Learning to Rejoice Over Spilled Milk!

This past week, we decided to head out to our local botanical gardens for their monthly free day, and we decided to combine that outing with our second annual Caramel Apple Party.

Sounds fun, no?

But this trip turned into more than just a double-outing - it turned into an object lesson on the value of rejoicing over "spilled milk" - over circumstances gone wrong.

It all started when we got to the botanical gardens. While waiting in line for our free passes, we noticed that people were... paying. Paying during free hours?? Yup. Without our knowing it, they had changed the free hours from 1:00-8:00 p.m. to 8:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m. We arrived about 45 minutes after the free time ended.

What a bummer! We had really looked forward to seeing the botanical gardens during what is probably the nicest month of the year, weather-wise. We were really disappointed.

But in trying to find something else to do, we decided to go to a nearby park that we hadn't visited since before we had children - and in doing so, re-discovered one of our city's treasures. Though we had neglected this urban park, it was delightful, and we had a great time - especially DH and our eldest, who did the hike to the top of "Hole in the Rock" Mountain.

"Hole in the Rock" Mountain

The 7yo at the top!

Had the botanical gardens not been unexpectedly closed to us, we never would have re-discovered this awesome park. Score!

The view from the top! (You can see Yours Truly with the babies at the bottom near the picnic tables.)

After seeing the park and climbing the mountain, we headed to a park bench for our Caramel Apple Party. I unpacked the sprinkles, the caramel dip, the marshmallows, but... the apples? Crumbs. I'd left them at home. We had all of the toppings, and none of the apples.

Bummer again!!

Thankfully, though, I had brought a couple of bananas for our baby who can't handle apple-texture yet - and our Caramel Apple Party thus was instantly transformed into a Caramel Banana Party! Though it was a wee bit different, it was every bit as fun.

Score again!

None of these circumstances was life-changing or tragic. They were just minor inconveniences. But all of us are quite capable of letting small inconveniences translate into bad moods, snippy words, and a ruined afternoon full of lost tempers and irritation. This time, however, we let our circumstances transform our afternoon into something quite different but just as fun.

If only we could do that every time - we're working on it!

Have a wonderful night, everyone!