. A couple weeks later we went back up again and you got a private lesson where they took you on the chair lift and you spent an hour with an instructor. You started turning and going down a bigger hill, and seemed to love it. The season is nearly over so we likely won’t get up again, but I cannot wait for next year.

You are coming up on the end of your last year of preschool – your time as a Ladybug will end. We still don’t know where you will end up next year but we have kicked off the process of looking and applying for schools. Mom is still holding on to the prospect of transitional kindergarten – a concept that is new at this point but might be an afterthought when you read this – but I am on the side of going to kindergarten. Mom is, of course, not sure what she wants but we will continue to work towards a decision.

You have made a lot of friends in your class and in our neighborhood. While the neighbor girls (Elli, Maci, Allie) can be brats you seem to have fun. The interesting thing though is that you frequently turn them down to play because you “want to spend time with your family” instead. You are as sweet as ever and really love both us and your brother. I can’t explain to you what a joy it is to have you around, and how much you make live easier and more fulfilling. I can’t wait to write the next post and tell you all about your next six months.

I love you more than anything in the world.

Love, Dad

Here we are again 6 months later and going into the fall of 2018. This summer has been an incredible one – and the change is you in happening daily. What hasn’t changed – you are still sweet as ever.

Lots of firsts this summer:

• Caught first fish
• First MLB game
• First dance recital
• First bike
• First swimming lesson
• First Starbucks

Swimming

As you can see it has been busy! Probably the most surprising part of the year has been your new found love for swimming. When we first took you to Maui getting you into the pool was a struggle. We would hold you and swim around with you and half the time you cried and screamed to get out. However this summer was different. Your friends Ally and Macy from two doors down have a pool – and in an effort to play with them more you have taken to swimming. After you started swimming more we needed to ensure that, well, you could swim. You started lessons and have been in the pool multiple times a week. You have improved tremendously and hoping that by next summer you can swim on your own.

Fishing

You were finally old enough for me to take you fishing as well! After a failed attempt at finding a pole in Hailey (bought a pole that then didn’t have a line on it), we found you a Mickey Mouse pole in Ketchum. We then headed to Penny Lake out warm springs, where basically you will catch fish unless actively to try to not catch fish. After a few minutes there we hooked one, and you reeled it in (see video below) almost all by yourself. You were so excited, and to my surprise wanted to pick up the fish and hold it. You were not squeamish at all about it being slimy or alive – you picked it up and posed. We stuck around for a while longer and caught a couple more fish until you got bored. I want to at some point take you out fly fishing but hopefully in this case just made it fun enough to instill excitement.

Baseball Game

Selfishly, and probably not surprisingly, this was the highlight of my summer. I wanted to take you to a game last year but you were still a bit young to both appreciate it and deal with the travel. This year was perfect, and I picked a day game in August where the Rockies were playing the Pirates. Here is the play-by-play (pun intended).

We flew out of Boise on a Wednesday morning on a direct flight to Denver. One of the perks of traveling as much as I do is that I have flight status, so we were both upgraded to first class for the flight.

You watched the Greatest Showman (your favorite movie at the time) and had apple juice. At this point you are an expert flier.

We landed at DIA and made our way down to the train that goes from the airport to Union Station. Because I didn’t bring a carseat we did all public transit or walked. I got us a hotel in the middle of downtown so that we could access everything easily. This was your first time on a train, and to say you were excited would not be fair – you were ecstatic.

When we arrived at Union Station we were immersed in people. You haven’t had too many instances like this – where there is actually a crowd. We made our way through the station and walked to the stadium. It was a perfect day.

We went into the stadium and got snacks, stopped by the gift shop and then took our seats. We were pretty close behind home plate, but it was a sunny day and you were getting hot so after a couple innings we moved up a few rows into the shade.

You did awesome at the game. It didn’t hurt that I bought you a hat, beads, popcorn and, actually another first, cotton candy. You were skeptical at first, as you are about most things, but ended up loving the cotton candy.

Mom was of course nervous about the trip for a variety of reasons – but one that stood out was foul balls. In the years after your mom and I got married and before we had kids I played in baseball leagues while we lived in San Diego and Denver. It was pretty fun, and in SD specifically pretty good competition. One game I remember looking back and not seeing mom in the stands anymore. I wasn’t concerned, but was curious as to what happened. After the game ended I was packing up and she re-appeared. I came to find out that during the game a foul ball had gone into the stands, and she had a striking fear about getting hit by one. She had disappeared and spent the game reading a book in the car.

When I got our tickets her first question was about foul balls. I assured her that I bought tickets directly behind home plate specifically because there would be a net that extended from the backstop to the announcers stand – protecting everyone in that area from foul balls. When we got there I realized that Coors Field did not have one of these nets. My first thought was of your mom.

