A few weeks ago, after watching Secretariat for Family Movie Night, we decided to plan a trip to see actual horse races and had so much fun! I’ll share more about it and some pics below, but first…
…Our movie inspired outing and the months of cozy weather ahead had me dreaming up a list of fall movies so I thought I would share! I separated younger kid movies from ones to watch on date-night-in or with the older kids, but you might also want to check movie reviews on Common Sense Media (if you don’t already?). Not an ad, just a really good (well rounded) resource for us parents! Takes the guesswork out.
FALL MOVIES FOR FAMILY MOVIE NIGHT
- hocus pocus
- halloweentown
- hotel transylvania
- e.t.
- twitches
- bed knobs and broomsticks
- it’s the great pumpkin, charlie brown
- casper
- harry potter and the sorcerer’s stone (save this one for school age kids)
- mom’s got a date with a vampire
- matilda
- a charlie brown thanksgiving
- little giants (football season!)
- enchanted
FAVORITE FALL MOVIES FOR DATE NIGHT (OR OLDER KIDS)
- scream
- practical magic
- buffy the vampire slayer
- ghostbusters (80’s version of a PG movie so more like a PG-13)
- gremlins
- the addams family
- the goonies
- stepmom
- rudy
- marley and me
- you’ve got mail
- the blind side
- good will hunting
- ferris bueller’s day off (fun for back to school!)
- sweet home alabama
- election (because election season!)
- meet joe black (might be a good one too!)
A FEW OTHER RANDOM ONES THAT ARE ON OUR MOVIE LIST (not divided by age)
- willy wonka
- the parent trap
- annie
- mary poppies
- the sandlot (always)
- mrs. doubtfire
- the princess bride
- my girl
- father of the bride
- alexander and the terrible horrible no good very bad day.
- house of rock
- troop beverly hills
For those of you with different ages of movie goers (i.e. little ones that need an earlier bedtime and/or don’t sit through a full movie and older ones that are eager to stay up and watch), something that worked for us is planning a halftime or intermission after 30 minutes or so then taking a break to put the younger ones down and grabbing a snack or treat for the older ones before starting the movie again.
Now, back to our outing to the horse track, which was much more casual and laidback than I imagined. Parking was easy, there was lots of space for the kids to run around and it wasn’t crowded at all. Even better, the prices were reasonable enough to not feel pressure to stay all day (gotta get your moneys worth, ya know!).
A bunch of pics from the afternoon!
A few pics I took with my phone!
The food was bad, but still good if you know what I mean.
Now back to the big camera :)
The horses were so big and strong and the races were fun to watch but I think more than anything the kids enjoyed placing bets — even if all we were betting was $1. Made watching the races extra exciting! After each race you could see the horses being walked back to their stables. So stunning to see them up close!
In the below pics, Johan told the kids to act like their horse just won the race, lol… this is what he got!
The boys were obviously way more into it, ha! Love their enthusiasm.
Love experiencing new things with them! Also love me a good movie night with just Johan or as a family… makes me want to make a bowl of popcorn and turn on a flick right now!
Speaking of popcorn, what’s your go-to snack or treat of choice during a movie?
Something we haven’t done much of, but I remember from family nights during my childhood, is making and drinking milkshakes. We had a fancy milkshake maker and my dad would think up the best combos! Need to add milkshake fixings to my shopping list ASAP :)
XO, Rae
PS – for those that are curious, my jumpsuit is from topshop and poppy’s dress is alice and ames
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