Christmas In July at the Drive-In

There are no greater pleasures in life than finding joy in the simple things.
It's a motto that I've struggled and have tried to come to terms with while living the small town life in Pennsylvania.

While most of you are running a mile or two to your closest Target and enjoying the bountiful caffeine blessings of Starbucks, where I live it's a 45 minute drive and usually a 'let's make a day of this' adventure to these common places. Do I miss the big city life and convenience of living in Orlando and just Florida in general? Ummm, yes...pretty much every other day....but I'm also reminded sometimes that slow simple living isn't so bad itself.

The close proximity to family makes play dates a breeze and with the adventures and new normals I try to create with Amaya, we've gone on many of our dates with my sister and nephews. Yesterday was no exception when we decided to take all the kiddos to their first drive in movie.

We had a little drive out into the country to the Sky-Vu Drive In to enjoy their Christmas in July showings of Polar Express and National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation.

Sleeping bags and pillows lined the bed of the truck and snacks were a plenty, ranging from chips to chocolate. We entertained them for an hour and a half out in the country until the sun went down and the movie started.

My nephews were immediately enthralled as soon as the bells and train whistles rang out for the Polar Express while Amaya decided 30 minutes in that it was bedtime and slept through the rest of the movie cuddled and content on the sleeping bag. Either way, I enjoyed every moment of it, especially just enjoying the summer night out under the stars.

I commend the owners of the drive in because they went above and beyond with their presentation and customer service. Since they were doing 'Christmas In July' they had Santa and Mrs. Clause there offering to take pictures and hand out candy canes while a sweet Christmas tree shimmered beside and Christmas music and songs hummed through the intercom. Just for that I would've cone back but the owner also helped when my sister and I foolishly killed out battery during the movie and helped us jump it afterwards.

We are trying to stuff the rest of our summer with fun activities before winter comes and sweeps the outdoor fun away, so share what quintessential summer activities are you enjoying or that we're missing.