Yep - we didn't get to take ours out and about much because my parents knew it ate batteries (plus, with no saves, we knew it was basically a huge gamble ). I have a memory of Lucy and/or me being tethered to the wall by the adapter, hoping desperately that we'd manage to finish the last level of Sonic before dinner was ready.
The GG was so impressive with the full-colour screen! But the Game Boy definitely did win in terms of how portable it realistically was. I never had an original Game Boy but it was so cool to be able to take a console with me when I eventually got a Game Boy Color.