Moooooooooo-veeeeeeeee

We don't get out to the movies much, let alone a first-run movie, but I took the kids out to see WALL-E, which just opened this weekend. Another year, another Pixar movie, and another success as the kids loved it.

A year ago I took all three myself as well to see Ratatouille, which of course means Colleen was a year younger. She enjoyed that movie well enough, but required a lot of hand-holding. OK, maybe lap-sitting. But a year makes a big difference -- even though this photo would suggest otherwise.

For those who have been under a rock or don't have children below the age of 13, WALL-E is an animated movie featuring a little robot left behind on earth sometime in the next hundred years to clean up after humans abandon the planet. Once there were many WALL-E units across the planet, but this is the last one.

Anyway, the kids loved it. We went out for ice cream afterward, which prompted the crying pose. Colleen wanted to pose in front of the garbage can and was upset at being moved. But I took the picture anyway. So stop your whining!

We were also surprised to find that Reston Town Center was the site of a bicycle race this afternoon, the Reston Town Center Grand Prix. It doesn't seem to be a Tour de France qualifying race, but the kids had fun watching the bikes go by for a few laps. There was also a trailer display with replicas and actual historic bikes, including a bike the same style as the 5-speed I rode in the early '80s.

I had to take the kids to the Reston theater because Cate doesn't stand up to interrogation! She gave Elizabeth so many hints as to what my surprise was I figured that if we went to our normal movie theater the kids would figure out the surprise right away. So I made use of a little misdirection and the kids were kept guessing right until we walked up to the front of the theater.