Starry Nights

One of the things that I love about living in the country are the stars.  I love being able to sit outside with my kids at night and look at the beautiful sky all around us.  There are no trees to block our view.  No cars honking or driving by to distract us.  My 11 year old can name quite a few of the constellations.  He's learned them from sleeping under the constellation exhibit at the Seattle Science Center during 4-H weekend.  I had no idea that he knew these.  I know where the big dipper is and sometimes I can find the Northern Star.  My littlest would like to attend this year and maybe, just maybe he'll get to go.  He's a little wilder than his brother.  He wants to go to summer camp this year with his brother so Science weekend would be a good trial. 

We love to talk about how old the stars are and how far away they are.  The boys always debate which ones have aliens living on them and what they like to do. 

How many other families sit out under the stars having conversations like this?  I'd like to think quite a few.  To me it's one of those stolen moments that I'll cherish forever.  Time with my children to hear them imagine.  All too soon they won't have time to sit with Mommy.  But for now I'll take all the starry nights that I can and feel sorry for those parents that didn't take 15 minutes to sit outside with their kids and look at the moon and stars.