Kites

My husband loves kites. I was going to try and be clever about how I went about saying this, but really, he just does. Since we met I knew this and I think it’s the cutest thing. He gets so excited about them. I recently learned that his grandpa used to take him, along with his brothers and sisters and cousins, and that is why they hold such a special spot in Austin's heart. It's a sweet memory he has of his grandpa. I think it goes without saying kites will be an adventure he has with his children and grandchildren.
We ALWAYS have one in the garage. Whenever we go to the park for a picnic or a family outing, a kite comes with us. When we go beach camping, it's always packed in with the camping gear. When we were in Sedona for his birthday, out of all the cute shops on the Main Street, the only one he wanted to go in was the kite shop…and it was closed. Poor guy.

For Christmas the boys got Austin a brand new Red Baron kite just like the Red Baron Snoopy flies. Dax was especially excited about this. Without a lake, ocean or mountains near by, windy days are hard to come by. We finally had a chance to take the kite out this weekend and discovered how awesome this kite truly is. Even the high-tech gage on the handle read that the wind conditions were “excellent” for kite flying. How cool that our kite tells us that?


So, Austin being the pro kite flyer and teacher that he is, this is what we learned about kite flying:

1. Find a buddy to help you get the kite into the air. Good thing Austin has two of the cutest buddies around.
2. Hold the ball of string and have your buddy hold the kite or vice versa. Or just be patient as Dax prances around the kite not understanding a word his dad is saying.

3. Unwind about 30 yards of string being careful so not to let the string tangle. Being the smart (and maybe a little obsessive) Dad that you are, bring a second kite for your three-year-old to tangle away his little heart out. 4. Hold the kite in both hands and toss it lightly into the wind until the wind catches it. Laugh as your littlest buddy gets a face full of wind while running around crazy and cute. 5. To allow the kite to go higher, release lengths of string. Watch the kite get higher and higher and watch the admiration grow for the coolest dad.

6. To lower the kite, simply pull in the string. It helps if you have 6 hands to do this part. 7. Call it a day. And what a memorable one it was.