Siskel & Ebert meet Jurassic Park

No, we didn't take the boys to see Jurassic Park... (Geez, that movie even scares ME!) But we do have a new tradition as of last week! One of the local movie theatres plays free kid movies a couple of times a week during the summer, and this week it was Everyone's Hero...one of Kieran's favorites. (Thanks for loaning it, Finn!) I've been excited about taking him to see it, because he's never been to the movies before! I couldn't wait to see his reaction to the big screen, the surround sound, the popcorn! haha.

They loved all those things. Well, at first, Kieran put his hands over his ears and said it was too loud (which it was) but they turned the volume down soon afterwards. Connery loved just sitting in the folding seat by himself. He got folded up in it a couple of times until I figured out a way to put my foot on it and hold it open.

There was just one problem. You see, it turns out that this free movie gets filled up FAST by day cares, so they had NO seats left for us. And I had already made the mistake of telling Kieran that we were going to see Everyone's Hero. They opened another theatre and showed An Arctic Tale, which was cute, but Kieran kept reminding me that it wasn't Everyone's Hero. Even after the movie was over and we were getting into the van. He said, "But I thought we were going to watch Everyone's Hero." Somehow he wasn't buying my explanation. Maybe Surf's Up next week will make up for it. [Funny story: The boys got a little restless during the movie and I had struggled to get them to stay in their seats. Kieran needed to use the potty, so on our way back, we had a little meeting in the hallway. I said, "Boys, do you want to go back in to watch the movie?" They both said, "Yes!" "Then you have to be good and listen to Mommy, okay?" "Yes, ma'am." "And you have to SIT. DOWN." Connery sat down right there in the hallway!]

After the movie, we went for a picnic lunch at the Botanical Gardens. I always make sure to bring along sunscreen, extra juice boxes and their swim trunks, because the BG has wonderful wading pools and fountains the kids can play in. And once a week, they have a make-and-take craft for the kids. So this week, the boys planted their own begonias and picked out miniature dinosaurs to live in them! (It's all part of the fabulous Dinosaur Uproar at the BG.) The boys were so cute pouring potting soil into the pots, digging a hole, "massaging" the squared off roots...and not at all letting the dinosaurs live in their new "habitats." Are you kidding?? They wanted to play with those things! Let's see, the dinosaurs swam with them, jumped off rocks, hid in trees, jumped on the brother's heads, and even fell asleep with them in the van.

A walk through the butterfly house cooled us off. Kieran remembered the turtles from last year. Surprisingly, Connery didn't want to touch one. He's usually the daring kid, but everybody's got limits, right? And a caterpillar somehow made its way onto my toe, which made the boys giggle. (And me, too. Caterpillars are a little ticklish.)