June 2026 - Vacation Mode
Monthly Recap
This is going to be one of the shortest monthly recaps in recent memory. The majority of the month was spent on vacation, and I’ve written up daily recaps of our entire trip. The month started with us back home from a great weekend celebrating Elle in Indian Wells, and preparing for the trip. We were also still getting settled into the new house. As I write this, we are about 90% done with everything, and it already feels like home, maybe even more so than the Newport Coast home. The space, the backyard, and the way Jenn has designed it have made it feel like home. The only downside has been the cost of furnishing and the work required to maintain it.
The biggest event we had pre-trip was having the entire family come see our new house. Ally, Tim, and the kids weren’t planning to come, but they cut their camping trip, so it was great having everyone down. Having the entire family together happens maybe 2-3 times a year, and so having it happen at our new house was fantastic. Everyone arrived around 9 AM, and we had bagels, donuts, and champagne. In the background, the men's French Open finals were on. All the kids had fun in Elle’s new playroom, and the adults mostly hung out downstairs. We finished the morning festivities at the park, a five-minute walk from our new house. All the kids were exhausted, and everyone drove back in their separate directions. A successful family visit.
Between work (more to come here next month) and last-minute trip planning, the next few weeks were rather quiet. On June 18th, after a whirlwind of flight changes, we made our way to LAX and started our 3-week journey, and what a journey it was!
TV We Watched
I cannot remember a month with less TV watched than in June. We watched a couple of episodes of Running Point on Netflix during our trip to Europe with Elle, but most nights we were so exhausted that we went to sleep. Before we left on the trip, we mostly watched Your Friends & Neighbors. Jenn and I like to say that it’s a pretty bad show that's highly addictive and has an incredible cast. We found each episode both absolutely ridiculous and wildly entertaining. And on nights where we were extremely tired, we would put on a quick 20-minute episode of Abbott Elementary, a show that continues to be fine, but also rather forgettable.
Books I Read (Or Listened To)
I’m not sure this has ever happened, but the three books I finished in June were all 5-star reads. Not only were they some of the best books I’ve read all year, but in recent years. I started the month with one of my favorite authors, David Sedaris, and his latest book of essays, The Land and Its People. I love his humor, his observations, and his style. He is who he is, and his books always bring joy to my days. I literally look forward to listening to them every time.
My other new favorite author in recent years has been Ann Patchett. It started with the Dutch House, and then Tom Lake, and a few months ago, These Precious Days. Her latest book, Whistler, is just as good, if not better. It’s a beautiful story about love, loss, and reconnection. I fell in love with this book, and am so happy that I found her writing. I’m sure I will go back and read some of her previous works throughout this year and the coming years.
And the most surprising book of the year, and one that might be my favorite book of the year, was Any Human Heart by William Boyd. I love books that take place over a lifetime, and this is written from one man’s diaries. It reads like nonfiction. There is a trueness to Boyd’s writing that makes it hard to imagine that it’s not real. But he is able to encapsulate the character of Logan Gonzago Mountstuart in a way that it's not surprising that the #1 Google Search is if he is real. I loved, loved, loved this book, and maybe I’ll go back and watch the BBC production of it from the early 2010’s.
Movies We Watched
We had our first weekend movie night at the new house this month. Sadly, it was once, and we got too busy/tired. Jenn picked Fackham Hall, the 2025 comedy that is satirizing the Downton Abbey show/movies. If we had stopped after 20-30 minutes, it would have been a great movie, but sadly, it loses its way, and by the end, we were both over it. I had an afternoon free, so I went to see Steven Spielberg’s Disclosure Day. Its funny I didn’t really think the trailers looked all that good but it was the only movie I was interested in seeing and it was a great movie to see on the big screen even if I didn’t love it. And finally, the last movie I watched this month was Predator Badlands, which was bad.
Games I’ve Been Playing
I started off the month finishing up my brief obsession with Age of Empires IV, a game that is still so nostalgic for me, and one that I tend to come back to at least once or twice a year. The two games I spent the most time with this month were MLB The Show 26, which I played exclusively for the first half of June, and Mario Kart World, which I played with Elle throughout our trip to Europe, usually to distract her on a flight.
2026 Goal Tracking
Goal #1: Read 50 Books: I’ve read 24 books and am 1 book behind my goal of 50 this year!!!
Goal #2: 12 Monthly Recaps: 6 for 12!
