Hello from the plane in which Kina and I are rocketing back home to New York! Kina’s mother is on her way to her first work trip in two years, which means I get to enjoy a little Daddy-Daughter time with the kiddo, whose tolerance of airplanes is significantly higher than when we last flew. It’s an actual sincere joy.

We drew today’s Sunday edition on our standard weekday 9"x12" paper stock, because I can’t imagine trying to produce an edition on construction paper when my knees barely fit behind the seat in front of me. We make sacrifices.

What can I say about today’s top headline? Laurea chartered herself a private birthday cruise in San Francisco’s eponymous Bay yesterday. Kina spent the entire two hours collaring each guest individually for a little conversation and holding their hands as the boat coasted over unusually calm waters. She was nonplussed by Alcatraz but marveled at the prodigious stink of the sea lions on Pier 39.

This whole week was a great opportunity for Kina and I both to celebrate Laurea as she turned a major birthday corner, but also a beautiful moment to bring Kina back to California, and I’m grateful for both of these wonderful people and all the joy they bring me—and each other.

Now let’s see how I do with solo parenting for the first time in a couple years.

The Parade today is a pretty random smorgasbord of pictures of our family (the woman in red is Laurea resting on a beach chair and “drinkin’ a smoothie!”) I’m pleased to say that she sounded out my name before writing “DADe”—the first instance of a true Young Writer’s Section in this publication.

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