Go Fly A Kite!

My son and I spent yesterday afternoon flying a kite for the very first time. The Chesterfield County Parks and Recreation Department held a kite flying event at a sports center a few miles down the road from us. Free kites were handed out to the kids or you were free to bring your own kite. We got one of the free kites, which inexpensive but pretty neat little kits made out of tyvek. They were already put together so all we had to do was decorate it. They had sheets of cardboard on the ground so the kids could lay out and color with markers. Boo Jr, in typical fashion, drew a watermellon slice on one side and an apple on the other side.

It was a beautiful day here yesterday. Temperatures got into the low 60s and the sun was out in full force. However, it wasn't all that windy out. That didn't stop well over 100 other people coming out to participate. Boo Jr and I took turns with one person holding the kite and the other person running to get the kite up in the air. We got the kite up in the air most times, but it would only stay up for a minute or so. Like I said, not much wind. But there were a handful of times that we got the kite up quite high in the sky for a good few minutes. It was really great. Boo Jr was so excited to see his "flying watermellon". I had a great time too trying my best to maneuver the kite and keep it afloat. It was challenging to judge the wind direction and to avoid getting tangled with other people's kites. The only real pain in the ass was the string. The string frequently got tangled and knotted up, especially if I had a lot of string let out. On a couple of occasions, I had to cut the string, take out the knotted up portion, and the retie the string together. We ended up staying at the kite festival for almost two hours.

We went to Friendly's afterwards to celebrate with some ice cream sundaes. It was a special day for everyone.