Dear Eliza, 83 Months Old

Don’t judge a book by its cover or even your skim of the pages.

I thought I’d seen it all in the Midwest after more than a decade of visits to see your Mom’s extended family. We mixed things up this time and met everyone at a beach town called Three Oaks on Lake Michigan.

Lake Michigan has Hawaii-quality beaches. I couldn’t believe it.

It doesn’t compare with Hawaii’s climate, scenery, cultural aspects, etc., but that window of late summer was hard to beat. The beaches were large and clean. The water was, of course, salt-free and warm. You and Matteo could entertain yourselves for hours, building sand pies and teasing crashing waves. We also enjoyed the cute towns of New Buffalo and Sawyer, where we memorably ate at Greenbush Brewing BBQ and got our morning fix at Infusco Coffee.

We stayed at an Airbnb cottage with Grammie and Popa, and your Uncle Ty, Aunt Amber, Abby and Mason made a day trip to visit us. It was important to see Uncle Ty has he’s been fighting and beating cancer.

We bookended the trip in Chicago. On the front-end, we went to Shedd Aquarium and on the back-end we visited the free Chicago Zoo. You can guess which I thought had the best bang for the buck.

In addition to the sightseeing and family visits, it was nice to be traveling again as a family. We were delayed a couple of hours leaving Chicago, which made for a 12-hour travel day. You kids took it like champs. That’s about the same amount of travel as getting back to Europe. Picture me shopping airfare with that in mind.

Love,
Dad

Dear Matteo, 62 Months Old

You’ve started full-day kindergarten, and now Mom and I are midday empty nesters. Whoa!

This has been a long-time coming as you had to sit on the sideline all of last year to watch Eliza catch the bus each day and disappear into the mysterious world of elementary school. Now you get to enter that world.

You couldn’t have been more ready. We counted down the days starting mid-summer. We learned about your kindergarten teacher, the same as Eliza had. We tested the sizes of your jackets to make sure you didn’t grow another arm’s length over the summer. We got you to the barber to make sure your haircut was fresh — incredibly important.

The main event, at least for us parents, was the first morning bus pick-up. Our bus stop was packed with excited students and eager parents. You weren’t nervous at all, being so familiar with the bus routine for Eliza and probably knowing that she and a few neighborhood friends would get you to where you needed to be. You couldn’t fail. We caught up with neighbor parents. You found and started playing with friends. All was right.

Unlike Eliza’s first bus day last year, yours went in an emotionless blur. The bus arrived much earlier than we expected (like 10 minutes!) and you had just started playing before the bus pulled up and you dashed to be amongst the first in line. We gave you a quick wave and you got to your front seat (all kinders sit at the front), peering back at us through the half-mirrored window with smiling eyes.

That’s your magic: you don’t take on the weight of the world at once, you go with the flow and help everyone enjoy the fun of the moment.

Your Mom and I walked the three short blocks home, a little surprised to have reached this parenting stage already. It’s familiar but a little strange not to have a child pulling on a shirt or patience or heartstring at all times. We were ready for the break but also immediately missed the labor.

Of course, our “break” just makes for more distraction-less working hours for me, and time for Mom to get some life and order back. We barely recharge before you and Eliza come off the bus hours later bringing back all of the chaos that we missed. And so the virtuous cycle goes from here.

Love, Dad

Dear Eliza, 82 Months Old

Your Mom looks out at the late afternoon sky and sighs, “Summer is almost over.”

That’s true. Sunsets shift closer to dinnertime and Back to School signs flood the stores. You’re back at school next week, and your brother starts the week after.

This summer has been one for the records. We did a lot of shuffling life around last year and it paid off. We spent tons of time at Harstine Island, enjoying beach walks, pool time and evening bonfires at the spit. That was the main event, of course, spending as much time as possible at the family cabin. You and Matteo got into a good habit of commuting there once or twice per week, settling into your “Kindle Firepads” (not exactly the product name, but close) on car rides, and sleeping pretty much anywhere you had to as friends and family often stayed over, too.

