Date at the drive-in

We did another babysitting exchange with Mark & Cindy and this time it was our turn to go out. Mark came over and did the evening routine which we always kind of feel bad about because our kids go to sleep later than his so by babysitting ours, he actually has a longer day. Anyway, in search of our standard dinner and movie, Tom stumbled upon a local drive-in theater so we decided to check it out for fun.

The drive-in is a totally fun experience, there's a nostalgia about going, even though I didn't grow up with them nor did I live in the 50's. Tickets are $6.25 each and double features are the standard at this theater (we could only stay for one). We got dinner take out and munched in our car before and during the movie. The car next to us had a baby in it which then prompted the idea of this may be the way to do a movie with your kids. If your kids or baby fuss in the car, who cares? You're not bothering anybody else. It was the neat feeling of being in the privacy of our own car but having the shared experience of keeping alive one of the last few operating drive-ins in the country.

The sound in our Camry was surprisingly good because of the small enclosed space, kind of like singing in the bathroom. And we could talk in the movie and catch all the things that our 35 year old eyes and ears miss. Once in a while we turn on the ignition to get the fan to defog the windows (because it was cold out, not that there was any hanky panky in our BUCKET seats). And our view was great because we parked just behind a lane so there was no car directly in front of us. And clearly there were some veterans in the bunch, like the recreational van that parked backed in and opened the back doors and watched from the back of their van (wonder if that would work for a minivan?). I could picture tailgate style dinners before a summer movie or us going together with some friends and letting the kids play in one car and the parents watch the movie in another. Well, maybe when the kids are a little older.

After our movie was over, we stretched and looked around and found that the neighboring screen was playing Casino Royale (we watched Deja Vu). We fumbled around the other FM stations and found the audio for it and watched the last 15 min. If only we didn't have kids to come back to, we could have stayed there all night and watched them all, like the cars who parked far enough back to watch all 6 screens at the same time.

Other things that were great about our date:

- Going to our usual Chipotle to pick up dinner, but this time without having to hold Tobey up to watch our tacos being put together, nor grabbing a high chair or ordering a preschooler to follow us around.
- We got drinks at Starbuck's at which we ordered with the same guy from a couple weeks ago when my mom let us out on a post-bedtime date, us rather giddy at the thought of being childless for the night.
- Eating dinner without having to monitor Tobey's eating or stopping to feed Eli.
- Knowing that Mark is taking good care of our kids at home and for $0.

Can't wait to try it again, a new spin on our dinner and a movie.