I am obviously not scared of foul balls, and the probability of one coming near are slim to none so I didn’t think much of it. But sure enough in the fifth inning, a Rockies batter fouled one off right in our direction. The first thought was of your mom and how I was going to get you hit by a foul ball and never, ever live it down. Fortunately it was a high foul ball so I had time to react. I stood up, reached over the seats in front of us (which were vacant) and caught the ball with my right hand. The crowd cheered and I sat back down next to you and gave you the ball. In true Harper fashion, rather than being excited about the ball you said “you bumped me” with your bottom lip hanging out. I apologized and gave you the ball. Then sent this pic to your mom to let her know you were ok.

You made it to the 7th inning stretch – which for a 4 year old is impressive. After the game we walked to our hotel, checked in and went up to the room. This was not your first time staying in a hotel, but the only other time was a Holiday Inn Express when we were moving from Trailwood to 14th so this was the first time you remembered. You were pretty excited. Jumping on the bed, watching cartoons, and we even got a little room service.

After getting settled we headed out to dinner. The 16th street promenade has busses that go up and down it all day/night, so we jumped on a bus (you love busses) and went to Yardhouse because it was near the theatre. We had some dinner and then went to see Christopher Robin in the movie theatre. You had more candy and snacks and sat through the whole movie.

After the movie we took a bus back towards our hotel, walked to the room, and as soon as we got inside you said “Daddy I’m tired, I think I’m going to go to bed” – and you were out like a light. The next morning we got on the bus, took it to Union Station, got on the train, got on the plane and went home. You told mom and Ethan all about our trip. You had the best time – and for me you created a memory that I will never forget and forever cherish. Since then you ask to watch baseball proactively – and we have watched many games together.

The rest of summer

You got your first real bike! I bought it in Sun Valley when we were there and got the last one they had. Was crazy because I didn’t settle and just grab the one I could find – the bike fit your personality perfectly. Since getting the bike you ride almost daily all around the driveway and cul-de-sac. Your friends have bikes too and you guys ride around in a little posse. We ride to the park nearby and to Bown Crossing to get lunch.

At the end of May you also had your first dance recital. You can see in the video – you are obviously a gifted dancer. You did so well and had so much fun doing it – although I think your favorite part was the flowers that you got afterwards.

We also went and saw the hot air balloon festival one morning while it was going on. We woke up around 6, got dressed and was at the park before 6:30 to get a good spot (had to get there before it got light out). It was a little cold and wet but you loved it. We watched the balloons for a couple hours. They were letting kids get int he baskets and go up 20 feet or so in the air – but you refused, which came as no surprise.

The rest of the summer was spent playing with friends, trips to Sun Valley, more swimming and hanging out with us. You are growing up so fast and can do so many things now. You started your second year of preschool in September and love it, and we are beginning to look at kindergartens for you next year. You are more fun to play with every day that passes, and as always a joy to have around. Can’t wait to update you again 6 months from now.

I love you more than you will ever know.

Love, Dad

You have been going to preschool and are getting ready to finish up your first year! As mentioned previously, you are in the 3/4 class at Wesleyan and your class is adorably called the Ladybugs. The school is in North End and your teachers are teacher Gina and teacher Beth. We were worried about you from a social perspective, but you have been doing incredibly well. You are still shy, but once you get into playing you forget we are even gone. Obviously your mom is struggling with not having you around but she is acclimating quickly. You have made friends and go on play dates.

Consistent with the past, your favorite thing to do is color. You color so much that we don’t have places to store all of your drawings. We sit down with you once in a while and ask you to choose the ones you want to keep and the ones that you want to throw away. If this exercise was done by your mom, nothing would ever get thrown away. You on the other hand are incredibly decisive. We will hold them up for you and ask yes or no and you will choose quickly, and are actually about 50/50 on keeping versus tossing. I would expect most children to want to keep everything or not be able to decide, but you are incredibly quick with decision making (pretty sure you got this from me, btw).

In addition to school, you also started dance classes. You do ballet and tap once a week and seem to enjoy it. It is pretty much just an adorable show for the parents every time because, well, you guys are not very good. However, you look freaking adorable in your ballet outfit.

Without getting too far into the post, let’s cover a few firsts over the last 6 months:

• First face-painting
• First time willingly going into the ocean
• First time driving (barbie jeep)
• First dance class
• Potty trained!

I will cover each of these and more, but it is worth mentioning there were a couple pretty big life moments that have occurred.

New House

As you can see it is a bit different from where we were living. Basically, your mom doesn’t like North End because she is not a fan of people in general. There are also a lot of things that are left to be desired in our north end house: alley behind the house, no driveway, your rooms are on a different floor, small backyard, no garage, etc. The location could not be better, but for two young kids it is tough and more city like living than your mom wants.

