Free Family Film Festival

Every summer the kiddies and I look forward to free movies at the local theaters. Regal Cinemas has the Free Family Film Festival, and the local MNM Theaters has free movies as well. They start at 10 AM, and are older movies for kids and families.

Today we saw The Tale of Despereaux. I took the two neighbor kids, so I had seven kids in all. We got there twenty minutes early, because you have to get there at least that early to get seats, let alone for eight people. I saw a day-care van in the parking lot I was worried we weren't going to get seats, but there were plenty. Usually, you see those little matching shirts filing in, and forget about it. This about the third or fourth movie so far, so it wasn't as packed. You practically have to get there an hour early for the first movie of the season.

I had to take the baby out about one fourth of the way through, so I didn't really get to see the "tale." Baby just wanted to climb the steps which were so nicely lit in the darkness. Sparkly and spaced just right so he could climb down them too without falling on his chubby little face. He kept climbing too far away, so I tried to bribe him with a Sprite to sit on my lap. He slobbered on the straw and pushed it in and out of the lid to make violin-type noises. That entertained him about thirty seconds. I then tried to nurse him to sleep, because it was time for his morning nappy. No way was he going to nurse with the glittering steps and lots of people to look cute for. So we went out to the hall, where we perused the posters of movies to be released. He liked the The Ugly Truth poster. He was probably intrigued by Katherine Heigl's boobs. He let me nurse him after that.

He fell asleep, and we went in for the end of the movie. All the kiddies were still in their seats and hadn't been kidnapped.

From what I did see of the movie, it was suspenseful, and maybe a little too scary for the really young. The graphics were wonderful; it was a beautifully visual film. My daughter loves the story, which I can't speak for since I only saw the beginning and the end. Something about soup, rain, rats, mice, and a princess. Substitute boys for rats and mice, and you have my house on a cold rainy day.

http://www.regmovies.com/nowshowing/familyfilmfestivalschedule.aspx