A Great Day

I always love the times where you take a step back and look at what is happening around you and realize just how very satisfied you are in the moment. I wish I could live more in the moment. I really do. I tend to be the kind of person who is so driven to accomplish one thing after another that I don't stop to enjoy my accomplishments.

Well, on Saturday, I stopped. And I enjoyed. We were in some of my old stomping grounds in the D.C. area and had some time in the morning to get out of the house and enjoy the spring weather. My DH and I pulled the stroller out of the car and proceeded to think Mr. A would eventually tire out and want to ride in said stroller. Needless to say, I pushed that darn stroller for no good reason and with no child in it all the way to the canal and back. Ah well.

We walked down to the canal path thinking we were going to take a lovely stroll along the canal path. We had walked no more than 5 feet when Mr. A noticed all of the stones and rocks strewn along the path and decided that throwing those stones and rocks would be far more enjoyable than strolling. Go figure. All boy. So, for a long while we threw rocks and stones, chased him a little way down the path, and then threw some more. It had rained the night before so there were puddles all along the path. Don't worry - Mr. A found all of them. He jumped right in and laughed at each one.

Shortly we came upon the marked beginning of the "Billy Goat Trail." I commented to DH about how I used to hike that trail with various youth groups, friends, neighbors, etc. He noted that it must be a great hike and we kept on "strolling." A few minutes later Mr. A saw the water "down below" and said that he wanted to go "down"and see the "wa-wa." DH asked me if I thought I could make it and I said, "Why not?!" So, DH helped me and Mr. A down the steep, rocky entrance and then Mr. A ran as much as he could. We walked along the path of the Billy Goat Trail enjoying the views of the river, the fields of newly-blossomed blue bells, and the budding leaves on the millions of trees. We were all so living in the moment! We had nowhere to be and nothing hurrying us along. We stopped to look at every airplane that flew overhead, admire the "ducks" (geese) taking a dip in the river on their way North for the winter, and didn't even mind too much the mosquitoes starting to gather for a pre-summer feeding. It was great.

Mr. A didn't quite make it back along the trail by himself - he rode on the shoulders of his favorite "giant" and then we all scrambled our way back up to the canal path and proceeded to puddle jump, rock throw, and skip stones all the way back to the bridge that led us back to where we had started. Loved it. Loved the moment. Am so glad we all "stopped" and enjoyed it together!