My in-laws came for a visit last week. I’ve explained some of their story in a previous post. It poured rain the entire weekend of their visit.

Two of my husband’s younger brothers came along, as well as the youngest sister. My husband took the brothers out to the creek. They caught fish with a net and moved them to a deeper pond. A few of the fish they brought home!

The older brother got particularly drenched. He transferred some very heavy coolers of fish, so he was ready to go in and get cleaned up. Meanwhile, I took some pictures of the younger brother with the biggest carp.

That’s my husband, demonstrating how to hold a fish so it looks bigger for the camera. (From my perspective, the key decision for the above shot was… crocs or socks?)

Fish goatee, anyone??!

My brother-in-law wants to be an actor in front of a green screen. I didn’t know what a green screen was, but he was happy to explain. It’s a solid color screen (green, in this case, as opposed to a blue or other colored screen), which can be made transparent (in the editing) in order to superimpose different backgrounds. Clear as mud? It’s what weather forecasters use for a backdrop, or what was used to make movies like Avatar.

So we put him in front of a green… lawn, where he made fish faces for the camera. (Or rather, he made faces while holding a fish.) His expressions cracked me up!

Of course, the first thing you do when you’re holding a giant fish is to turn him into an air guitar.

“Thank you. Thank you. I’ll be here all evening.”

Then he played all sentimental about the fishy.

“Fishy, my boy, I wish you could live out of water.”

“Just imagine, you and me… the times we could have together…”

Next he switched to an annoyed role – all an act, of course.

“Uh, Debbie? Is this our final take yet?”

Yes, of course, that’s the last one…

Well, maybe just one more… probably my favorite…

Here’s something for the other brother, who is a Mario Brothers collector and 8-bit artist. We bonded over pixels…

This is my best attempt at pixellation for him. I think that fish is called Cheep-Cheep, and I think he’s part of a Mario Brothers game. But I’m not sure. My gaming abilities didn’t develop beyond PacMan. I figure some of these areas of expertise are best left to the next generation. 🙂

Thanks for coming, guys! Remember me when you’re famous!