High Flying

In case you have not understood by now, Katie has a VERY active imagination.  No matter where we are she can find something to occupy herself.

If you have ever been to the little town of Fife Lake, Michigan you can picture the 'grassy beach'.  It is downtown (or at least downtown as you can get in Fife Lake) between the boat launch and the railroad tracks.  The ground slopes gently down toward the lake creating a nice grassy park area where you can watch the boats on the lake and keep an eye on the kids playing in the water without having to encounter all the goose poop that anyone living near a lake must deal with.

Add to that the little ice cream shop across the street from the park, the gazebo and the benches scattered throughout and you have the perfect spot to end a summer's evening stroll, and one evening we did just that.

After taking the self-guided historical walking tour of Fife Lake Dave, Erik, Katie and ordered our ice cream and we proceeded across the street to eat our treat while sitting near the water.  The kids finished their ice cream (at least the portion they were not wearing) before Dave and I so we sent them off to play in the grass.

Erik and Katie went down by the lake and were 'skipping' rocks - the one who's rock made the biggest splash had the best skip....Suddenly Katie stopped while she was picking up a rock and zeroed in on something up the hill.  We weren't sure what she saw at first but soon we saw her with two feathers, one in each hand.

At this time Katie did not realize we were watching her.  She would look at the feathers and shake them in her hands for a minute or so.  Then she reached out her arms and waved her whole arm, still holding the feathers.  From there she progressed to jumping while she flapped her arms.  After each attempt she would stop, look at the feathers and watch the birds as they took off and landed and try something a little different.

Before too long she headed farther up the hill with her feathers.  She started running and then jumped, flapping her arms as hard as she could.  Upon landing she was disappointed.  She was sure she would have taken to the air with that attempt.  Although she was disappointed she had not given up.

This time she headed even further up the hill and started down the hill at a dead run.  Just as the slope of the hill changed Katie jumped as high in the air as she could and flapped her little feather-holding-hands as hard as she could.  Upon landing we saw an ear to ear grin on her face.

Turning around she came running up to Dave and I excited to share her news.  "Mommy! Daddy! Did you see me?  I can really fly!  Watch!"  And so we continued to watch as Katie spend at least 20 minutes 'flying' in the little lakeside park in Fife Lake.