Not So Lazy Days: Movies, library entertain on first day with no school

Okay, I'll admit it. We're a family of geeks.

Today was the first day of summer vacation for the kids, and what do we do? We see Green Lantern at the first available daylight showing and we go to the library.

Oh, and not only do we go to Green Lantern on opening day, but half of our family is among those wearing Green Lantern t-shirts at the movie theater.

And, did mention a highlight of the movie was seeing the new trailer for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows 2, or as we call it, DH2?

The kids enjoyed both the DH2 trailer as well as the feature film. Green Lantern wasn't as bad as the reviewers are claiming it is. It's a superhero movie. It's not trying to win Academy Awards. It's meant to entertain.

(FYI- We saw Thor a couple of weeks ago. The boys said Thor was better than Green Lantern)

Maybe Mr. Popper's Penguins, which also opened today, would have been a better pick age-wise and review-wise, but superheroes always come before penguins when you have boys who even know D-list superheroes,

The movie mixed plot, action and humor well enough to keep the kids entertained, which for a superhero who is not Superman, Batman, Spider-Man or Wonder Woman, is not an easy task since you have to educate the non-geeks.

Overall, it was better than Superman Returns and the CGI was better than The Hulk, which is not saying much for the CGI. Let's just say the screen Judy Garland almost skipped into in the Wizard of Oz was more realistic-looking than some of the space scenery in Green Lantern.

Because we went to the 10:45 a.m. showing, tickets were only $6 each. We also used out AMC Stubs card to upgrade our popcorn for sharing. (Using our Stubs card also helped us earn credit toward seeing DH2 for $10 less... see links for more information on AMC Stubs)

In the afternoon, we visited the public library to make Father's Day crafts. Our library had paper, foam stickers, markers, scissors and glue set out on tables in the children's section for the kids to make cards or any paper craft they desired for dad.

Children were able to drop-in anytime during the day to make their craft. The craft will be available tomorrow for those who couldn't make it to the library today,

By having the colorful sign-up materials on a table nearby, the library also used this as an opportunity to get kids involved in their summer reading program. Both of my boys eventually signed up, as did just about every other child I saw in the library the same time we were there.

The library has a lot of great activities planned over the summer with the theme, "One World, Many Stories." (See links for library events in Burlington County)

I've challenged myself to find a new activity to do five days a week every week of the kids' summer vacation. Activities will fall under one of three categories: Arts & Crafts, Sports & Games or Field Trips. Follow me on Twitter @readallaboutsam for immediate updates on posts!