Over the past month and a half my days with Flynn have developed a nice little routine — wake up, snuggle in my bed for a bit, breakfast, morning activity, lunch, afternoon activity, nap, and then finding Dad. One of these days I will tell you all about the wonderful free and cheap activities we’ve been discovering and enjoying throughout Northern Virginia, but for now let me just tell you about one aspect of our day: finding Dad.

Around 5:30 or 6 p.m. I get a text from Andy updating me on his progress commuting home. “Flynn,” I say, “Are you ready to go find Dad?” We clean up his toys, we put on our shoes, sometimes we leash up the dog, and then we head outside.

“I’m going to find Dad!” Flynn yells as he takes off down our street in the direction of the bus stop.

We pass the same people every day — first a pack of kids, usually riding their bikes, who want to say hello to Flynn and pet Abbey if she’s with us. Then a neighbor doing yard work. Then a fellow commuter on Andy’s bus; he smiles at us and crosses the street so as not to obstruct Flynn’s view. He knows we’re on a mission.

Off in the distance, usually a block or so away, Flynn spots Andy. And he takes off running — scooting along as fast as he can until he’s swept up in his Dad’s arms.

“Look look look Mommy, I found Dad,” he tells me, grinning. On the walk home he tells Andy all about what we did that day.

It’s simple. It’s ordinary. It’s just life. Yet I’m confident these walks are going to be one of the things we all remember most about this summer.