Searching for something fun to do on a summery Friday night, we opted for a last-minute road trip to the Galaxy Drive-In Theatre in Ennis to see a double feature of family fun movies -- Monsters vs. Aliens and Hannah Montana: The Movie.
I have loads of fond memories from summer nights spent with friends and family at the Admiral Twin Drive-In Theatre in Tulsa and wanted my kids to share in some similarly fun times. We'd taken the kids to the drive-in movie once before we moved away from Tulsa and Bub already had some spotty memories of the fun he had there. He was so small he couldn't remember all the details of his trip, he just remembered having a great time. Gracie was so small, she slept through the while thing! It was high-time to repeat such a nostalgic experience!
We've been talking about taking the kids to see a movie at the drive-in for a while. The problem we face living here is the fact that the nearest drive-in theatre is easily an hours drive from home, even longer with the unpredictable DFW traffic. The drive alone wasn't enough to dissuade us, but when we combine the drive time with the late movie showings, we were concerned the kids wouldn't be able to stay awake through both features.
When we really talked about it in more detail this week, we decided to go ahead and take the risk. Gracie's really wanted to see Hannah Montana, and we expected that would motivate her to stay awake. Plus, the admission cost for our family of four was only $16, so even if she/they did fall asleep, we would've already seen one movie at half the price of a local show.
Once we decided the value was worth the risk, we were ready to go. Then, somehow, the topic of parking direction came up. James wanted to park the car facing forward with all of us belted in our seats. I wanted to park the car in reverse (as I grew up doing) with the rear door open, the kids piled in the back on pillows, and James and I outside of the car on lawn chairs. We are naturally both very insistent people, so such a small issue can become a very big deal with neither of us willing to budge. Since I wasn't interested in watching movies crammed in the not-so-comfortable front seat of my not-so-big car, I decided I'd much rather stay home. James thought about my position and my condition for a while, then decided parking in reverse wasn't such a bad idea. I'm glad he's such a reasonable man!
The all-highway drive was easy to make, the theatre was really clean and well-equipped, the concession stand offered a large menu of inexpensive goodies, and the drive-in theatre experience as a whole was a blast! James seemed to enjoy time lounging in the lawn chair with the warm summer breeze -- though it meant I got my way. We cannot wait to go back again!
Piled on Pillows in the Back of the Car
How fun. I'm glad you won the car position battle ... it really makes the most sense, doesn't it? :)
Looks like such fun! I used to go do drive-ins when I was young, and have such great memories from them! I might have to find a drive-in on my side of the metroplex!! =)
As a child, we parked backwards too... pulled the tailgate down and hung out in the back of the pick-up. Good times!