The Next Time Someone Tells You To "Go Fly A Kite", Take The Advice.

Last Saturday we went down to Ottumwa so Daphne could help her Grandpa, and while she did that I took Charlotte to a couple of Ottumwa's public parks. Oh man, it was so nice to just get out of the house.

For the first time, Charlotte was able to swing in a "big girl's swing". Unscripted songs are much better than songs with real lyrics.

Char also got to try a merry-go-round for the first time.

After that, we tried safer rides. "Hi Ho Penguin" was pretty fun.

And peeking through the holes in a playground tunnel was cool, too.

On Sunday things got better. We didn't even need our coats.

Last year Charlotte won a coloring contest at our local grocery store. Here's Char with her winnings.

Among other things, the bag of swag contained a plastic kite. At the time Charlotte had neither the motor skills nor the strength to fly a kite, so I blamed the cold and rainy spring weather, and I promised we'd fly it later. I then quietly slid the kite on the top of the refrigerator and considered the matter over. 

But that didn't work. Rarely can I fool Charlotte, and just when I'm confident she has forgotten a promise, she proves me wrong. Months later we'd be driving to the hospital to visit her grandmother, and Char would wonder aloud, "Maybe today would be a good day to fly my kite?" Or she'd hear the wind howling through a cold December night and ask, "Daddy, when can we fly that kite that was on the refrigerator at my old house?"

Yesterday's weather finally gave us the chance to fulfill the promise of flight. I haven't flown a kite since I was nine, and I was a bit worried we'd have a time of it, but that wasn't the case at all. The strong wind lifted the kite with ease, and as I unwound the string Char gleefully jumped around in a circle. 

It didn't take long before Char asked to fly the kite by herself.

Check out the ribbons Mom tied to the string.

It was a blast, especially for me. At first I wasn't exactly excited to be there because I've been fighting a tough head cold for days. But that wind blew my low fever and all of its tiny aches right out of me. Charlotte was darting across the open field trying to stomp on the kite's flitting shadow, and I couldn't stop smiling while I watched. When I looked at Daphne, she greeted me with the same broad grin, "This is really fun, isn't it?"

"It sure is," I laughed.