A few days ago, Liberty found a navy blue umbrella. She brought it to the backyard with her, and held it over her head. "Bye-bye, Mommy." She waved at me sweetly. "I goin' to da cowds."

I didn't understand her dialect very well, so I said hesitantly, "Okay, just make sure you stay in the backyard." I smiled at her.

She shook her head, "I goin' to da cowds." She pointed up to the sky.

Suddenly, I realized she was Mary Poppins, and I grinned at her, "Okay, have fun in the clouds! Come back soon."

She stood expectantly under her umbrella waiting. Nothing happened. A funny look crossed her face. She tried to jump gently into the air, but gravity didn't work with her very well.

"Mommy, it's boken. Thix it." She waggled her umbrella handle at me.

Isn't it nice to think that Mommy can fix anything? Oh, how I wish I could fix that. We would soar through the clouds together under the umbrella. Instead, I showed her how to pretend she was flying.

She jumped around on the back deck talking to "da buds" as she passed them in the sky. Later, I found her lounging in a patch of clover (the bane of her daddy's existence) in the yard with the umbrella propped over her providing a lean-to shelter. "I in my hose, Mommy!" she called.

What a talented umbrella. :-)