Kites.

Last week the kids got kites in the mail.

Jonah took a serious interest in kites - I'm thinking as a result of the China studies we've been doing - and we decided to order both kids good kites.  There are no great kite stores around here, to my knowledge.  The kids had $1 Walmart kites that actually lasted a good amount of time, but they never flew very well, and they were plastic and...  well...  kites are cool, and I think a very worthy investment.

So I found a great kite store online and I let the kids choose their kites.  Jonah spent about ten minutes on the phone with Michael discussing lift and drag, and just how kites fly.  He discussed every shape of kite listed on the website to determine which would have the best flying power.  He finally went with a seven foot shark kite.  I admit, it's pretty cool.

Maeryn chose solely based on color (still super cool):

 Hers is a crow, in case that wasn't obvious from the photo.

We headed out to a field next to the river and flew kites for a couple of hours.  It was a truly wonderful time.  I am learning to embrace the moment as it comes.  I'm learning to live into situations as they arise.

The field was muddy.  Neither kid remembered to wear shoes.  That is fine.  We ran through the field.  We got dirty.  The grass tickled our legs.  The air was colder than expected.  None of it mattered.  Everything was perfect.  I was there with my beautiful children and my fun-loving husband and we were flying these great kites. 

It had been at least fifteen years since I last held a kite.  Maybe more than that.  The tugging of the kite in the wind always scared me:  What if I can't hold on? 

This day, holding the kite was like flying myself.  I loved its dance in the breeze.  Its dips and flutters and flips and unexpected dives.  Both kids held their own kites and graciously gave Mom and Dad turns when they were tired of holding them or wanted to start over.  Maeryn found time to play in the plentiful gravel and pick buttercups for me.  Jonah went through tragedy and triumph and all of the emotions that go along as his kite refused to fly and then finally refused to stop flying - and we watched it swim through the wind with a sense of awe.