Portrait of A Large Family

If you are like us, getting everyone in the family ready for a  portrait is no easy task.    First you have to get everyone dressed and ready.  Then you you have to get everyone ready in their pose.  Then you have to get them to stay there and pay attention so you can get the picture.  Sometimes I feel like I ran a marathon when I am done. Although, I don't really know what that is like because I never have or ever will run a marathon!


It is a good thing that photography is a hobby of mine.  A real photographer would take one look at my family and automatically triple his price!  So yes, I save a little extra money every year by doing this myself.  Every year we try to get a picture in Eden Park in Cincinnati, OH. This is one of my favorite places on Earth.  Here is one of my favorite pictures of this kids that I took there.   Do you have any other ways you save money with your family?   Any good stories from your family photos?  Please leave a comment below...

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--Rick http://gplus.to/rickbolt

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Top 5 Large Family-isms

Now it is your turn.  Tell us what kind of things you run into when you are out and about with your large family.  Here is a short list we see:


1) Inevitably we see people counting all of us.  This almost always happens everywhere we go.  Not just a mental count, but a finger pointing count.  It is amazing how hard it is for some people to count eight moving humans.  Someone usually answers there are Eight of us, six kids....
  

2) We also get the question "Why do you drive that big of a vehicle, doesn't the gas prices kill you?"   That is the only vehicle that will fit all of us at once. Sometimes it is nice not to take two cars to our destination of choice.

3)  My wife gets this a lot....  " You don't look like you have had six kids!"   Why does every woman that has had more than three kids have to be overweight?  I guess that is another stereotype.

4) "How do you pay for all of them?"   I just stand at the front door and pass out $100 bills as they leave...Just like you pay for your kids, only things get used more by more people.  Six colleges and two weddings.  I guess they are going to have to work a little to get what they want.  I think it will be good for them.

5) "Wow you have that many kids and you don't even wear denim skirts and home school!"  I think this is a religious reference.  Everyone thinks you are like the Duggars if you have more than three kids. We are also  fortunate to live in an area with a great school system and our kids fit in very well.   Again, that is another stereotype.  We are actually a pretty "normal" family.  There are just more of us.



I guess we just get used to it.  I will have to be more conscious of these in the future and post them here.
What are your large family-isms?   Please leave them in the comments below.

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The Large Family Car...Find the Perfect One?

Recently here in my household we are on a mission.  We want to find the perfect large family vehicle.  We currently have an 8 passenger Ford Expedition.  This fits all of my family (eight of us) very tightly. The kids are getting bigger, and if you have ever seen the third row seat in the Expy, it is not made for normal sized people. 

We are currently looking for a 12 passenger vehicle.  This should give plenty of room for all of the kids and all the things that we need to bring along for them on the weekend adventures we like to take.  I was all for a brand new Mercedes Sprinter Van, but my lovely wife brought me back to reality one we saw the price.  The advantage of the Sprinter is the space, style, and extremely efficient diesel engine.

Since the Sprinter has been eliminated due to price, we need to look at others.  We are currently looking for used 12 passenger vans.  Most all of these are nice, but they mostly have V8 gasoline engines that are extremely efficient with today's gas prices.  Here are some other 12 passenger vans we have been looking at:

http://www.chevrolet.com/express-cargo-and-passenger-vans.html

http://usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/cars-trucks/Nissan_NV/

http://www.ford.com/trucks/eseries/

http://www.gmc.com/savana-passenger-van.html

All of you beautiful large families out there!!!!!  I am reaching out to all of you, please, through the comment section, tell us what you think and what you drive or how you would do it differently. What vehicle are you considering next?



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