Three friends, one Y chromosome

It was an exciting weekend with old and dear friends ... and their kids!

We finally managed to get together with Jake and Jeff, the two members of our wedding party who are now also new dads, and their families on Friday afternoon. We'd been talking about converging on Iowa City since Christmas, but weather, sick kids, and scheduling always threw a wrench into the plans. A week ago, I was talking to Jake and he mentioned he was thinking about driving into Iowa City from his West St. Paul home to see the UI's summer opera, where we became friends performing together in '97. It turned out Amy and I were already planning a trip to Iowa City that same weekend to celebrate Grampy Ives' birthday. A plan hatched quite quickly for Jake's wife Laura and their 2.5 year old daughter Annabelle to come along and spend a weekend with us at Amy's parents' house.

With that in place, our plan to see all three kids together almost fell through because Jeff and his family had made weekend plans to, among other things, celebrate his mom's 60th birthday with her in Ft. Dodge.

Fortunately, Jake and family arrived with an hour to spare before Jeff had to go to a dentist appointment on Friday afternoon. It was great to see Owen, Annabelle, and Olivia together and enjoy the community of friends who bonded long ago when our lives were much different.

The rest of the weekend was also a hoot. We took Owen and Annabelle to the playground downtown, reached our target heart rates on iced Coconana Lattes at the Java House, and bought our new Harry Potter books. We also had a great time at the newly renovated pool in Coralville, sliding down the water slides, most notably the "Toilet Bowl," a large basin you slide into at a great rate of speed, going around and around until you drop out a hole in the bottom. It was way fun, but incredibly painful as my bony elbows, spine, and heels were thunked into a bruised pulp by the seams of the slide.

We also had fun playing with the kids in the back yard. We picked raspberries, the kids played with the sprinklers, and then chased and chased each other until they were exhausted. Owen and Annabelle played very well together. There was hugging and giggling, a lot of asking where the other one was ... and even a co-ed bath, although you'll have to wait for their high school graduation boards to see those photos.