Flying Kites

Before I get to the kite flying, our orange tree has been blooming in the backyard. I have to say, the fragrance of the tree may be one of the most wonderful smelling things ever! It's so nice to be in the yard and smell it. I was on a run the other day and could smell it from a block away. If we get as many oranges as there are blooms, there will be LOTS of oranges. :)

It's a good sized tree.

Shane held a kite making event at the center. As is many times the case, the class filled up and we had to wait until after the class so that we could participate. (Such is the life when you belong to the programmer or the supervisor.) We still had a good time. All of the stuff was still laid out, so we spread around the room and got started.

Grace had her own table, Landry and Dad were off by themselves, and Hayden and Gibson were separate as well. It was so quiet! Maybe we should do this more often! haha!

The kites were decorated with markers, stickers and crayons. After much detail work, we decorated tails for the kite to give some weight once they were ready to fly. Meanwhile, Dad started wrapping the kites around a wooden frame and putting all of the parts together.

Pretty soon, we were ready to test them out. I wish that I could say that it was a magical, wonderful experience, but it really wasn't. The wind was a little strong and because my kids are kin to me, as the kites weren't flying with the first or the third or the twenty-second try, they were becoming very frustrated. Meanwhile, I was running all over the field hauling kites back into the sky and trying to make them fly. While they were on the verge of tears or all out bawling, I thought that the whole thing was pretty hysterical. I wish that I had gotten pictures of the tears.Grace was out in the field by herself losing it.
This was before we really started trying to fly the kite. He hadn't lost his mind yet.
That is the one picture of a flying kite. That flight lasted as long as it took me to snap the picture.

Our adventure ended with a ripped kite. This was the last straw. We finally decided that poor Dad had worked all morning helping other kids make kites, had now suffered through his own kids' kite fiasco and it was now time for some lunch and a well needed nap! :)