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Dear Gus & Magnus,

We left on a road trip this morning for Washington, D.C. We stopped to stretch our legs in Cookeville, Tennessee and found a playground. Mom delayed letting you both get your iPads out until after lunch, which I thought was a crazy idea, but she pulled it off. We listened to a book and listened to songs and you were both happy, surprisingly. But then, of course, you were thrilled when you got your tablet time.

We made it to a hotel in Bristol, Tennessee for the night. It feels good to be on the road as a family.

Also, Gus looks so lanky these days. He's growing. You both are.

Dad.

Cookeville, Tennessee. 5.31.2025 - 4.35pm.

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Dear Gus & Magnus,

The Trojans barely qualified for the Ohio Valley Conference tournament, but then ended up winning the thing, which got them into the regional NCAA tournament in Baton Rouge. They played LSU first, so I went to the university's watch party for a bit, then joined you two and Mom at the Calhouns' watch party. But the game was delayed, so we didn't get to see any of it until later in the night. LSU won, so we went to the consolation bracket, but even getting this far is a solid Cinderella story. Go Trojans.

Dad.

Little Rock, Arkansas. 5.30.2025 - 2.37pm.

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Dear Gus & Magnus,

This Tumblr is now working on a 20-day delay, which may be the longest delay I've ever been on in 15 years of posting to my photo-a-day. I don't like it. I'll hopefully have my life in better order soon so I can catch up.

Because of the long delay, I don't have much memory of what I did on the day I took this picture. But I do remember Magnus used the Nuggets to pretend he was driving a bus or Octopod or something. I think Suki was riding along as well, unbeknownst to her.

Dad.

Little Rock, Arkansas. 5.29.2025 - 4.39pm.

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Dear Gus & Magnus,

I had my first meeting as chair of the Downtown Food Truck Festival today. It's humbling to lead a bunch of people who have more experience than I do at this thing (since I've only even been to the festival once), but it's also a challenge I'm looking forward to.

Meanwhile, Nene took Gus and William to the Little Rock Open Tennis Tournament at Rebsamen. Then she took Gus back to participate in the kids tennis clinic this afternoon.

Dad.

Little Rock, Arkansas. 5.28.2025 - 5.40pm.

PHOTO CREDIT: Nene.

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Dear Gus & Magnus,

I went to the doctor today for my annual wellness visit and so I could get him to look at what is probably a plantar wart on my foot that's been bothering me for months. He ordered an x-ray of it to make sure I don't have a piece of glass or something in there, but said it's probably just a wart. He also said my numbers all look good, but I need to keep an eye on my cholesterol.

Mom took Mags for a haircut. We're going to miss those precious curls.

Dad.

Little Rock, Arkansas. 5.27.2025 - 4.37pm.

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Dear Gus & Magnus,

I woke up early and wrote on the back deck for a while this morning. The kids all played the NEX. I took Dolly and we walked around in the woods for an hour and a half in the rain looking for Sonny. I hated that Sonny was missing, but I enjoyed walking around with Dolly out there -- she's a good dog.

Finally Mom told me they'd found someone with a thermal-imaging drone who was going to come fly the area. It was pretty cool. He found a black bear out there with us before he found Sonny, but he did find Sonny. Bart and I jumped into the truck and drove as close as we could to him, then got out on foot. The drone pilot kept the drone directly over him as best he could, I we followed the drone. I finally caught up to it, and made eye-contact with Sonny, but he wouldn't come to me. When Bart got close enough, I thought he would go to him, but I think he was in shock. We knew if Sonny didn't want to be caught, we weren't going to be able to catch him out there.

Laura brought Dolly to where we were and turned her loose. She went right to him and Sonny followed her to us, but stopped when he got close. Bart and Laura begged and called for him, and he eventually went to Bart. I'm so glad it was a happy ending.

We celebrated by having dinner on the patio overlooking the river at Angler's.

Dad.

Mountain View, Arkansas. 5.25.2025 - 4.57pm.

