#rhett grummer

Dear Gus & Magnus,

Eli bit Magnus on the back today at daycare and drew blood, but Magnus claims it was Micah. It's a battlefield up there.

Rhett came over to play this afternoon and he stayed for taco night, which has become a weekly staple. Mom and I have been soft taco people for as long as we can remember, but when Uncle Chris made hard tacos on our family retreat and you two were all over it...we became a hard taco family.

Dad.

Dear Gus & Magnus,

I came home from work to find a decent Ridgeway crew hanging out in our front yard, which is always fun to come home to. Bikes, balls, Beyblades. We're so close to fall and I can't wait.

Dad.

Dear Gus & Magnus,

The Grummers were at our house when I got home from work today. You guys wanted to play in the backyard, so I sat on the porch and watched you while Mom and Jacob and Martin stayed inside. Gus and Rhett had fun throwing the ball with Suki, which I appreciated -- Rhett used to be terrified of her. Lane and Magnus played in the castle, but then Lane locked Magnus out and she refused to let him in after I asked her to. Finally I told her she was going to have to get out of the castle if she couldn't share. When she still refused, I told her to come out of the castle and she screamed "I HATE THIS DAY!" and "I DIDN'T WANT TO COME TO THE CHOATES' ANYWAY!" and stomped inside.

Later, Mom said, "So, Lane came in and slammed the door and when Jacob asked her what was up, she said, 'Guy said he hated me.' What happened out there?"

I have my fingers crossed that your friends don't grow up thinking I'm an asshole in the way I thought some of my friends' parents were assholes.

Dad.

Dear Gus & Magnus,

I left early this morning to catch a flight to Denver, where I'll meet with our water team over the next couple of days to discuss the Garver brand in Colorado and get some footage/photos of our team there. Meanwhile back at the ranch, this photo showed up on our Ridgeway Drive text thread. I'm so thankful you two get to grow up on the same section of the street as lots of other kids with parents we like. I can't wait to see what the recreation of this picture looks like in 15 years.

Dad.

Dear Gus & Magnus,

Mom's still stuck in bed with the sickness, so I walked Gus and Rhett home from school today. I used to love walking home from school with my friends. I think that happened the most when I was 6th-8th grade, which was a time of new-found freedom anyway, so add to that the ability to roam the town's sidewalks with my friends and it was a good time of life. I know we're a few years before these two are walking home from school alone, but I'm excited for them to have that.

I like hearing them talk to each other about the things they care about: 89% of conversation this afternoon revolved around Pokémon, and the other 11% was how far they each are in Lexia; Gus: Level 7, Rhett Level 11. For context, Gus says he's the second or third highest in his class behind William Calhoun (who is the great nephew of Sheila Noble, my fifth grade teacher) and some kid whose name I can't remember.

Yiayia came to the house again to help out while Mom is sick and she brought a mechanical thing to help us decorate eggs. Both of you were really into it and Gus made some legitimately cool designs on his eggs.

Dad.

Dear Gus & Magnus,

The Grummers hosted a party for Jacob's work tonight, so we agreed to keep the big kids for them. It was Gus's first time to have friends sleeping over and I think they all had fun. When I got Mags out of the bath and he realized Rhett and Lane were still at our house, he was STOKED. He crawled right up beside Rhett to watch the movie. We put the Grummer kids on the Nugget beside Gus's bed.

Dad.

Dear Gus & Magnus,

Leigh Ann and the Grummers joined us for pizza and play time at our house tonight. It's worth noting how much Magnus loves the cowboy had Grandpa & Tutu sent him a while back. When I change his diaper in the morning, he always reaches for it.

Dad.

Dear Gus & Magnus,

We celebrated Gus's birthday with his friends at Allsopp Park this morning. We had hoped to beat the heat, but things got hot in a hurry and I told Mom, "I just realized we're going to be dealing with the heat at the boys' birthdays for the rest of our lives." (In fact, while we were there, an older guy on a bicycle collapsed from the heat.) But Gus didn't mind the heat. He liked being the center of attention -- especially when it came to lording over his dinosaur volcano cake, which was a huge hit, thanks to Nene, who brought dry ice so that it steamed, and also Jell-O and boiling water so that it erupted.

Dad.

Little Rock, Arkansas. 6.12.2022 - 10.22am.