Let's Go Fly a Kite

Today was one of those great days! Yesterday the wind really kicked up and Summer declared that she wanted to fly a kite. We didn't get a chance, so when today was still windy, we decided to take advantage of it.

We headed out to a local park, White Oak Park, which as it turns out is MUCH larger than we ever knew. We joined several other families out in a large field, all flying kites with young children. The field consisted of gently rolling hills, overlooking a creek and copses of woods. There was a birthday party in a pavilion close to us and down the hill a playground full of children. It was like an idyllic scene from some movie.

We flew a kite with long red tails. Summer didn't like the kite being up too high in the sky, so I pulled it down low. She had a great time chasing the tails and grabbing them when the wind make the kite dip down.

After a while, she wanted to go to the playground so we headed down hill. The playground was full of kids from another birthday party so we had to be careful around the larger kids. We found a slide that was designed for the younger set and she had a great time. It was at least twice as long as her slide at home, so she felt quite brave. We eventually moved on to a plastic pipe that she could climb through and then a large multi-level "barn" that had stairs and platforms and bridges, with another slide that she loved. She had to share this one with two other little ones, which was good for her. She had to wait her turn and practice being patient. For the most part she did a really good job.

We went down to the little creek and she splashed her hands in it, and threw a few pebbles into the water. Then we went back up the hill and flew the kite a little more. When we all got hungry, we packed up and headed to a restaurant. By the time we came home, Summer was tired and headed off to bed, an hour early. She was tired enough to be cranky, but all we had to do was to ask her "What was your favorite thing at the park?" and she was all smiles. We'll definitely be heading back to the park, maybe even every weekend while we're having the nice fall weather.