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Dear Gus & Magnus,

We made it to the Calhouns' cabin around lunch time and Meredith got so excited to see us that she jumped up and hit her head on the hearth. Meanwhile, the dogs -- Dolly and Sonny -- barreled through the door and didn't look back. Bart took Meredith to the hospital where they used some adhesive to repair her wound. When they finished up at the hospital, they came to meet us on a nearby trail that ran alongside a creek.

Dolly came back after wandering around the woods for a bit, but Sonny was nowhere to be seen. We went out looking for him without any luck.

Bart grilled burgers and hot dogs for everyone and the big boys through things in the fire. Meredith followed Magnus around, which drove him a little nuts, but everyone had fun.

Dad.

Mountain View, Arkansas. 5.24.2025 - 2.32pm.

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Dear Gus & Magnus,

We had Beverly's funeral at the Methodist Church in Fayetteville today. This is the only photo I took, from the reception. It was good to see this side of my family, but of course, sad circumstances. I feel for Gary so much.

After the funeral, Mom and I grabbed some lunch and hit the road back to Little Rock so we can get ready to spend the Memorial Day weekend with the Calhouns at their cabin near Mountain View. Things are an absolute whirlwind right now.

Dad.

Fayetteville, Arkansas. 5.23.2025 - 1.07pm.

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Dear Gus & Magnus,

I flew home first thing this morning. Darla picked me up from the airport and we went straight to a lunch at Camp Taco for everyone on the Comm Team who is not at Owners Meeting. It's been a long week, and I've already hit my 40 hours, so I took the rest of the afternoon off. Yiayia is coming over so Mom and I can drive to Fayetteville tonight for Beverly's funeral tomorrow.

Today was Gus's last day of school, so I walked down to pick him up. He wanted to stay afterward and play in "the woods," which is a small area of trees outside the school. London and Eller joined as well. At one point, I heard Eller whisper to Gus, "Now's our chance..." and then Gus said conspicuously, "Dad, I need to show you something over here..." I followed them through dense foliage and then finally Gus said, "Oh, man! You were supposed to trip on this root and then we were going to capture you!"

Dad.

Little Rock, Arkansas. 5.22.2025 - 2.58pm.

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Dear Gus & Magnus,

After getting in late last night, Bryan and I had a photoshoot first thing this morning with some of our San Antonio folks. As we were pulling onto the job site, a woman looking at her phone didn't stop, so she rear-ended us. Then our van tires got stuck in the gravel on the job site, so we had to all push it out. Finally, we walked up on the I-35 NEX overpass to take the photos. I like getting to see these projects come to life and talk to the engineers who designed them. I can't imagine the level of satisfaction they get from seeing their vision come to life in such a large way.

Afterward, we grabbed lunch and I tried to get caught up on things before showering and getting dressed so that I could emcee the Owners Meeting Award show. Because of the Best Firm debacle last week, I didn't have a chance to write a script for the show, so I made some notes, but mostly had to wing it. Just the same, I think it went well. By the time it was over, I was exhausted -- mentally and physically.

Early flight home in the morning.

Dad.

San Antonio, Texas. 5.21.2025 - 10.09am.

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Dear Gus & Magnus,

I woke up early to head to the office and record the DA before meeting Bryan at the warehouse, where we loaded up the Video Van to drive to San Antonio for owners meeting. We were deep in conversation and Bryan didn't see the "low fuel" warning pop up until it went to "0 miles to empty." I told him we could probably go 20 miles from that point. He agreed. And then literally two seconds later, we ran out of gas. I think the van is so heavy with all of our gear, that it couldn't get a proper estimate on our miles to empty. Whatever. I grabbed my headphones and started walking the 2.2 miles to the nearest gas station.

Honestly, I thoroughly enjoyed the walk, even though it was hot and I got sunburned. I always like walking, but walking down a highway took me back to my walk across the country. I felt free. And I enjoyed listening to my book -- "All Fours" by Miranda July. I liked seeing the houses out there that I wouldn't have noticed at 80mph. I liked looking at the wildflowers. I liked feeling like I'd earned a Gatorade when I finally made it to the gas station.

