Adventures are not all pony-rides in May-sunshine.

We had a full day today.  Very full.  Full of family time doing things that our kids love.

The last thing today was the local minor league baseball game, for which we were given free tickets along with vouchers for free hot dogs and sodas.  You know how I love a free adventure.  So after a bit of back-and-forth about Do We Really Want to Go Somewhere Else Today? we ended up going for it, and the kids were all excited.

But we arrived and there was a long line to get in.  This was surprising considering the last time we attended a game at this stadium, you could have counted the number of people in attendance on fingers and toes.  (Practically.)  But we got in and headed straight for the concession line because we were all already very hungry.  And the line for concessions was ridiculously long.

I waited in line for almost an hour while Ben and the kids watched the game standing up behind the nearest seats.  By the time we got our food and drinks, I was really tired.  And the sun was going down and it was getting chilly.  And we'd already been at the game for as long as I'd planned on attending, seeing as it was bedtime for the kids and we had to do baths, etc.  But I tried to be happy and enjoy what was left of our adventure.

We sat down long enough for everyone to eat their hot dogs and watch the game for a bit before we gave in to our fatigue and our desires to be warm, and left.

And when they were going to bed, the kids said that the baseball game was one of the best things we did today.

Now, I like to think of us as a fun-loving family.  Not in the extreme, but we do like to go out and do fun things when we can.  But after reflecting on today's events, and the last one in particular, a quote from The Hobbit, which I'm currently reading (listening to) for my itty bitty book club, came to mind.  The first weeks of Bilbo's adventure with the dwarves consisted of riding along on a pony, enjoying the sunshine and experiencing no turmoil whatsoever.  But eventually the weather turns, and the discomforts and the dangers and the challenges pile up.  He soon realizes that "adventures are not all pony-rides in May-sunshine."

And so it is with life.  Just because we go on an adventure doesn't mean it will be all wonderful, and we shouldn't expect it to be so.  But the dangers and the challenges and the discomforts are worthwhile too, and help us to enjoy the times when our adventures are more abundant in pony-rides and May-sunshine.  (They also make for great stories, i.e., "Remember the time we waited in line for an hour for free hot dogs?"  "Yeah, that was crazy.")

I wonder what our next adventure will consist of?