Get out of this place.

Dear Gus & Magnus,

I took the morning off so that I could go take my real estate licensing exam. There are two parts: national and state. During my practice exams I was barely missing any questions on the state exam, but the national exam, which is much longer, could stump me from time to time. Seventy percent is passing and on every occasion (eight times), I always made at least that. This morning, though, I think I may have gotten every question correct on the national exam, but the state exam had me sweating. Regardless, I passed them both. Now I just have a background check and I'll have my real estate license.

As part of the Arkansas Folk Life Festival, I got invited to read from the work of any Arkansas writer. The other writers all chose literary behemoths -- Maya Angelou, Charles Portis, Frank Stanford, C.D. Wright -- but I chose to read my friend Rhett Brinkley's "#brunchlife," which ended up being solid, I think.

Dad.

Dear Gus & Magnus,

Mom went to the gym when I got home from work, but she left me a recipe for dinner. You both wanted to help.

One of my favorite things we did last summer was work our way through 90s kids movies. I was looking forward to getting back to that this year, but we've been too busy to watch much of anything. Tonight, though, we got in "Explorers," which I loved as a kid. You both liked it, too.

Dad.

Dear Gus & Magnus,

I was supposed to stay late at the office to work on a writing project tonight, but I didn't have it in me -- I'm ready for our vacation. Instead, I took a practice real estate exam (passed), then came home to play Monsters vs. Aliens, which is a game Magnus made up and plays all the time. I'm not sure the point, but he's very particular about rearranging the body parts of his Lego monsters/aliens.

Dad.

Dear Gus & Magnus,

I made a couple of trips to Ace Hardware today, picked up Gus from his sleepover at the Baileys', made some tuna salad for lunch, took a practice real estate exam, mowed the yard, went to the grocery store to get stuff to make dinner. When I got home, y'all were over at Gracie's house running through the slipping slide, so I tried to squeeze in an an Al Pacino movie, but you came in 13 minutes later. While y'all ate, I took Suki for her walk, then watered the lawn/plants before helping with the bedtime routine.

In all of that, I forgot to take a photo. Mom sent me this one from when y'all we're playing a game called Heads-Up this afternoon.

It was a long Father's Day, but I'm really glad I get to be your dad.

Dad.

Dear Gus & Magnus,

We went to Konrad's birthday party this afternoon at the Leawood Pool, but ended up staying at the pool afterward -- putting in a solid five hours. Included in the party favors: new swimming goggles and a nose clip.

Today was the first time I spent a significant amount of time throwing a football to Gus as he jumped off the diving board, which is something Will and John and I spent a LOT of time doing at the Darwins' pool when we were kids.

Dad.

Dear Gus & Magnus,

Magnus stays home with Mom on Mondays and Fridays. Got this photo from them today.

Dad.

Dear Gus & Magnus,

Magnus's summer school had something called "Pops with Pop" this afternoon, and they asked dads to join them for popcorn, so I picked him up instead of Mom. Attendance was low, the vibe was bleak, but when Magnus saw me he ran over and hugged me hard for two literal minutes without letting go while another person talked to me about how much she loves him and while she talked Magnus said, "I love you, Dad," and it was the best squeeze in the world.

Dad.

Dear Gus & Magnus,

Will, John, and I had our annual Father's Day lunch with Monkel today. After work, I met you two and Mom at the Leawood Pool. Mom packed us a picnic dinner, we played with the Calhouns and the Baileys.

Dad.

Dear Gus & Magnus,

Bryan came over tonight to take a new headshot for me for a reading I've got next week. Afterward, we hung out on the porch and talked for a bit. I miss working with him every day.

Y'all are enjoying being on summer break hours. Long after our regular lights-out time, you were on the porch singing songs and running around the yard with each other.

Dad.

Dear Gus & Magnus,

I love watching you both play with each other and your friends, but the most profound moments I have as a father are the times when I see you alone with your own thoughts.

Dad.

Dear Gus & Magnus,

After a lazy morning at the cabin, we packed up, stopped for lunch in Heber Springs, then went home to take some much-needed baths/showers.

We went to Yiayia's house to get Suki and eat dinner. Errol and I finally got around to installing a couple of security cameras cameras. Y'all got in some good front-yard soccer as well -- Yiayia was a beast on the pitch.

Dad.

Dear Gus & Magnus,

This morning we woke up and drove to Mountain View to join the Calhouns at their cabin. The best part of the day was watching all you kids explore things around the creek. We spent a few hours out there until rain moved in quickly, then we went back to the cabin to play Uno and watch the NBA finals.

Dad.

Dear Gus & Magnus,

Tonight we had Gus's birthday party at the Jack Stephens Center. These kids went wild for two hours on the court, which was an awesome experience for them, but also for the parents, I think. We had a solid parents vs kids game -- parents won.

We brought Papa John's, and Nene made Gus the same basketball cake she made me when I celebrated my sixth birthday. Except that I only had Will & John at my party, so it was much smaller.

Gus said it was the best birthday of his life, which made me and Mom happy.

Dad.

Dear Gus & Magnus,

I didn't take a photo today, but Mom sent me this screenshot of Magnus from the app his summer camp shares with us. He seems to be enjoying camp, but I think he's mostly excited to be a PHE kid soon.

Dad.

Dear Gus & Magnus,

I had a meeting after work for a freelance writing gig I recently took on, but I made it home in time to help with the bedtime routine. Gus is at acting camp the next three weeks in Argenta.

Mom and I helped him rehearse for his audition, which was yesterday. He had to sing and read some lines. I told him he was unlikely to get a speaking part because he's never done anything like this, but lo and behold, he will be playing the role of Oaken in their production of Frozen, Jr., which means he'll have a solo singing role. I am terrified for him, but he seems willing to put in the work. This is him showing me the dance steps he learned today.

Dad.

Dear Gus & Magnus,

When I got downstairs this morning, Gus was taping something to a trophy he's had forever. He'd pulled it down from the top shelf in his room. I asked him what he was doing with it.

"I'm going to give it to Magnus when he comes downstairs as a late birthday present."

That's when I noticed the thing he was taping to the front was a piece of paper that said, "Magnus."

It was very sweet.

And after Gus went to acting camp, Magnus said, "Dad, look what Gus gave me."

Dad.

Dear Gus & Magnus,

Mom had Magnus's birthday presents ready on the couch this morning when he woke up. We got him a Speak & Spell just like the one I had when I was a kid, and a magician's outfit to add to the costume basket. Gus started acting camp today, and Magnus went with Mom and Yiayia to Dave & Buster's to celebrate his birthday.

For dinner, Magnus wanted Mom to make salmon, corn, and cucumbers, so that's what we had, followed by rainbow ice cream with sprinkles.

Dad.