under the stars.

Dave had recently suggested to the boys that they set up a tent and camp together in the backyard. Without fail, every day since, the boys have asked if tonight was the big night. Each day, there was a reason that the answer was “not tonight, maybe tomorrow.“

Our days are full. By the end of the day, we have either been out late or dinnertime has quickly ushered into baths and bedtime. This past weekend was busier than anticipated. School nights were not an option.

Days passed. Yet, the boys kept on asking.

Yesterday, Dave decided to make it happen. Even if he had an early morning meeting and knew that sleep would be difficult on the cold, hard ground.

The evening was a bit chaotic, Charlotte and Sylvie were both sick and the normal evening tasks seemed to be taking longer than normal. It was cold and wet outside. Dave was exhausted from a long day at work. It would have been easy to scrap the idea and try again another night.

That wasn’t happening.

Dave knew that the boys would have patiently waited for another night. He knew that it would have been reasonable to hold off on this seemingly small thing. Yet, more importantly, he knew that the biggest risk of waiting would be that the boys may stop asking. They may stop looking to their hero to join them in making memories. They aren’t going to be four years old forever. Time passes in a blink. These moments are what this life is all about.

So, they pitched a tent. They lit a fire. They sang songs. And, they huddled together under mounds of blankets and slept under the stars.

Magical moments.

This morning, they woke up early and drank hot cocoa in the tent. They came inside laughing and ran into my room right away to tell me all about their fun night through smiles and eyes shining with joy.

I’m so thankful to be married to a man who loves his family so well.