a great night's sleep

The kids have been dying to sleep out on the trampoline.
They keep asking, "Can we sleep on the tramp?"
And I giggle each time to myself.
The phrase sounds a bit strange.

Does it not?

It seems like it was always threatening to rain every time they asked for the first half of the summer.

But they finally got their chance last week.


After they hauled out 67 pillows, they killed time until it cooled down and got dark by watching a movie.
And eating popcorn, of course.


They all thought it was pretty great trying to find constellations once the sun finally went down.

But the sleeping wasn't so great.

Carlie said they were all sleeping in one big ball and that everyone rolled onto her all night.


And then everyone woke up bright and early at 5:30.

And crashed in their own beds for a bit longer.

It brought back so, so many memories of sleeping in the backyard "under the stars" all summer as a child.
Playing cards or baseball until it got dark.
Stories (some scary, some not) told by dad as soon as the sun went down.
My brothers plotting to sneak out of the yard.
Staring for hours at the stars until my eyelids were just.too.heavy.
Waking up wet with dew.

Guess it's not really about the sleep.
Or lack of it.