What I had in my favor:
Great camera
Great-looking kids
...uhm. Yep, that about does it.
What I had against me:
August afternoon in Texas
Cranky, sleepy infant and 3-year-old
Kids with attention spans the size of fire ants
Candy store in close proximity
Passersby
However, I have never been a fan of pro and con lists - they seem so negative. So, I'm looking at this background and I'm internally cheerleading the possibilities. Reality is having a good laugh at me.
Let's break the cons down into picture format.
Exhibit 1 (August afternoon in Texas):
In this picture, Cole is whining about how hot he is and asking if we can skip the pictures and go to the water area.
Exhibit 2 (Cranky, sleepy infant and toddler):
You can see that I chose two pictures. Look at how oblivious Stone is to Cade's tantrum.
Exhibit 3 (kids with short attention spans and nearby candy store):
After only four or five attempts, Cole decides (without my input) that it's time to go on to funner activities, like said candy store. I like the randomness of this one. It's sort of a snapshot of our life.
Exhibit 4 (passersby):
I FINALLY get Stone to look at me only to have Pearce and Cole looking off at different passersby. Not to mention Pearce has finally given up on holding Cade.
After 30 attempts (according to my camera roll), this is the best I got:
So, obviously, my kids weren't going to give me the cherished moment I was after. I decide to switch subjects and put Stone's friend in the game. You know, fresh players.
This is the first picture that I took:
It didn't get much better from that point.
And at last, with much coaxing from me and my friend Megan, we got them to give us brilliant fake smiles.
In this picture, Cole is whining about how hot he is and asking if we can skip the pictures and go to the water area.Exhibit 2 (Cranky, sleepy infant and toddler):
You can see that I chose two pictures. Look at how oblivious Stone is to Cade's tantrum.Exhibit 3 (kids with short attention spans and nearby candy store):
After only four or five attempts, Cole decides (without my input) that it's time to go on to funner activities, like said candy store. I like the randomness of this one. It's sort of a snapshot of our life.Exhibit 4 (passersby):
I FINALLY get Stone to look at me only to have Pearce and Cole looking off at different passersby. Not to mention Pearce has finally given up on holding Cade.After 30 attempts (according to my camera roll), this is the best I got:
So, obviously, my kids weren't going to give me the cherished moment I was after. I decide to switch subjects and put Stone's friend in the game. You know, fresh players.
This is the first picture that I took:
It didn't get much better from that point.
And at last, with much coaxing from me and my friend Megan, we got them to give us brilliant fake smiles.
Lesson for the day: Don't expect portrait quality family pictures after a day's walk around the zoo. In August. In Texas. With toddlers. Or infants.
So, you can't always get what you want. But if you try real hard you just might get what you can blog.
