Pictures Day

Happy Fatherhood Friday everyone!

And yes, I mean PictureS Day. Plural.

DISCLOSURE: The following was NOT a stunt, and should be only attempted by experienced families with multiple small children. Serious injury to body and mind are possible.

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So earlier this week, Mom-E took Little Brother for his 3 year-old pictures.

Because Mom-E and I (I sometimes go, because you really need two parents) like to make things as difficult as possible on ourselves we actually travel about 90 minutes--each way--to the same photographer who did our wedding. I know that sounds crazy, but it's DEFINITELY worth the trip. This photographer is truly "filet mignon", and makes anyone else seem like "roadkill." Okay, maybe that's extreme, but he's awesome.

We've been making the long trek for years now, and we've come to expect that no matter how horrible the trip there goes, small children will smile and the pictures will be amazing.

This week was no different.

There was a 6 mile stretch of vehicular crawling traffic jam on the interstate, and Mom-E was about 40 minutes late. (Fortunately, the photographer was late, too.)

And Little Brother fell asleep on the way. In this case, that's a bad thing, because in contrast to his usually happy little self, Little Brother is a screaming, fussing, incosolable snot ball for about 20 minutes after waking up from a nap (I don't get it).

Apparently he threw a fit in the studio, including, at one point, throwing the pants he was to wear in a trash can.

But then they started blowing bubbles, and soon all was right with the world.

And lots of wonderful pictures ensued.

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If you're not tired yet, you're in luck, because there's more.

We decided to have a family picture taken for Christmas cards this year at a store at the mall, rather than take our own and make the cards via Snapfish. In part because last year it took us about an hour of screaming to get a family photo in which most everyone was sorta-kinda looking at the camera

Mom-E looked at the calendar, and between work, child, and other schedules, the only two possible dates were the same day as Little Brother's 3 year-old photos OR the day before Thanksgiving.

Having a death wish hoping to avoid holiday traffic, we opted for a picture "two-fer".

So after work, I met up with Mom-E and the boys for Round 2. Ding-ding.

The boys like the picture place, because they either get crayons or balloons.

We ended up getting a nice family picture with 5 smiles and 5 pairs of eyes on the camera. And we got 50 Christmas cards plus an 8x10 for about $23, after coupons (i.e., cheaper than SnapFish). And, to boot, the whole family was color-coordinated, outfit-wise.

After the pictures, we had Subway (of course) at the mall, and then as promised took the boys to the playground at the mall afterwards. They all had a grand time.

Since it was getting kinda late for small men, at about 7pm, we decided to head home.

***
But as we were leaving, we noticed that Santa's workshop was up and SANTA WAS HOME!

Even better, there was ABSOLUTELY NO LINE!

Big Brother and Little Brother, to our amazement, both expressed excitement about sitting on Santa's lap. (Last year, Little Brother was terrified and Big Brother wanted no part).

Mom-E and I looked at each other and instantly shared the same (brilliantly) delusional fantasy:

3 boys, all with color-coordinated outfits, no line, and willingness to sit on Santa's lap?

WHY NOT! LET'S GO FOR THE TRIFECTA!

"BUSY DAD-E, FOR THE WIN!...

AND...

IT'S...

GOOD! YAY!"

In short, we completed the THIRD photo session of the day (condensing what would otherwise take 27 days into 1), with smiles and cheerfulness (and two trips to the potty while trying to get everyone into the van to go home.)

And so now, while all the rest of you are spending your Saturdays getting everyone ready and battling the long lines at the mall for Santa, we'll be home cleaning up the giant messes made by 3 small men relaxing, with our feet running all over tarnation kicked up, enjoying a cup of hot cocoa that's gone cold because we didn't have time to drink it, because someone had to pee, then the dog ate a sock, then someone else spilled something

Well, you get the idea.

Have a good weekend,
Busy-Dad-E