Hutton has been wanting a remote control helicopter for a while. Walker has one, but he never lets Hutton fly it. Or touch it. So, you can imagine his excitement when K walked in one night with a helicopter just for him, with lights and everything -- for no special reason even! Hutton carefully read all of the instructions, then he set a timer so that the helicopter would charge for precisely two hours, as instructed. I felt honored to be invited to the maiden voyage.
We drove to the school -- more open space, you know. There were other people there, which made this first flight even more exciting!
I helpfully pointed out this sign, which the guys ignored:
(K retorted that a model helicopter is not the same as a model airplane).
Like a good dad, K acted as the launching pad and let Hutton take the controls -- even though I think he really wanted to fly the chopper himself.
Hutton assured me that he knew what he was doing. He was so pro! He sent that thing flying! (notice the awesome lights!)
...yeah, too high. Too high, then too far, then the chopper went rogue. Seriously, it just kept flying, further and further away. Hutton's loyal companion/assistant tried to help. The spectators just stared, awestruck.
In the end, we saw helicopter fall from the sky, beyond the school, across the street and into someone's backyard. No big deal, says K. We'll just knock on the door and ask if we can get our likely-mangled helicopter. So they did. Fortunately, the lady who lived there was nice (sort of).
UNfortunately, her yard looked like this! (holy cow! it just goes to show that you never know what lurks behind someone's fence).
I know you're on the edge of your seat! Did we find the helicopter in that jungle of weeds and trees?!
What do you think?
It was a long walk back to the car...minus one super-cool helicopter with lights.
editors note: i'm realizing that this is kind of a sad story. would it help to know that K brought home another helicopter? yes? okay, he did. but that helicopter was kind of, well, broken. that actually makes the story even worse, doesn't it?
the only thing that saves this story is that (1) thinking about it makes me laugh; (2) even though it didn't turn out as planned, we had so much fun with hutton that day. watching him figure out the instructions and get that thing flying so high was priceless; and (3), after a few minutes, and a few tears, even hutton couldn't help grinning about the whole thing.
we haven't stopped talking about that awesome, crazy helicopter.