July
2008
A Trip to the Big Screen, and Other Fun Activities1
We took advantage of Mike being home this past weekend, in between his trips to Las Vegas and Chicago. We started the morning off with a visit to the Art Walk on Whyte Ave. There was lots of good stuff there and had I not been pulled away by the little hand in mine, I would have liked to look at at some more closely. But the boys did a great job and we got to talk a little bit about visual art. Some things they told us just were ‘not art’, but trying to explain subjectivity in art to a 3-year old, is, well, futile. If they don’t like it it doesn’t matter if anyone else does. So along we went. Afterwards I asked Brandon if he liked the pictures that were painted better, or the ones taken with a camera. My son came through for me with a resounding, “the camera ones!” Which makes me think that I have not yet jaded them with all the pictures I’ve taken of them. 
After our long walk back to the car, the boys slept while we ran some errands. We made it back home with just enough time for me to run to the corner and get some groceries before hitting the LRT and heading downtown to see Wall-e. Anna met us at our place (and her new neighborhood beginning in August!) and we walked to the LRT, took it to City Centre Mall and the Cinema for the boys’ first trip to a real movie theater. I was worried because we were running a little behind, but the theatre wasn’t even half full. So that worked out well for us. We have been practicing for the past few months with movie nights every week or so. We pop some popcorn, curl up on the couch, turn down the lights, and play a movie off of the computer. Not exactly the big screen, but the boys have been working on being quiet when the movie is on and not getting up and down. So this was our big test. Would they make it the whole way through? Would we have to leave early? We found an empty row of seats about halfway down, I sat on the end in case someone needed to get out fast. While Anna, the boys and I were getting our popcorn I found seats that the kids could sit on to make them higher. I remember seeing these a long time ago, but forgot all about them. They seemed to work well for the boys and kept them from squishing up in the seat. They had a hard time sitting during the previews and kept asking “where’s Wall-e?” But once it started they did a great job with minimal talking and fidgeting. The middle of the movie was a bit slow and the robot theme was not something they have much experience with ( I know, I know, we’re working on it 
), so about halfway through Bran ended up on Mike’s lap and Drew was having trouble sitting still, alternating between wiggling and laying on my arm. But it picked up again and they were back to watching.
After the movie we walked a block or so to the Spaghetti Factory, where Joel met up with us and we had a great dinner. The boys were telling us all about Wall-e and Eve. Eve was Drew’s favorite and Bran liked Wall-e best. We had trouble keeping them still for dinner and were reminded once again why we don’t go out as a family by ourselves and how glad we are that our friends are willing to take on some responsibility in keeping the boys entertained. Thanks Anna and Joel!
All in all our first trip to the big screen was positive and I think we’ll try again in the fall.
Now we’re off for a weekend of camping in Jasper, which we haven’t done since the boys were a year old. I’m nervous and excited at the same time. They’re way more mobile and they like to run…