I did not necessarily enjoy carrying a full two-gallon gas can for the 2.2-mile walk back, but still, it was worth it. When I made it back to the van, I wasn't ready to get back in a car. But we had to get to a project site to take some drone photography, then get the van to San Antonio to unload Owner's Meeting stuff. Bryan kept apologizing for running out of gas, but I sincerely meant it when I said, "I'm glad it happened. I needed the steps."

Dad.

Campbell, Texas. 5.20.2025 - 2.09pm.

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Dear Gus & Magnus,

Had an all-day film shoot for a script I wrote less than a week ago. we filmed at the Windgate Center of Art + Design on the UA Little Rock campus. I honestly can't believe we pulled it off -- a testament to Darla's skills as a producer more than anything else. And also how well she, Bryan, and I work together. It was also nice to have Bronco fly in from Atlanta and to have Brandon on audio.

But despite all that, today was a long day.

Dad.

Little Rock, Arkansas. 5.19.2025 - 3.49pm.

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Dear Gus & Magnus,

On our way out of town, we hit the Oklahoma Aquarium. Magnus liked the shark tunnel, Gus liked the virtual reality experience.

It was a good trip.

Dad.

Jenks, Oklahoma. 5.18.2025 - 12.27pm.

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Dear Gus & Magnus,

Tulsa Day 3 started at Chapman Adventure Playground at the Gathering Place. I mostly hung with Magnus. He loved the pirate ship and the castle, but his absolute favorite was the water tower. We climbed to the top and then he turned the augur to bring water to the top for a solid 20 minutes. Just turning a wheel over and over. And it's wasn't easy -- it had resistance. I was proud of him for sticking with it. Gus said he liked the sky pods best.

We went to McNellie's for lunch, then back home to rest a little. Mom and Yiayia went shopping, you two watched some Octonauts, and I wrote in my journal.

For dinner we walked down the street for Asian food. Magnus slept in his own bed last night, but tonight he requested to sleep with Mom, so I moved to his bed. Gus slept with Yiayia again.

Dad.

Tulsa, Oklahoma. 5.17.2025 - 10.40am.

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Dear Gus & Magnus,

I forget where we were headed after breakfast this morning, but we bailed on it when we drove by The Discovery Lab and decided to stop. It was like a bigger, more interactive Museum of Discovery. You both loved it.

Afterward, we went to Yiayia's grandmother's old apartment building where Yiayia spent time as a girl in the summer. We walked around in the building and Yiayia told us what she and Aunt Shari used to do.

We walked along the riverfront, saw some goslings, some dead fish, then went back to the house to rest for a bit.

We ordered a pizza for you two and Yiayia to eat at the house, then Mom and I went to dinner together around the corner. When we were walking back, we saw the three of you walking to get ice cream, so we joined. A good close to a good day.

But it was also a sad day. Nene messaged me around bedtime to say that Aunt Beverly had a heart attack and hasn't regained consciousness. It doesn't look good. I have so many things to say to/about Beverly, and I'm afraid I've waited too long.

Dad.

Tulsa, Oklahoma. 5.16.2025 - 12.26pm.

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Dear Gus & Magnus,

I took you two to school this morning, then drove Suki to Nene's house. She's going to stay there while we spend a long weekend in Tulsa with Yiayia. We left town this afternoon and made it to our rental house just off of Cherry Street around dinner time. We walked to a restaurant, then played in the backyard until bedtime.

It's nice to be away from work. It's nice to be together in a new place with no scheduled agenda.

Dad.

Van Buren, Arkansas. 5.15.2025 - 5.11pm.

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Dear Gus & Magnus,

The Calhoun boys walked out of the house as Gus and I walked by on our way to school, so they joined us. When that happens, Gus is quick to give me a hug at the top of the hill so I don't walk the rest of the way to the school. He wants to be a big kid who doesn't need a dad to walk him all the way to the door. I get that. But I'm not a regular dad -- I'm a cool dad...

Two more weeks of second grade. I cannot believe it.

Dad.

Little Rock, Arkansas. 5.14.2025 - 7.32am.