She found our new house months ago and fell in love with it. Someday you will watch the move Father of the Bride, it is a favorite of hers. In that movie there is this iconic, large, white house with shutters and a lined walkway. This house loosely resembles that one (on a smaller scale) and your mom has been pining over it for some time now.

We had not gone to see the house because it was very overpriced (like $825k or something) and she didn’t think we could get it. We also had not been in our house for that long, and to save you from a bunch of financial and tax related reasons let’s just say it was not a great idea to move that quickly. But she loved the house – and as corny as it sounds, I wanted her to have it. For me it was not in the location I wanted (I like being where everything is happening), but it was near the river and within walking distance to food and activities. She also agreed to let me put in a projector if we got it.

Before moving forward though I wanted to go see the inside (with the secret hope that maybe she would see the outdated interior and fall out of love with it). When we visited it was pure 90’s style: valences over the windows, wallpaper EVERYWHERE, brass sconces, light wood floors with carpet all upstairs – and that is just listing few of the hurdles. We left after seeing it, and she loved it more than ever.

I began negotiating with the owners, and after a few months we picked up the house for $706k. Our house went on the market and we received a full price offer the first day (actually for more, $729k). We took the profit and dumped it into the new house, replacing floors and painting walls among other things. We moved in early December, and so far love it.

New Job

I left Balihoo at the end of the year and began a new job with a company called Vacasa in January. I came on as the Vice President of Digital, and oversee everything about the website, vacasa.com. The site currently produces just under $100 million per year – and I have a team I am growing. The company is over 2,000 people, and I am one of 9 execs. It is a much bigger role than the one I had at Balihoo – much more stress but also more opportunity. Currently, my plan is to see it through to an exit (either IPO or acquisition) and then take it from there. Would like to take a month off after so hopefully that will happen,

Back to you. The last 6 months have treated you well and you continue to grow socially, intellectually, and gain confidence. You have friends in our new neighborhood that you play with frequently and are becoming more assured in your personality. When you began playing with them you were very subservient and accommodating, and while you are still sweet you have become more aggressive with doing what you want to do. We live in a cul-de-sac, so you play quite a bit with them.

We also took a week long trip to San Diego (Encinitas) and had a blast. You and I went on a number of bike rides – you sitting in a seat on the cruiser – to get ice cream or to the park. We went to the beach, and after seeing Ethan make a beeline for the water you finally succumbed to the desire of going into the ocean willingly. Like most things, once you tried it you loved it. We would go at least once a day to let you guys swim and play in the sand. We also went to the San Diego zoo, which left you and Ethan amazed. At the house we rented you played in the front yard and did art projects. Mom’s aunt Joey and Michael came over one day for lunch – and the rest of the trip was a random assortment of activities.

You have also started coming with me to run errands on a very regular basis. On weekends there is a lot to do (especially with the new house), and whether it is Home Depot or the grocery store or whatever else we need to do you love coming with me. We put another car seat in my car and you are now at the age where bringing you places is easy. One of the major pieces that make it easier is…

You are potty trained!!!

We got sick of changing your diapers and decided it was time to stop. I won’t go into the details of how we went about it – but I don’t think there has ever been a faster potty training in history. By the end of the first day you were getting the hang of it. By the end of the second you were enjoying it. By the end of the third you were done having accidents and totally grasped the concept. You also didn’t put up much of a fight. You handled it like a champ and we were both so proud of you.

Your favorite things to do right now are drive your jeep, ride your scooter, color, make cookies with mom and, above all else, play with your brother. You still have the sweetest demeanor in general, but especially with him. You love him and he loves you, and watching you guys interact and grow closer is more than we could ever have asked for in our children. I can’t explain how amazing you are and how proud we are to have you. When I see other kids and the way the act and treat others I sometimes cringe, but that doesn’t happen with you. We are truly lucky.

I will talk to you again in 6 months. I love you more than you will ever know.

Love, Dad

Another 6 months gone by and another list of first. A few general updates:

