The Gilded Margin

By Shyanne Gines

There are some Friday nights where I’m perfectly content going home, putting on pajamas and doing absolutely nothing.

Last night was not one of those nights.

We started at the Frisco RoughRiders game against Corpus Christi. We were there to watch #13, Will Bush, who is the son of one of my coworkers. I’m not going to pretend I suddenly became a baseball expert for the evening, but it is definitely more fun watching a game when you actually have someone on the field you’re rooting for.

It also happened to be Star Wars Night.

Which meant, of course, my son ended up with a lightsaber.

I probably should have anticipated what happened next.

Within a relatively short amount of time, he had accidentally hit a handful of people with it. Nothing like repeatedly telling your child, “Watch where you’re swinging that thing,” while surrounded by hundreds of people.

Thankfully, he eventually found someone much more appropriate to battle: the mascot.

Watching my son have a full lightsaber fight with a baseball mascot on Star Wars Night was one of those random little moments that made the entire night.

He thought it was fantastic.

I did too.

Baseball Food Always Counts

There was also funnel cake.

Technically, it wasn’t mine. A friend got one and I stole a bite, which was probably for the best because I absolutely did not need an entire funnel cake.

But that bite?

Amazing.

Warm fried dough covered in an unreasonable amount of powdered sugar is apparently still one of life’s simple pleasures.

The weather was nice, the game was fun, and we were surrounded by good people. It was just an easy, genuinely enjoyable night.

And we probably could have called it there.

We did not.

Apparently We Needed a Movie Too

After the game, we decided to go see Spider-Man: Brand New Day.

I had been looking forward to it, but I wasn’t sure if it would actually live up to what I wanted it to be.

It did.

I loved it.

That’s the entire sophisticated movie review.

I would absolutely watch it again.

And since we had apparently committed to making questionable nutritional decisions for the entire evening, we went all in with a slushie, popcorn and candy.

Because if you’re going to the movies after spending the evening at a baseball stadium, you might as well finish the job.

The Sign of a Successful Adventure

By the time we finally headed home, my son was done.

Completely passed out in his car seat, lightsaber still right there beside him.

And I think that picture probably sums up the night better than anything I could write.

We didn’t travel somewhere incredible. There wasn’t a carefully planned itinerary. Nothing particularly life-changing happened.

We went to a baseball game.

My son accidentally assaulted a small section of the stadium with a lightsaber.

He challenged a mascot to battle.

I stole a bite of funnel cake.

We watched Spider-Man.

We ate entirely too many snacks.

And we spent the night with good people.

That was it.

And it was really, really fun.

I started the Adventure Files because I want to remember nights like this too. Not just the big trips and bucket-list moments, but the random Friday nights that somehow turn into something worth writing down.

Last night definitely earned its place in the files.

Until the next adventure.

— The Gilded Margin