The other day we had to go get new passport photos for the kids because they are due for new ones. Can you believe that it’s been almost 5 years since the last time we did this?
They technically don’t expire until October, but since you have to have at least 6 months left on them to travel (except back to the US) we have to get them new ones before we travel to Dubai next month and Poland/Germany the month after that.
Camille, sans shoes. We arrive at the passport photo place and she says, “Mom! I don’t have any shoes!” I think she was banking on the fact that she usually has a spare pair in the car and didn’t realize that it had been cleaned out yesterday. Oh well, no one even seemed to notice.
She’s trying to make Caleb smile, but the photographer told all the kids, “No smiles. No teeth.” I wasn’t sure why, but I seem to recall that all the foreign passport photos I’ve seen have been very serious looking. I asked him why not and he said, “No teeth. No good.” Hmm, I could have sworn that the kids smiled in their previous photos. So I googled it after we left and sure enough, the American requirements only dictate that you have a neutral facial expression or a natural smile. Land of the Free, indeed. We let our people smile. Too bad that I figured it out after my kids had already been mugshotted up. I guess we’ll fix it 5 years from now.
So what kind of difference does 5 years make?
This one is the most dramatic difference. 11-16
Still a cutie. He gets a smile for his photo because he snuck one by the photographer and I told the guy that it was fine.
From 5 to 10. Less of a babyface, but still my baby.
From teeny baby to big girl. This time she was throwing up peace signs and dancing around the room. Last time we were trying to hold her head up straight through the white sheet (that I had to drape over myself) to get her to look at the camera. After 10 minutes and countless shots, that sideways-looking, lumpy baby face was the best we could get.
All this nostalgia deserves a little levity. I haven’t shared any Engrish pictures lately, but I went shopping the other day and found a bunch of funny ones:
My new favorite children’s book
It advertises “coloring, sticker, came, and achvhy” (instead of games and activities) Ooh, sounds exciting.
I don’t know whose baby in a bucket hat is on the cover of this coloring book, but it doesn’t have anything to do with the pictures inside of it.
Not only is it a “put wooden together of children’s picture” (instead of wooden puzzle) but the “new package, new marketing!” makes it extra special. I’m waiting for the exciting new ad campaign.
Alright, gotta start filling out the passport paperwork. It’s pages and pages times 4. I’m happy I won’t have to do it again for another 5 years.