Friends

This morning at an unusually early hour (for us) we found ourselves in LoDo (old downtown Denver), on our way to meeting an old college friend of mine and his family for a rare breakfast.

This is a friend whom I haven't seen in ages, and since we both have families now, I was kind of excited for a reunion.

My friend, Rob Wilder, is a writer who speaks to the startled parent in all of us. Check out Daddy Needs a Drink, which I read cover to cover with many laughs, and Tales from the Teacher's Lounge. Most recently, he has contributed to What I Would Tell Her, a collection of stories about the bond between fathers and their daughters (a subject very close to my heart).
On the way to breakfast, Daddy and Q encountered one of Denver's random artistic installations, a drain out of which come the sounds of an orchestra tuning up and playing classical music. Q was sufficiently impressed.
Larimer Square, the heart of LoDo, astonishingly tranquil and deserted in the early morning.
Q had been promised hot chocolate, and the coffee bar at The Market serves up a mean "brew".
Rob's daughter Poppy and son London (in the übercool hat) getting to know Q over the preamble to an extravagant Sunday breakfast.
When Poppy and London asked Q out for a stroll (our adult conversation proving much too dull for all three of them) she could not have been more thrilled.
In fact, the grin that spread across her face lasted for about three hours.
She could not wipe that grin off her face.
Borrowing Poppy's supercool shades.
Just look at that smile!
Actually skipping next to Poppy. Q is a social animal, and loves to meet new people. That said, I've never seen her actually skip next to someone she's only known for a half hour.
On the big slide.

Poppy was especially generous in helping Q to navigate her beloved climbing wall.
A good time had by all on a particularly spectacular spring morning.