The Good Stuff

It was a rush to get out of the house.

Earlier in the day, the boys and I had driven by the airport (as in one runway, small plane, Holland airport) on our way to The Nature Center. And we noticed a sign that said, "Paragliding, July 11 and 12". Also, there were a bunch of RVs set up on the runway.

So we stopped to see what was up!

"We're all gathering to go paragliding tonight around 6:30."

So tonight after dinner, Chris and I loaded the kids on our bikes and headed over to the airport.

I'm so glad we did!

In fact, I'm shocked at how few spectators there were. There couldn't have been more than 15 of us, non-paragliders watching, but none the less, our boys LOVED watching the action.

Chris is having more fun than his face shows.... :)

I mean, have you seen this sport up close?

It involves machines like this, which by the way, this man made himself, flown by no more than a lawn mower type motor. Some had wheels but some people simply put on a backpack motor, which looked like a giant fan, ran down the runway and took off! It seemed insane! And our boys clapped wildly, certain they'd try it as soon as they got old enough.

We stayed for a long time, watching the paragliders all buzz through the air and then the boys started tackling each other and poking blades of grass into each other's ears.

It was time go home.

After bath and pj's, Chris snuck downstairs to knead pizza dough for our "after the kids are in bed pizza indulgence" (I always get more dough if he kneads it!). I stayed upstairs with the boys, with the intent of calming them down for bed.

The older boys share a room and have their beds all lined up against one wall. It looks like this:

Well, someone got the idea that their bed was one of the "paragliders" and took off. Then Everett wanted to know if I wanted to fly with him. How could I resist??

Before I knew it, we were all flying through the sky, me riding with Everett and Owen riding with Colin. All of us laughing and calling out to each other "Don't fall out!" and "Don't go too fast" (of course we did both over and over).

I looked over at Finn, who earlier in the day had a classic overtired and head turning tantrum at Target where he ended up just laying on the floor screaming and crying while the rest of us waited until he was able to continue our shopping. It was so sad and frustrating.

And now. Now there he was checking the propeller on the back of his toddler bed, laughing and flying through the air. We all were.

"Remember this, because THIS, this is the good stuff", I thought to myself. And so I write,