My main concern was getting the kids to cooperate. We did not really get any good group photos out of the pictures taken when Adeline was born because Oliver was very much not in the mood. This time, I did not want to take any chances. So I shamelessly decided to go with a parental weapon: bribery. Oliver LOVES Ninjagos (Lego ninjas with various techno gadgets, dragons, and "elemental powers"). So I bought him a new Ninjago set and said he could not see it, touch it, or have it until after the photos were done. I set ground rules about participation, being a good example to his sister, and his turtles only getting to make cameo appearances. The effectiveness of this strategy exceeded my expectations. You would have thought he was at a Vogue modeling shoot, this kid was hamming it up and a photographer's dream. At the end, I told him how happy I was that he did such a good job and that I knew he would have done just as good of a job even without the Ninjao reward. To which he replied, "I know I did a great job and I was a good example for my sister. I will keep this in mind in the future to remember how good of a job I can do. But, actually, I would not have done this great of a job if I had not been motivated to get my new Ninjao." So there you have it.
Here are some of the pictures, courtesy of Ninjao bribery.
