Let's go fly a kite...

When I was a little girl, my cousin Brenda had a piano book from the movie Mary Poppins, and when I would visit her in the summer I loved to sing along while she played.  My favorite was Feed the Birds, but a close second was Let's Go Fly a Kite, which always made me want to run outside and fashion a kite from newspaper and watch it soar.

My children may not have grown up with Mr. Banks and Bert around to help them fly their own kites, but they had someone even better...their grandfather.  My dad was severely injured in a truck accident that limited his mobility, even before he developed Parkinson's Disease, but he never let anything stand in the way of pursuing his interests, and memories of childhood kites prompted him to return to the sport with zeal when my boys were little.  And I do mean with zeal literally!  He started designing his own kites and teaching my children how to fly them, first small kites, then box kites, and finally, the king of the skies--stunt kites!

my two oldest sons with kite designed by their grandfather and sewn by their grandmother!

 My father would call the house and tell the boys to 'get ready' and he'd swing by and pick them up and off they would go on their kite flying adventures out by the lake.  An afternoon of chasing kites, a picnic lunch of sandwiches and chocolate milk, and time spent with your beloved grandfather--life doesn't get much sweeter than that.  But you don't have to take my word for it, here's a little essay my oldest son wrote about his experiences:

Thanks for all the wonderful memories, Dad!

Let's Go Fly A Kite 

 Mr. Banks:
With tuppence for paper and strings
You can have your own set of wings
With your feet on the ground
You're a bird in a flight
With your fist holding tight
To the string of your kite

Oh, oh, oh!
Let's go fly a kite
Up to the highest height!
Let's go fly a kite and send it soaring
Up through the atmosphere
Up where the air is clear
Oh, let's go fly a kite!

Bert:
When you send it flyin' up there
All at once you're lighter than air
You can dance on the breeze
Over 'ouses and trees
With your first 'olding tight
To the string of your kite

Londoners:
Oh, oh, oh!
Let's go fly a kite
Up to the highest height!
Let's go fly a kite and send it soaring
Up through the atmosphere
Up where the air is clear
Let's go fly a kite!