Cars 2

Stop me if you've heard this one.

So, a toddler and a preschooler walk into a movie theatre....

Oh wait, you think you know how it ends already??

Well, unless you've been living under a rock (or you don't have kids) you probably know that the sequel to Austin's all-time favorite movie, Cars, came out on Friday.  We could hardly wait to watch him experience his first movie in a theatre!  I just knew it was going to be a huge hit!  We decided on the Saturday matinee and we also decided to bring Owen instead of spending the money to hire a sitter.  Probably not our wisest decision....

So, we got there ridiculously early because we heard the previous showings had been selling out.  We sat through 15 minutes of pre-previews and another 15 minutes of actual previews.  (I mean, seriously?  Why do there have to be so many previews in a kids movie?  Don't they realize that children are incredibly impatient??)  Finally, the movie started and I was convinced that both boys would immediately calm down and be entertained once they saw their good friends Mater and Lightning on the screen.

Austin actually did great at first, besides the fact that he has no volume control and thought he had to yell everything to make sure we could hear him, he was at least sitting and paying attention to what was on the screen.  Owen, however, was quite intrigued with the new surroundings and wanted to get down and explore.  It took daddy's lap, a firm grip, half a bag of popcorn and 2 dum-dums, but he lasted a surprisingly long 45 minutes before it got to be too much (or he got too full) and I had to take him out of the movie.  Luckily, we opted for the Concord Mills movie theatre so Owen and I got to stroll around and do some shopping and playing while the other two boys enjoyed stayed for the rest of the movie.

About the time Owen started getting antsy and right before I decided to leave, Austin started getting bored and began playing movie theatre musical chairs.  We were lucky to have half an empty row beside us because Austin decided he wanted to sit in each and every chair in our row.  He'd get all the way down, look back at me, I'd shoot him my "evil eye" and then he'd slowly make his way back down to where we were sitting.  It was looking like our first movie experience was going to be an all around failure.  I honestly figured that Ryan and Austin would make their way out of the theatre right behind us, but I should have known better!  My dear husband isn't one for "wasting" money and he was pretty into the movie himself,  so he tempted Austin with popcorn and fruit snacks and managed to keep him relatively still and quiet for the remaining 75 minutes.  I'm pretty sure I would have just given up and waited for the DVD release, but I have to hand it to Ryan for sticking it out!!

There was no crying and no meltdowns, so in a way I consider that a success, but I can pretty much promise that we won't attempt anymore movies anytime soon...well, unless they come out with a Super Why or Bubble Guppies movie that is...

We ended the night with dinner in the food court and a carousel ride. At least we finally found something for both boys to do that they actually enjoyed!