I didn't think, however, that we were photo worthy. Yes, to me {mom} any candid moment of my kids is photo worthy. But random strangers snapping our picture photo worthy?? I'm at a loss.
I don't mind. I don't get upset. I smile at them. I ready my Sharpie marker to sign something for them. They don't want my autograph apparently, they just want our picture.
Seriously, not joking. Weird.
I remember one of the first times our picture was taken was when we were on a bike trip when Bridger was younger. We had quite a contraption rigged up to hold him up in a bike seat since he didn't have muscle control to be able to maintain an upright position. Add to that the tandem bike with a child perched, pulling a trailer of children and my Barbie side-view mirror and alligator horn and we were the exact illustration of a Crazy Train. A woman ran up to us to stop us and ask if she could take our picture. It turns out she was the president of a bike association and wanted to take our picture for her website to showcase how families can still continue biking regardless of circumstance.
Oh, I thought, that is cool.
To this day, when we bike as a family, with our contraptions and tows, we are still asked to be photographed.
A hilarious Kodak moment was when we were in the middle of an epic sweaty screaming tantrum with Bridger at Universal Studios when the security guard asked to take our picture. Huh? Screaming meltdown mess?? Ok. We awkwardly posed as Bridger continued in his fit. It turned out that the security guard used that as a ice breaker to start a conversation with us as he was observant of our plight. He was wanting to be our personal escort throughout Harry Potter World to get us backdoor entrances to all the rides to bypass long lines to allow the other kids to have some fun while minimizing Bridger's meltdowns. He would escort us on the ride and then walk our wheelchair over to the exit where he would be waiting for us to escort us to the next ride. Turns out, he has a brother with special needs. Of course, I didn't have an issue with THAT picture request, which is still one of my favorite of all time.
I have lost exact count, but there has gone beyond several dozen photos now snapped of us by strangers. The latest was at Mount Rushmore.
Alan had a moment of road trip weakness and wanted to consider our drive-by sufficient to check this off our bucket list. Luckily, I wasn't experiencing one of my moments of weakness so we parked and hauled our troop in. Alan was glad I didn't give in to his drive-by suggestion. Mr. Rushmore deserved a closer look.
Four kids thought it interesting. One did not. Four went to look around and explore. One was just trying to get through it. And in those moments, his service dog senses when to step in and just plunked his big head on his lap to calm him. It is veeeery cute when he does this.
What I love about the picture below is the man behind Bridger, observing and smiling - thinking it just as cute as I did.
Kodak moment for me.
Kodak moment for 3 other strangers as well.
Random picture of random kid with his random dog taking up space on your memory card. To each his own.
Have you had people come snap a random picture of you? of your children? like a few dozen times?
Our day started with someone taking Bridger's picture with his service dog at the hotel and ended with a photo op at Mt. Rushmore. Nothing wrong about it. Flattering if they are taking the picture for the reason I hope they are. Mostly just. . .huh? really?
Snap away. It's ok. I know Bridger is just that cute (most of the time) . . .
The rest of them are also just that cute (most of the time) . . .
And so is he (all of the time). . .