In between those island trips, we still got to other places. We took a trip to spend the night at Paradise Inn at Mt. Rainier. We hiked high up on the mountain, wandered the lodge at night and took our time hiking some trails, motivated by gummy worms. Oh, and we crossed the gnarly Nisqually River on one of those hikes! We took SUPs out to surprisingly-warm Lake Cushman and floated out on the lake for hours. We might go back again this weekend. Your Uncle Scott picked up a Sea-Doo jet ski, and you got plenty of hours getting pulled on floaties or just driving around with an adult.

I’m re-reading what I just typed above and that all happened in the last month. This is the good life, kiddo, and don’t you forget it. It’s been an amazing summer and we have many, many more ahead.

Love always,

Dad

Dear Matteo, 61 Months Old

This has been a summer of chasing each other and chasing whales.

I mean both quite literally. You and Eliza have gained a lot of foot speed. You claimed recently that you’re faster than me, likely confused by the games of tag around the playground where I can’t bend beneath every slide. I challenged you to a foot race to the mailbox the other day and smoked you just to settle the argument. Eliza is also a faster runner than you, for the moment, and gaining the upper hand in the water. I’m not sure how much longer I can beat her in a pool race. I won’t be able to hold the land or water speed titles for much longer.

With all the time spent at Harstine Island and near Fox Island, your Mom has picked up a new passion of tracking killer whales, also known as orcas. A few times now, your Mom has looked up suddenly from her phone and said, “There are orcas by Fox Island bridge!” or “There are orcas at Pickering Passage!” And as if she pulled a fire alarm, we drop everything, march out the door and head to our destination.

I haven’t been fortunate enough to see them but you and Eliza had a couple enounters these past weeks, once from the Harstine Island boat launch and again from a stand-up paddleboard off our community beach at Hartstene Pointe. Your Mom caught the second event on video, and you can be seen and heard screaming in delight while bagpipes played in the background, allegedly calling the orcas.

I wish I was there, but I didn’t have to be. What makes me happy is knowing that you get to have these experiences because of where and how your Mom and I raise you. That’s the good stuff.

Keep chasing whales. While you’re looking, I’ll knot your shoelaces so you can’t beat me at the next race.

Love, Dad

Dear Eliza, 81 Months Old

The temps are finally in the 80s here, and we’re doing all things that looks, smell and feel like summer:

Summer camps, beach time, pool time, cabin time, vacation time (Lake Whatcom), kayaking, backyard berry picking, lavendar cutting, etc.

But before all of that, you graduated from Kindergarten.

This is a big deal. You made it through your first complete school year. You only have 18-26 more school years to go, depending on your academic route. As you may recall, your Mom and I were pretty emotional sending you off on the school bus the first day. That’s a parenting milestone to celebrate that we got you to this first stage of independence.

You have lived a slice of life that we don’t know about, other than the sparse stories you tell us. You have a large group of friends, many that you still get to see around the neighborhood. That’s a gift of public school I never enjoyed. It was always car trips for me to see school friends. You have games and songs and jokes that you teach us that came from the school community you’re a part of. These are the networks that help shape who you become and who could become lifelong friends. Remember that I met Uncle Scott in elementary school.

We’re also glad to have you back for the summer. Don’t take the summer camps that started almost immediately as reason we want to send you off again. Human beings can only handle so much parenting without breaks. It’s great to see you more hours of the day, share more experiences and just get to know you more. Candidly, I felt like I got to know Matteo a lot better this past year because we had so much time with him in half-day Pre K. It was his turn to get all the parenting attention that you got before he came around.

I know that Kindergarten isn’t just social growth, it’s intellectual. All those previously unidentifiable shapes around you exploded into your vision as letters, numbers and symbols that you’re constantly reading them and connecting the world. You love reading Dr. Seuss books and have gotten over the frustration when you don’t know a word, previously focused on perfection a little more than practice. Math has also taken a hold and you’re especially proud that you know 9+9 is 18. Counting in tens came to you much earlier.

You’ve inspired Matteo to count well into the hundreds and he adorably asks you to read to him sometimes, chowing down on some snacks he brought into bed. Those are the moments when I wonder, “How much longer will these kids need us?” You can get in and out of the house just fine, feed yourselves, navigate all electronic devices and take care of the animals. The only thing preventing you from driving is height. You’re so in tune with your routine that you remind us that we didn’t remind you to brush your teeth at night.

All of this adds up to a really fun time parenting phase. I hope it’s a long summer.

Love, Dad