• You are an incredibly caring big sister. You love little Ethan boy so much and are constantly trying to help us with him, play with him, love on him and tell everyone about him.
• Perhaps TMI – but I got snipped recently. We will not be having any more children, you guys are it and we couldn’t be happier. Mom is still a bit on the fence (but only because she can’t actually make decisions), but you guys are it. Don’t disappoint.
• Couple of firsts:
  • Ice skating – you have been asking to go for months and we finally got the chance in SV. It was actually a first for both of us but we did just fine – and you LOVED it.
  • You also took soccer lessons at Camelsback Park near our house. While reticent at first, once you realized all it was about was kicking balls you got into it.
  • You flew your first kite. Daddy accidentally dropped it at one point and had to chase it across the park (you were beside yourself when this occurred), but few things bring you as much joy as watching a kite fly.
  • Stomach bug – you got sick. You never get sick. Not only did you get sick, but you got sick alllllll over me multiple times. You had rice for dinner, and I slept with you all night get puked on. Part of the issue was that I kept giving you water, not knowing that I was supposed to limit it (oops). I then left for LA for work after you were better and got sick myself, leaving me in a hotel room in Santa Monica puking. It was a lot of fun. Then you got another bug a few months later, and again chose me as your target for vomit. Honestly though, it was one of the saddest things ever seeing you sick. Hope it never happens again.
  • Ummmm, you started preschool! Yes, you are in the 3/4 class at Wesleyan. The school is in North End and your teachers are teacher Gina and teacher Beth. We were worried about you from a social perspective, but you have been doing incredibly well. You are still shy, but once you get into playing you forget we are even gone. Obviously your mom is struggling with not having you around but she is acclimating quickly.

We had your birthday in Palm Desert with Tita again and got you an epic Dory cake. Among other things, swimming is one of your faves. You spend 1/2 the time in the jacuzzi swimming and couldn’t get enough. You are also awesome on planes now – all that travel has paid off.

Speaking of travel, you also went to Maui for the third time in your life. You also went first class. You’re not spoiled at all…

While you definitely have a tantrum now and then, and don’t always listen, you are for the most part an easy child. You are also so sweet it is hard to handle sometimes. You are making a lot of friends in preschool and really enjoy it.

Mom is doing well, especially as Ethan is getting older (he doesn’t sleep, just like you). You guys do activities all the time. You are about to start preschool in a couple weeks though, will have to see how mom handles that. 🙂

I am working quite a bit but otherwise good. Work is a bit tumultuous as our parent entity (Engine Group) decided what they want to do with our business. I have been getting recruited a bit so trying to figure out what to do next.

All is well, and cannot wait for another six months to pass and see how things are going.

I love you more than you will ever know,

Love, Dad

I am happy to report that we have made it to the year mark and you (and we) are still in one piece. The last six months were very different than the first. Let’s start with some of the firsts you have had over these last six months:

• First crawl
• First (and second) plane ride
• First solid food
• First time in the snow
• First Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas
• And of course, your first birthday

I am sure there are many more that I am forgetting, but needless to say it was an exciting times with a lot of memories.

One of the largest surprises was your sleeping, or lack thereof. You still have yet to sleep through the night, and normally wake up no less than 3 times during the night. You have pretty bad eczema which we believe is causing a lot of your discomfort and inability to sleep well. You are also not a fan of bottles meaning mom is breast feeding you around the clock. I could say you are an easy baby, but that would be a lie.

All that said, you are a happy baby! You smile and laugh, you attempt to talk and you are very active. Your hair is unreal and people constantly comment on your beautiful eyelashes. You are extremely meticulous and we find you many times taking items from one place and placing them neatly in another, only to then return them to their original location.

So let’s talk about some of your experiences. The first big one was your first trip to Chapel Hill, NC to see Uncle Matt graduate from UNC. Accompanied by mom and Mia (I had to travel for work unfortunately) you flew cross country. One thing about you is that you are a calm and, this might be an odd term but I feel is accurate, respectful baby. You were great on the plane, just looking around at people and sleeping.

You also took a trip to Palm Desert to visit Tita for the first time. Again, on the plane you were great. When we landed in Palm Springs we were stopped for about an hour on the tarmac because Air Force One was about to take off with President Obama. You watched as the secret service and the President rode onto the tarmac and he boarded the plane. We spent 4 days in PD, and even had a little early birthday party for you there with Tita, Aunt Kathi, Boppie, Papa, Charlene and mom (I had to leave to go to NYC for work, but I video-conferenced in to see everyone). Oh, and the best part, you had In-n-Out for the first time.

Christmas, you cleaned up. Never seen so many toys for a child (not that I have seen all that many Christmas’ with children). We had it in Sun Valley and got to see Mia, Nonnie, Papa and Uncle Matt. You went sledding and played in the snow.

As far as mom and dad are concerned, everything is moving along. Mom has been really busy with you, and is doing such an incredible job. You require a lot of attention because of your skin and the lack of sleep makes it extremely challenging. She is part of a moms group that does activities every week so you guys are very active. I am mainly working and traveling, but it is paying off. I go visit Google, SMG and other agencies frequently to show off our product. Any time I do have available I spend at home helping out. Our lives are very busy, but it’s fun!

I have included as much as I can recollect, but I am sure I missed plenty. Don’t worry though because every picture taken is being saved. You are a fun, shy, beautiful, skeptical, exploratory and sweet baby and we are lucky every day to have you. Cannot wait for your first steps, which should be coming any day now. I included a bunch of pictures in this post, so enjoy!

Love you more than you will ever know

-Dad