Rita, your nice piccies make me think of candyfloss! They also show how amenable Lagerstroemia indica is to pruning. If it were not for its tendency to grow up rather than out, I'd suggest it as a candidate shade tree. However, that leads me to wonder if it could be trained to go sideways to form a broader canopy, by pulling those extension shoots down almost as if it was a rambling rose; I think it might work. Yes, the sideways shoots would give rise to new uprights next year, with the flowers on the top, but I think that would be OK. They, in turn, could be pruned pulled down again, or pruned back.