Little more speed, little more rope

I could not imagine a more perfect day for the opening of the Cherry Blossom Festival in Washington, D.C. Okay, maybe it could have been warmer, but the conditions were perfect for the traditional kite-flying kickoff to Spring.

Kite flying really isn't as easy as it looks. We had to work pretty hard to get our kites in the air, and most of the time they'd go up for a few yards and then go diving into the people around us. It reminded me of that song from You're a Good Man Charlie Brown, and we were definitely a Charlie Brown group.

But what a group to be with. Check out my beautiful girls. We got to spend time together without worrying about SAT prep or college applications or math homework. It was just us, the wind and about 3,000 other people on the National Mall.

Once we moved down to the Washington Monument, we had a little better luck. The wind conditions were gustier and people were a little more spread out.

The girl I tutor proved to be good at getting the kite into the air, but it seemed like every time she'd let out the string to give it some height, it would come plummeting back at her. I think she won the award for sustaining the most hits from runaway kites--both her own and other people's.

My friend's baby even got in on the action. I know she looks like she's about to cry in this picture, but really she was just trying not to laugh. Of course I have no photographic proof of this because every time I'd lift the camera after making a fool of myself to get her to smile, she'd stop giggling. Cheeky girl.

Finally one of the boys got our kite in the air and maxed out the line. Our kite is the one about halfway up the monument between the white bird and the rainbow kite with the long streamers. It's the little speck that looks like a piece of dust on my camera, but I promise it's really our kite.

How could I not have enjoyed such a perfect day? I love the city dressed in pink!