Kite Day

Two weeks ago the weather was forecast to be rainy and cold, but the meteorologists were wrong, and we ended up with a bright sunny day, so when our neighbors halfway down the street suggested heading down to Bayfront Park because they were giving away free kites, we said, “Sure!” and packed everyone and Grandma Kathy into the van.  The hot air balloon festival was taking place at Bayfront Park, but we knew the weather was not cooperating enough to actually see any balloons inflated.  In fact, they had just run out of kites right before we got there, but that was OK too, because they were giving out helium balloons, and we had brought kites from home.  Plus there were helicopters giving people rides, and that was exciting to watch.

As soon as we got settled on a piece of grass, I looked up at the stage and asked out loud, “What happened with the boat???”  It looked like it had been headed straight for the stage before it stopped.  Apparently, literally minutes before we got there, the longest  steamer on the Great Lakes had been heading out to go under the lift bridge.  The bridge was raised and waiting, and then the steamer somehow couldn’t turn in the right direction.  It gave five blasts to its horn to signal danger, and ran aground right by Bayftont Park.  It was pretty crazy.  Eventually, after several house and with the help of a couple of tugboats in the evening, the boat did manage to pull out of the shallow water in the harbor and after an inspection it left the next day.  In the meantime, it was interesting to get to see the boat up close and personal at an unusual angle.  It was also interesting to see all the workers on the boat working to get it out.

It wasn’t the greatest wind for flying kites, but we had fun trying, and Mr. SP and I managed to get my kite up a couple of times for a few minutes. 

The Banana gave up trying to get her kite to fly, and decided to attach her kit string to her helium balloon instead.  It was much more reliable. 

Mr. TOF loved hanging out with one of his favorite people.  Earlier in the summer he even named an earthworm after our neighbor halfway down the street.

Eventually a thunderstorm started brewing, and we needed to come back home anyway because Grandma Kathy and I were headed to the symphony that night.  Everyone else hung around our house cooking homemade brats and eating food and playing like crazy.