::even more kites::

We went to the kite park again! We just couldn't stay away. And this time the wind was amazing. It was so strong and perfect. Max and I got our little cheapo kites out of the packaging and they basically flew up out of our hands and into the air. It was very exciting.

And those kites wanted to go high too. They were way up there.

Just before our friends got there Max and I had a near tragedy. His kite string ran into mine. My kite nosedived (nosedove) into a grove of scrubby trees and Max's string broke. I had to chase his kite down. Kris dealt with the broken string and I got the fish kite most of the way out of the trees. Kris came and climbed a tree and teased it the rest of the way out. Phew. That would've been a sad and sudden end to our afternoon.
But it wasn't.
We flew

and flew

and flew

and ate

and ate

and played

and played

and it was FUN.
It was warmer than last time--still chilly but warmer.
And by the end we had kites attached to chairs and strollers flying all by themselves. That's the mark of a good kite flying day.

We're going to have to do it again very soon! Anybody else want to come this time?

::new toy::

I've been watching Craig's list quite closely, and as a result of all my hard work saturday we went and picked ourselves up a new family toy.

What do you think it is??
It's pretty fun and took a lot of (re)construction.

Good guess! It IS a half pipe!

Just kidding.

If you haven't figured it out by now I'm a little worried about you!

We went and picked it up from a toothless guy out in the boonies in the morning. By the time we got it all put together it was late afternoon. Max was all cranky from staying up late the night before for the fireworks, and it was driving him nuts that the trampoline was there and he couldn't use it.

Sultan just lay in his special hole in the corner of the yard and wondered what all the big deal was about. He's not that impressed.

Then once we had it all up--including the "enclosure" of course--it was time for some fun.
And we had to have the fun fast, because though there was sun on saturday morning, the storm clouds started moving in, and we knew rain was sure to come!

Max was kind of like Mr. jelly legs when he first got on there, flopping all over.

Especially if Kris was up there jumping. It barely took a step for Kris to knock him over.

It doesn't take too long for these little guys to learn though, and by the time we had to get off he was doing really well.

Anybody ever played crack the egg? It's that game where one of you sits in the middle of the tramp and holds onto their feet and the other person tries to bounce them around until they have to let go of their feet.
Much more fun though--crack the mama fish.

It was hilarious because he could hardly get her to bounce--not for lack of trying. Or for lack of serious face making.

And he certainly couldn't get me to bounce very high. But it was fun all around anyway.


The biggest triumph is that he taught himself over the weekend to bounce to his bottom and back up to his feet. He tried a zillion times on saturday and could never figure it out.

It's definitely good exercise. I was sore all weekend!