Big time family pictures

When Michael's brother told us that they were going to come for a visit this summer my father-in-law and I immediately started talking about getting real, posed family portraits taken.   We had pictures of just the grandkids taken four years ago, but Elliott was a fetus at the time so he wasn't included.  Plus it was four years ago.  The kids have all changed a lot since then.  If you're interested you can see that photo shoot HERE.  The last time we had a whole family picture taken was in 2010.  It was pre-Elliott and it was just a casual snapshot taken outside in Vermont.  

So, a week and a half ago we headed to the portrait studio and got some real gems.  We ordered the CD so we will be able to order as many prints as we want.

It all started with these two.

Michael's family of origin. 

 I just love, love, LOVE that Michael and his brother are 38 and 40 and they took this picture with their parents.

And I LOOOOOOOOOOOVE that Michael is a floating head in this picture.

Everybody

I have posted these pretty much in the order that they were taken.  After we got the "good" family ones, the photographer told us to make silly faces. My father-in-law didn't have his hearing aids in though, so he missed the directions and the result is that he looks like a GQ model surrounded by a sea of fools  (yes, I know.  It's the same joke I used on facebook).  We didn't even know that this had happened until the very end when we were looking at all of the pictures. He had NO idea we had all been making funny faces and we had no idea he wasn't.

Grandparents and grandkids.

All the men.

The ladies.  This family is very male-heavy.

We also didn't get a goofy girls picture.  Probably because we're too lovely and elegant for such tomfoolery. 

Just the grandkids.

Individual families

Michael's parents are going to order what can only be described as a poster size print of the whole family to hang in their living room. Thank god it came out well.

First day of 2nd grade and preschool

Today was the first day of school.  Summer vacation is over.  The first day of school is always very exciting and something to look forward to, and then reality hits.  The reality of, oh my god, we have to get up early again tomorrow?

Michael took the day off today so we could celebrate having two children in school.  It was nice to have him at home to help me get everyone up and ready, and to take all the pictures and to get them to school.  I'm going to be like a wounded little bird doing it alone tomorrow.

This was moments before we left.  We actually took these pictures last, but I am showing them first because it will help with the flow of the post.

Here are all of Spencer's first day pictures.  My 13 year project is coming along very nicely.

Michael took Spencer to school.  I reminded him about 65 times to get a vertical picture in front of the door.

And now, some side-by-side comparisons.  

Kindergarten, 1st grade and 2nd grade

Based on all of your recommendations I was not going to start taking all of the comparison pictures of Elliott until he started kindergarten.  I was just going to get one or two of him in the entry way in his first day of school outfit.  But then he was really sad this morning when we started taking Spencer's pictures and I said I wasn't going to take his picture. He said he really wanted his picture in all the places too.  How could I say no?

Maybe, in the year 2030, when I make Elliott's comparison book I won't be so rigid and uptight and it won't matter to me that his book has more pictures/years than Spencer's book.  I'm sure I will write an in-depth analysis post about it.  And I'll share a link to this post and we'll all talk about how it's crazy that it's been 15 years because it feels like this was just yesterday.  Good lord.  I'll be 50.

Elliott's first day pictures.

Luckily we already had an extra one of these boards.

I dropped Elliott off at school.  I hope far less people are walking their elementary age kids in to school on Wednesday, because we had to park a block away and walk and I'm going to be very cranky if I have to do that three days a week.  Spencer went to afternoon preschool so drop-off was never busy.

Michael and I met up back at home and then left again immediately to go buy a sugar filled breakfast.  This is my last sugar hurrah until my birthday.

We tried a new donut place close to us. 

Our first ever cronut.  It was caramel cream. 

And our first ever maple bacon donut.  It was too much.  Delicious, but too much. 

Ginger's back to school picture. 

Both of the kids had great first days at school, but I actually didn't take any post-school pictures.  Mostly because my parents came back from Europe today and I picked them up from the airport and then we still had swim lessons, so it was a go-go-go kind of afternoon.  

Elliott and I are going to Mesa tomorrow and then we have friends visiting in the afternoon.  Fun times.