As my frenzied need to squeeze as much fun into these last days of summer continues...the kids and I ventured out to the Starlite drive in last night for some old-school movie madness. As are most of our plans, it was a last-minute decision to go, which seems to work best at motivating/exciting the kids. With just 10 minutes warning, they managed to scurry through the basement picking up toys, go potty and don jammies for the night out. In the meantime I threw some old blankets in the back of the van, some snacks (can you believe I was out of koolaid and popcorn, like my mom used to pack.) I had to settle for some non-traditional fare...vanilla wafers and pretzels was the best I could muster up.
We arrived at the drive-in just before dusk, and the older woman working the box office seemed a little disappointed that they wouldn't be making much money off of our crew that night. (They probably hate to see buses like ours pull in!) At $4. per adult, and kids 12 and under free...it was a great movie value...about 37cents a piece for us to see a new release. Not bad. And if we'd have stayed for the second movie...geesh, they'd practically be paying us to watch it.
We backed into the front row/grass area where the kids could spread out blankets and run like wild dogs with the other kids till the movie started. (Although surprisingly mine didn't run much.) They seemed so excited by the whole experience that they sat better before the movie started than they did once it began. It wasn't a very good movie...I'm not sure I'd even wait to see it on DVD for free from the library...Cats and Dogs was pretty lousy. But I can't tell you enough how much I enjoyed holding little Lucy in my arms for the last half hour, stargazing on the clear night, and whispering words to the song "Twinkle, twinkle little star..." together. My heart swelled with emotion as her eyelids got heavier, and her hands folded on her chest as if in prayer, and she settled peacefully off to sleep. Oh... this is is living, and loving. God is good.
We left before the second feature...well past the bedtime of the youngest half of our brood, and to the disappointment of our older crew. Ramona & Beezus was up next, and looks to be a fun movie to watch. Shoot, for $4 maybe we'll head back tonight.
