Put the camera down...

We did have a great time at the ball game yesterday. We went with my mom, stepdad, brother and family, and sister and her family. Goobs and the Bun had a babysitter and stayed home (this was our first official teenaged babysitter-note: Brittany was fantastic with the kids and they had a wonderful time). It's great to go to a game with family and just get loud and a little rowdy. It was hot dogs, kettle corn, peanuts, and soda for all of us. Let's just say that I had a bit of a gut ache when it was all said and done, but it was truly a blast.

My mom has a bit of a problem though... She's a wonderful woman, who is a whole lot of fun. She lets her hair down and knows how to have a good time. She's got one thing that is just a hair bothersome...Her husband, kids, and their spouses have all been exposed to this little thing repeatedly. We are at the point now where we accept the problem for what it is and move one...but it is still there like the 600 lb Gorilla in the livingroom. It's mom and her camera. This fantastic woman morphs into something completely different and uncontrollable when you put a digital camera in her paws.

My mom suddenly wants to snap pictures of everyone. In itself, there's no problem with that at all. She just wants to arrange each family member in the right position and tries to get them in perfect poses. She's been known to tug on babies so they'll sit up straight for her photos. This is very serious for her...she feels that it is her duty to chronicle the development of the family. There is no room in her photos for silliness or brevity. She tolerates no finger bunny ears, tongues out, or goofy expressions. And...she takes a lot of pictures! My siblings and I feel we have to spice up those pictures, so right before she snaps shots we try to do those silly things that make family photography fun. We break into spontaneous stupidity. We get hollered at and told to stop it. It is our hope to make at least one of the pictures a goofy one. We didn't succeed yesterday. We had to be serious and smile big in the Metrodome yesterday. Oh well, there's always the big end of summer family reunion coming up in two weeks. We'll get her then.