This year, we finally got our act together enough to both remember when the kite festival was, and to then put that knowledge to use, and go to the darn thing!
After having gone once or twice, every year since then, Mom and Dad always realize that the festival had happened a week before or something like that. The festival itself takes place at the same time as the Cherry Blossom Festival in DC... You can check out pictures and a post from me about the Cherry Blossoms themselves
HERE....it is a beautiful time of year to be here, and you can also see a rare picture of me wearing a shirt with buttons if you click that link...
So Mom and I went down to the National Mall to meet Dad after work, and were welcomed with a whole slew of kites in the sky! They are AMAZING! The sky is literally filled with hundreds of kites, and they have special events for the pros out there...there is even an event where you can battle with the kites...it's pretty exciting.
We were all enthralled with the view (as was Superman, who came along with me for the day) We decided that we wanted a kite for ourselves, and thought it would be an easy task, since we were at a kite festival, and Dad had seen them selling kites there in the past...
...not so. Mom was a trooper and walked no less than 50 miles (I
may be exaggerating about that) to hunt one down...she is pretty awesome.
We moved over to a better spot near the Washington Monument once we had our kite, and set up shop in an open area...
Dad and I opened the kite and set it up while Mom took pictures...she may also have been laughing at us.
We tried our best to get that kite up, but I think the combination of being in a spot where the wind was kind of dampened, coupled with Dad not being the most skilled of kite flyers, and us having purchased a last minute kite...we had some trouble...
There were a few moments when we got it up there....
...only to have it come down again.
Regardless of how high the kite flew, or how long we could keep it up in the sky, there was a lot of fun, laughter, and zero frustration. For three people who couldn't get the kite to stay up in there very much, we had more fun than a lot of people who did.
We make a nice little family, no?
It truly was a lot of fun, and we even got to keep the kite!!
I sure was tired after all that (attempted) kite-flying, so I just lay on the ground right there and tried to just drift off....the breeze felt nice against my face, Mom and Dad were hanging out watching the kites (and me to make sure I didn't get kidnapped) all was right with the world...
It was a long walk back to the car, but at least we had a parking spot down there (Dad got a sweet spot near work because he went in so early) and we didn't have to take the Metro home. (While I love train rides, the Metro down here is not all that functional on the weekends...) Along the walk, we stopped for snacks, and had a really nice time...it's nice to be hanging out with people that you could have a good time with, even when you're just walking back to the car....
This seems to be the typical way I end days like this....asleep, and keeping it classy by crossing my legs. Though lately I have found there to be a strange side effect: My foot and leg starts to tingle whenever I stay like this for too long...it feels super weird, but Mom and Dad always recommend that I shake it out to help the tingles go away....it looks kind of hilarious....
Until next year, Kite Festival!!!
1 comment:
You do make a super family!
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