Drive In Movie Adventures

You may be wondering why I'm posting this at 4:25am. (I can't remember if the times of posts are shown to the reader). Well, just take my word for it. It's 4:25, oops, 4:26am, and I just got home. Oh yeah, I was living it up tonight. Woot woot! I can't remember the last time I stayed out past 10 pm, never mind 4 am!


I had planned to spend this evening doing what I do most evenings. What's that, you ask? Well, I usually sit in my bedroom with Little P watching re-runs. Since tonight was Friday, obviously it was Criminal Minds night. I had everything ready for the evening on my nightstand, so that I wouldn't have to get up for anything:

Diapers for Little P? Check.
Portable urinal for N? Check. (Hey, you don't think I'm gonna set up camp only to have to walk down the hallway to the bathroom in a few hours, do you?!!)
Wipes? Check. (not saying who these are for.) (just saying.)
Great Value Mint chocolate buds? Check and Double check!
Great Value Peanut Butter rolls? Check.
Coke? Duh! No checking required.
Laptop for facebooking when bored? Check.
Cell phone? Check.
Little P's Wubbanub? Check.
Nail polish for self pedicure during commercials? Check.

Okay, then. It was all beautifully set. Cue Criminal Minds.


Wrong. My night was about to take a turn for the exciting! T decided she wanted to go to the Drive-In Movie theatre. I had been promising her for months that I would take her there once decent movies were playing. Well, tonight the movies were: Toy Story 3, Prince of Persia (which I had been dying to see), and Alice in Wonderland (I could take it or leave it). Since I had no good reason not to take her on a Mom/Daughter/Little P date, off we went.

But first....a stop at the dollar store for movie treats. (You didn't think I was going to pay $7 for a coke when I could get 2/$1, did you?) After we chose our snacks of choice, we headed out to the drive-in. It was now 9 pm. The first movie didn't start till 10 pm, which gave us ample time to set up the back of the SUV with our giant fluffy pillows and blankets. Now apparently there is a whole underground cult drive in movie following that I had been previously unaware of. There is actually protocol, procedure, and just certain ways to "do" a drive in movie. The people in the pick up truck beside us had a couch in the back. To which I thought, "Redneck much?" But they had the last laugh, since they were obviously way more comfy than T, Little P and I crammed into the back trunk space of my SUV with only a few lousy pillows and a couple blankets. The people in the truck even had on their PJ's and housecoats. But they weren't the only ones! At least 1/3 of the people I saw were in their jammies. Who knew this was the thing to do?


Anyhow, here's a summary of what I learned about Drive-Ins tonight:


1. Instead of laughing, you're supposed to honk at the funny parts.
2. Couches, sleeping bags, lawn chairs and pajamas. Not only optional, but recommended.
3. Marijuana. Not just for house parties anymore.
4. They tend to frown on you when you don't turn off your headlights. People can be SO grumpy. But here's the thing, my 2004 Yukon Denali doesn't have a manual off control for the lights. Even if the vehicle is turned off but the radio is on, the lights stay on as well.


So in light of #4, we had to open the back hatch and roll down all the windows so we could pick up the radio from the other vehicles around us.


T - "Mom, I can't hear."
N - "T, just be grateful you got to come to the Drive-In. Millions of children in Africa would give anything to get to be at a Drive-In tonight."
T - "But Mom, I can't hear what they're saying."
N - "T! It's Toy Story 3. Just look at the pictures. It's pretty much like the first two, but different. Anyhow, we know it's gonna have a happy ending."
T - "Mom, can we close the hatch? It's freezing."
N - "But then we won't be able to hear."
And so the evening went...........


I fell asleep sometime after Buzz and Woody had their first fight. At least I think it was a fight. I dunno, since I couldn't hear.  Little P was a champion (as always), and went to sleep long before the movie started. Anyhow, when I woke up, the end credits were rolling for Prince of Persia! Bah! I had asked T to wake me up when Toy Story ended. When I sat up and started to reem her out for not waking me up...you guessed it....she was passed out sound asleep. (And I'm hoping it was from sheer tiredness, and not the 2nd hand weed smoke wafting into our open hatch thanks to the patrons from the vehicle in front of us!!)


So that was our big night out at the movies. Despite the fact that we couldn't hear a thing, only caught 1/2 of the first movie and missed the other 2, nearly froze to death, and got high, a good time was had by all!!

Incidentally, there are only 61 Drive In Movie theatres in all of Canada. (24 of which are in Ontario). It really has potential to be a fun family evening out. (I was surprised to see all the kids, toddlers, and even babies there!)....so go out and support your local Drive-In. (and don't forget your couch!)