#96: Fly a kite

I am so excited to report that I have officially completed one of my tasks to entirety!  Given the fact that Brett and I were forced to spend an entire week together, we decided we might as well work on accomplishing one of our shared 101 in 1001 goals...you know, so we could at least pretend like we like each other or something.  Since we're on the subject, I'm also fairly certain that Brett stole this one from my list (which I guess is okay, considering I definitely snatched a few from him as well).  Anyway, we determined that the beach in Duck, North Carolina was the perfect location to FLY A KITE!

Within minutes (yes, we are THAT perceptive), we realized that we would first need to purchase the kite, that up to this point existed only in our storybook dream world, in which we were both laughing, running, skipping, and jumping through a field of wildflowers, butterflies, and unicorns - all while flying a picturesque kite accented by a perfect rainbow off in distant, clear blue sky. 

Since I decided a kite would be a good investment and something I would use again in the future, we headed down the road to a kite store and purchased a BEAUTIFUL tie-dyed butterfly kite.  Don't mind the not-so-beautiful photo of me - it was early, makeup free, and a forced pose.  :)

After a day filled with sun, sand, and surf - and a giant fishbowl drink from the Sunset Grill, we were ready to put on our kite flying pants.

Most of this post will be narrated by the following videos.  I included some photos as well.  The only thing I will note, is that I have childhood memories of my dad in an all out sprint, holding a kite above his head, praying to God or Goddess or whoever to PLEASE lift the g-d kite up into the air.  Evidently on a very windy beach, it requires little to no effort to get a kite to fly.

When I added this task to my list, my train of thought surrounded my interest in experiencing a bit of nostalgia in doing something that I have not done since I was a child.  I was not intending on having the opportunity to witness the pure, unadulterated joy of a young girl flying a kite for the first time.  Brett's niece, Claire was so excited to be on the beach, flying a kite with us that she was not even able to put her feelings into words.  She hopped up and down, she squealed, she shrieked, and she giggled over the multi-colored butterfly floating so high above her.  It was a reminder to me, or maybe even more accurately, a challenge for me to attempt to live my life a little bit more like Claire:  to hop, squeal, shriek, giggle and appreciate the little things in life.

Brett setting the scene

Us attempting to put the kite together - we definitely should have thought about this in advance...

Me flying the kite!

 

Very natural pose, obviously

Mission accomplished!!!!