In Australia, child passports are valid for only five years. So I recently started the process to apply for new passports for the four girls which includes getting the pictures taken.

We’re not allowed to smile for the passport photos, and so I think it makes everyone look like solemn refugees. Still, it’s nice to have a record of the girls — especially in contrast to their photos from five years ago!

Passport photos for Aisha, Brioni, Calista and Delaney Fisher, June 2014
I'm too close to the girls to see the physical resemblance between their faces. Can you?

Even though Delaney’s passport is valid for nine months’ longer than her sisters, I decided to get hers renewed at the same time so all four girls are on the same cycle.

Now we’re set for our trip to Europe next month! Last year, I received an unexpected bequest from my deceased grandmother’s estate, and I’m using it to fund our flights and expenses overseas. We’re hoping to visit family members in Beijing and London as well as tour a little bit of western Europe in a campervan.

It’s exciting to plan the trip with the girls, but it also increases their appetite for travel. They’ve already started asking to visit the Statue of Liberty, and all I can say is “at the right time, you’ll see it!”