Kite Flying

Today our plan was to go to a Kite Festival at Ty Warner Park in Westmont. We took along a stuffed mouse, aptly called "Mouse", which is a school project that everyone in the class got to take home for the weekend. The mouse was in a backpack along with a spiral bound notebook, to record his adventures, along with two books to share. Nikko tolerated the mouse as I posed it in pictures alongside him, but he wasn't particularly attached to it. Ronin and Audrey took to Mouse more. The festival was not as highly attended as the one we went to at Montrose Harbor, but it was still a great opportunity for us to fly real kites in decent wind. We picked a nice patch of grass next to a fenced off kites-for-professionals area and the kids didn't stray too far from us. Nikko did some wandering along the fence but also came and plopped down on the banig (straw mat) to drink juice or eat chicken nuggets or to just play with his anklosaurus dinosaur while lying on his tummy. I had pratcially no problems with Nikko this afternoon. I even caught him singing Twinkle Twinkle Little Star while he sat in the front of the double stroller, chilling out and watching the park's activities. Three hours flew by and it was time to leave.

When we got home, there were diaper and outfit changes before settling in the living room on diaper watch. The kids had run out of their regular juices and I had to resort to giving them some Orange Peach Mango juice Denis had bought from Trader Joe's. They loved it and required refills. That would also mean diapers would be full within the hour. The kids relaxed and played. Nikko was sitting on a red punch balloon that he received as a goody bag gift from a classmate. It wasn't built of the sturdiest rubber but it was heftier than a standard party balloon. It lasted two days and then it finally popped under Nikko's weight. I heard the pop from the kitchen. Nikko whined and brought it to me, saying Balloon! I told Nikko, "Balloon broken. I'm sorry Nikko." He couldn't believe it and took the main piece from me. He held it up to my mouth and said, "Balloon blow up!" He meant for me to blow air into the tattered balloon, but it wasn't possible. I handed it back to him and he tried to blow air into it himself. With no success and me confiscating it to put in the garbage, Nikko ran off angrily and had to be distracted by watching a train DVD. This was the only mishap of our day. Otherwise, I was very pleased that we had perfect weather and pretty well-behaved kids today.

Regarding kite flying... you would think it was a simple thing, flying a kite. Today I had a real opportunity to fly a proper kit with good winds and I found it entertaining and challenging. I really loved it! The success of launching the kite into the air and feeling the wind push the kite higher was itself a natural high. It felt like I was trying to harness wild horses that were driven by the forces of nature. Kite flying felt very similar to fishing. Feeling that tug on the line and wrestling with the wind was challenging, and I got defeated many times. I am resolved to getting better! Denis is in charge of buying us cool kites and accessories, and I'm in charge of learning all about wind and how to fly those kites. I did pretty decently today, but I want to be able to go to these festivals, put a kite up in the air, tie it to a stake (or stroller), and move on to the next one. Lucky for us, we have all summer to try this new hobby!