Wonderful

Brayden made me cry today. I'll tell you why, but first I have to tell you the story of our day. It was such a wonderful day. It made me realize how splendid my family is....how lucky I am....how happy I am.
Brody slept until 6:45 this morning. (This is normally unheard of.) I got up and got him and brought him back to bed with us. It was chilly in the house this morning and I wanted to wrap him up in the warmth of our covers. I nursed him for a few minutes, but he really wanted to look around. Then....Brayden appears. He climbs into bed with us. So here we are....all 4 of us. Sunggling in Mom and Dad's bed. These are times I will remember forever. This morning, I thought to myself, 'this is what life is all about.'
We had already decided to go hiking today. We also wanted to take a picnic lunch and eat at the park. We went to Mongomery Bell State Park. This was our first time there, and it was nice. Very different from the hiking trails in east Tennessee and western North Carolina, but nice.
Scott got the lunch stuff together while I got ready to go. While he got ready to go, I packed our backpack and Brayden put the lunch stuff in the cooler. Brayden also packed up his backpack. He wanted to take his bulldozer truck....just in case there was some dirt he needed to dig.
We had a super hike. I think we hiked somewhere in the neighborhood of 2 miles, which was maybe 1/2 mile too long for Brayden. He was a trooper though. He even led for a good bit of the hike. He learned quickly to follow the trail markers....or the path when there were no markers. He carried his backpack the entire way. He even kept his bottle of water in his backpack. Brody did really good too. He rode in the snugli, safely attached to Mom. (Yes, my shoulders and possibly my back will remind me of that tomorrow.) He spent most of the hike looking around and squealing. We took a short break in the middle of the hike to let the boys play in the leaves. (This was mostly because I wanted to take pictures of them!)
We made it back to the picnic area and had a great lunch. After lunch, the boys played on the playground. Brayden and Scott played in the creek, building dams. Brayden, of course, ended up soaked. Finally, it was time to leave. Brayden was still playing while Scott and I cleaned up our lunch stuff. I noticed his backpack laying on the picnic bench. I picked it up and remarked to Scott it was heavy. He still had his bottled water in there, so I figured that's what was weighing it down. I unzipped it and said to Scott, "I want to see what he brought." The front pocket contained his shells he brought back from the beach. I giggled when I saw them....but when I opened the larger pocket, I almost immediately started crying. He had packed toys for Brody! I couldn't believe it. My son was so thoughtful and loving of his younger brother that he packed toys for him and carried them for an entire 2 mile hike. The bulldozer he wanted to bring was no where in sight. He is such a wonderful child....and I am such a blessed Mommy to have him in my life.