The Secret About Adventures

I grew up with a Mom who loved to go on adventures. We knew it was dventure time when we woke up to Mom packing a cooler while Dad sat at the table with the maps.
The mysterious smile on our Mothers face sent excitement rippling through the house as without a word we would run to our rooms to get dressed. We didn't need to ask where we were going. It was an Adventure and the destination was not important. Places like Delta, Heber, Eureaka. Logan and Wendover never sounded exciting by name and in reality where not that exciting to visit. What made these trips special was the enthusiasm my Mother shared with us, the family unity which these Adventures inspired and the memories they created.

As a Mother on my own mission to create memories with my young family I am recognizing that Adventure making is not an easy task. More often then naught adventures can turn out to be disappointments. To make sure this doesn't happen you have to know the secret.....

Adventures never turn out like they were planned. You can not have any expectations. Most important no matter what happens you have to find at least one positive aspect and capitalize on it.

Yesterday we headed out on an Adventure that tested all my adventure making skill....

It was free ferry day in Boston and having never been out on the harbor or to any of the Islands I was determined to take advantage of this opportunity. We get free parking in Boston after 4:00 with the Air Force. I planned to catch the 4:30 ferry and have a dinner picnic on the Harbor Islands. We packed our lunch loaded the car and that is as far as we got before things took a terrible turn.....

Mistake # 1 Told J.....h she was going to get to ride on a boat and go to an island.

Mistake # 2 Was unable to reserve tickets so opted for "stand by " option.

Mistake # 3 Used some cash to buy a soda at the gas station.

Mistake # 4 Forgot the GPS.

Mistake # 5 Inevitably got lost in Boston and arrived an hour late.

First Disappointment

We missed all the stand by tickets. J....h was heart broken that the boat left without her.

We found a nice spot by the Wharf to have our picnic. While eating J....h spotted a carousel and saw kids walking around with balloon animals. I thought we might be able to save the day in the end.

Second Disappointment

We were short the cost to buy tickets to ride the Carousel by a $1.50 (cost of the Soda)

Final Disappointment

We were short the amount needed to buy balloon animals by $1.50 (cost of the Soda)

At this point I knew all was lost.....How could you possibly recover from No Boat, No Islands, No Carousel Ride and No Balloons?! With heavy hearts and two teary eyed children we headed back to the van.

Then Burke spotted an abandoned balloon thing in a nearby trash can. To my shock he pulled it out of the trash and handed it to J....h with a big grin. She turned to me and asked "Mommy what is it? I took the balloon and resisting the urge to throw it back in the trash made a few twists her and there. Miraculously I was able to produce a "wand" for S.....a and a "Crown" for J....h.

On the way home we stopped at the Home Depot to return an item and threw the girls in the race car shopping carts. Ignoring all the glares, we raced those carts through the store giving our girls the "ride" of their lives. A bowl of strawberry ice cream at home topped off the evening and J....h actually went to bed with a grin on her face and a balloon crown perched on her bed post. It was an Adventure to the last and one we will always remember.