11 Kites for the 11-year Old! (August 24)
On August 17th Lucas turned 11. We spent his actual birthday on Whidbey Island — there was record-breaking heat in Seattle that weekend so we were grateful to be on the island where temperatures tend to be 10-15 degrees cooler. Lucas enjoyed spending time with his Nonna and Papa over the long weekend and even got to take part in two activities that have been our go-to’s over the course of this coronavirus summer: wandering wheelchair accessible trails and flying kites. And we celebrated on the beach that night with a birthday cobbler made by Krista from wild blackberries that she and Ida had picked nearby.
Speaking of kites, Krista and Lucas came up with the idea of a socially distant birthday party involving 11 kites in honor of his 11th birthday. So this past Saturday we invited a few friends to Jefferson Park on Beacon Hill with the goal of getting 11 kites in the air. 
We originally were shooting for Saturday morning but there was very little wind at that time; so we texted friends to come out on Saturday afternoon instead hoping the wind would kick up by then. As Lucas said repeatedly, “there is no plan B!” We even had to borrow a couple kites and kite strings from our neighbors Kathy and Dave in order to get closer to making his vision a reality.
In the end the birthday party was amazingly successful. Gramma and Gary were up from Portland, a few of Lucas’s old friends from school came through with kites, and Ida’s buddy Julian (along with Dan and Jedi, their new dog) was also there. For a split second our crew had 8 kites in the sky, which along with the three flying on the other side of the park got us to our goal. It wasn’t easy (having that many kites up at the same time can lead to some complicated tangles) but as we rolled away Lucas said “That was the best birthday ever!”
