To Fly a Kite

...You need:

1) a kite. Check.

2) Wind. Check.

3) A field or an open space sans power lines and trees. Check.

4) An attention span longer than 5 minutes. Uh.....

Well, we got a little kite for Ian for a buck at Walmart and of course the next morning at 7am, he was begging to go fly it. We have a little backyard with a fence around it, dogs, outbuildings (tiny), one tree, and several things to trip over should you look straight up and try to run around. So we relocated to a field next to the park and let it fly. I think Chris and I had more fun than Ian. Even Erin seemed transfixed. I don't know what Ian envisioned, but the wind was very strong and we hardly had to do anything but stand there and hold the end of the string. After a few minutes, Ian started throwing rocks and dirt clumps into the wind and had to be challenged to a race to the tree at the end of the field. He was out of breathe at the end of the race, but not worn out. Sigh. It was time for lunch!

Then we went back to Lincoln, AR (again!) to get more of Berry's pills for his Giardia, not to be mistaken or confused with Ghirardelli, good fancy chocolate. Rachel! :) ha ha.

He is taking his pills like a trooper and there is already a marked difference. (Don't ask "in what?" because I really don't want to go into it and gross everyone out, especially since I just mentioned expensive chocolate. Let's just say that there's no more gastrointestinal distress.)

Ian is doing good in his potty training. Nothing magical overnight, but it is steadily getting better. His sticker chart in the bathroom is filling up a lot faster than the last one (Hallelujah!).

There is still a need for constant laundry, but he is getting it and we are all thrilled and relieved. Even when he wears pullups (like when someone needs to get cracking with the laundry, or at night time) he is still peeing in the potty. Pooping not so much. Okay, only once. In six weeks. So we have at least one accident a day from that alone and have used gallons of bleach and color-safe bleach. Shudder!

Moving on to other topics. The frost of last weekend killed ALL of the plants in my garden. They are all brown and shriveled in the row. It is very sad. But today I snuck some money out of the jar and went to the Red Barn and got some seedlings. We've got some tomatoes, green peppers, cucumbers and straight-neck squash. At Ian's wheedling (and my own whim) we also got two little strawberry plants. It has to be better than last year's attempt which yielded absolutely nothing. I knew I buried the stems upside down. Or something. This time all you have to do is bury the peat pot and voila! We'll see.

My seedlings got drowned in the torrential downpours of last week and then got copious amounts of lime deposited on them, so they are sad and moldy. A loss. So now I feel EVEN BETTER about the $$ I spent on ready-made plants. Next year I'll do better with my own seedlings. Next year we will be in Florida and won't have this weird weather (yes, I know you had a cold front in FL, but boo hoo! It got to 24 here!).

Plans are now nonrefundable for our trip to Florida next month. Chris will be taking that law enforcement review, commuting an hour and 15 minutes and the kids and I will be staying at Mimi and Grampa's house, chilling. I am looking forward to visiting and enjoying the weather and letting Ian and Erin play in the sprinkler in the backyard. I'm also hoping that Grampa will consent to let Ian decorate the driveway in sidewalk chalk, as he will be over the moon when he realizes that the driveway is THAT BIG.

The only downside is that this time, we can't bring the tricycle.