Go Fly a Kite!

I took Evan to the park this afternoon to fly his new kite. Today was perfect kite flying weather with nice gusty winds - perfect for novices like us. The first time I got the kite into the air Evan was screaming with delight and of course, being the independent child that he is, he wanted to hold it. So, I showed him how to hold on and run and then I let him take control. He actually flew the kite pretty well. He held the string tightly like I showed him and then as soon as the kite was airborne he would take off running laughing hysterically as he went. The wind was pretty strong today and I kept the string short so the kite would climb quickly (with my help), dance around wildly for a minute or two before eventually crashing spectacularly. Evan was thrilled by all of this and was shrieking with laughter the whole time. It was so funny to watch him giggle and scream while running wildly through the field. Once the kite would crash he would let go of the string in an effort to pick up the fallen kite - this is where my sprint to keep the kite from flying away would begin - I couldn't convince him that this was a bad idea. I wish I had had my camera or video camera with me. It was so much fun to watch him. I kept thinking of my Grandfather - Evan's namesake - who also loves kites, and helped me build paper bag kites as a kid; as a fellow kiter I know he would be proud. We are going to go kiting again tomorrow - this time I'm going to bring a camera!