Bringing The Big Screen To The Backyard

I can't believe how quickly this summer is flying by. And although it's been a very different summer from years past (thanks, Coronavirus) I've been impressed with how it's reminded me of the simple summers of years ago when I was a kid, when things weren't as complicated by technology and over-scheduling.

At least that's been the case in our neighborhood. All the kids have almost every day of this summer, from sun up to sun down, outside, playing on their bikes, running through the sprinkler, building forts. They even had a little lemonade stand at one point. Very few hours have been spent in front of the TV, on a tablet or playing video games.

I've said it before and I'll say it again; if there's one good thing to come out of all of this, seeing my kids get to experience even a glimpse of what a summer felt like before all that stuff existed, has been wonderful.

They've been allowed to just be kids for a minute.

And in celebration of that, and of our little close-knit neighborhood, I wanted to give the kids another little slice of what being young "back in the day" used to feel like. So I decided one of the best ways to do that was to show them The Goonies! But since we're all still taking steps to stay safe with social distancing-- we did it outside, on the big screen in the back yard.

We gathered up all the kids...

We bagged up a bunch of popcorn and candy. (I think the snacks may have been one of their favorite things about the night--mostly because they were free!)

Then we waited for dark.

And then the show began.

I'm not sure who got a bigger kick out of the experience, the kids or the parents. But it was really neat to hear the next generation laugh at all the silly parts of the movie that we thought were funny.

It was good to all be together. And just as The Goonies got through rough times by working as a team and supporting one another, that's what we're gonna do, too.