Stranded at the Drive-In

Ever since we got our van, one thing that Brett has always wanted to do was take the kids to a drive-in movie. We got our chance last Friday night with a bunch of friends when the drive-in one town over was showing Up, the new Pixar move, and the new Escape to Witch Mountain.

Preparations for the main event started early. We wore out the kids at the park, threw them in the tub, and then had them go to bed at 4:00 p.m. The kids thought it was a bit early. But since they are used to us telling them that in the winter they go to bed after the sun and in the summer they go to bed before the sun, they went right down. Then we got them up three hours later, when it was getting closer to sundown. With the kids recharged, we grabbed a bite to eat, some candy, some pillows and blankets, and headed to the drive-in.

Once the movie started, the boys settled into the back of the van and watched Up. The boys really enjoyed it. Then we watched Escape to Witch Mountain. Brett, of course, fell asleep a half-hour into it. So we had to banish him to the front seat so the rest of us could have more room.

The boys lasted through the second movie, and they got a little nervous at times, but they still thought it was fun. I was sure they would fall asleep on the 20-minute drive home, but they didn't. I put them to bed and waited to make sure they wouldn't get back up, and then I went to bed. I almost had to leave Brett in the car, because he wouldn't wake up to come inside. I had to resort to calling him on my extremely loud cell phone multiple times in order to wake him up.

The next morning, Ian woke up at around 8:00 and asked us if he could play the DS. When Brett went looking for one, he noticed a chair pushed up against the bookcase where the DS's had been placed the night before. We figured Colin must have woken up in the middle of the night and decided he wanted to play. Brett went looking in Colin's bed (where Colin was still sleeping) and found one DS and gave it to Ian. I finally had to wake Colin up at 12:45 in the afternoon, and when I did, I found another two DS's underneath him! After a very slow-paced day, he was back asleep by 6:15 that night, as usual. (He really doesn't do well with late nights.)

All in all, we had a lot of fun at the drive-in, and the kids can't wait to go back. Hopefully, there will be another kids movie before we move!