Busy Weekend

We had a lot going on this weekend, which is unusual for us. Normally we hang out at home and not do much with our weekend.

Saturday morning Syd had her last swim meet of the season. It was the conference meet, the reason she swam 4 days a week and worked so hard for almost 5 months. She did really good and improved all of her times from previous meets in the season. She came away with a 4th, 5th, adn 6th place.

I wasn't in the best place to take pictures, but Syd is 2nd from the bottom, right under the blue diving board.

Last night we had tickets to a the Popovich Comedy and Pet Theater. It was a mix of silly skits and some animal tricks. The kids liked it more than Ken and I did, but it was still a pretty ok show.

I stole these pictures from other websites because they were much better than any I took with my camera. The show had many different cats, dogs, and birds that were all rescued from animal shelters around the country.

I was so happy to find this particular picture online. It was my favorite part of the show. Just made me laugh to see an orange cat pushing a dog in a baby carriage :)

Today is the annual Daddy Daughter Dance. Ken and Syd went for the first time last year and loved it. They have music, dancing, lots of food, and almost everyone in the area goes to it.

Syd loves to get dressed up and thinks her shoes are real high heels.

Making sure everything is straight and perfect.

Ready to get their groove on.

Photoshopping Without the Photoshop

I love looking at photography blogs and seeing what people do with their pictures. I'm always amazed at how they can turn an ok photo into something so great and interesting.But I can't say I've ever had the inclination or desire to buy any type of photo editing program and teach myself all the tricks I've seen other people use.

Now that I have my iPhone I don't have to spend hours editing pictures. I've found several apps that do all the work for me and I love it. All were either free, or less than $2, and all are easy to learn to use. The three I use the most are ColorSplash, PhotoStudio, and PhotoFunia. All of them do very different things, and wouldn't necessarily work for every photo you have. If you have an iPhone or iPad I highly recommend any or all of these apps.

I don't feel the need to edit every photo I take, and most end up on my blog exactly as they looked when I took them. But sometimes it's fun to play around and see what I can come up with. Some pictures get a subtle edit, and others a more noticable and dramatic effect.

I couldn't decide which ones not to put up, so I uploaded them all :)

Maden being his happy self. *PhotoStuido*

Christmas Day at Matt's house -- Cindy, Emerson, and Syd. *PhotoFunia*

Ken and I at my birthday dinner a couple of years ago *PhotoFunia*

First visit to Busch Gardens *PhotoFunia*

Ken and I at the Brad Paisley concert *PhotoFunia*

Maden making the face just before he does something funny. *PhotoFunia*

Maden loves my dad, and my dad loves Maden. Something about this effect makes my dad look so young. It could be Brian he's holding. *PhotoStudio*

Duda sitting on my lap *PhotoStudio*

Maden and the cat having a staredown in the bathtub. *PhotoStuido*

Maden wearing his cape. *PhotoStudio*

A different effect on the funny face. *PhotoStudio*

Maden trying on hats at the store. *PhotoStudio*




Maden in his elf suit at the Christmas party. *ColorSplash*

Another effect of the Brad Paisley concert. *PhotoStuido*

Brad Paisley doing what he does best. *PhotoStuido*

This is one of my favorite pictures ever. Brian was out of town taking his final test to become an RN. Maden was so happy to see him at the airport. And I think Brian was happy to see him too. Brian's favorite color has always been blue, so this was espeically fitting. I even entered it into an online contest for pictures depicting "LOVE."

Feeding the crazy birds at Busch Gardens for the first time. *ColorSplash*

Ken and Syd canoed the river and Storm and I were there to pick them up at the end of their ride. *ColorSplash*

Ken at the start of one of his Ironman races. *PhotoStudio*

Another one of my favorite pictures from picking up Randy at the airport when he came home from his mission. I even love Brian's face peeking over Randy's shoulder. *PhotoStudio*

How can you not love the circus? *ColorSplash*

Ken and I on the plan to Vegas when we got married. *PhotoStudio*

Everybody loves hugging on Maden. Randy got a turn when Grampa was gone. *ColorStuido*

By the Eifel Tower at the Paris in Vegas. *PhotoStuido*

Feeding the birds at the Grand Rapids Zoo *PhotoStuido*

Maden is a good smiler. *PhotoStuido*

Wingardum Leviosa -- Harry Potter at Universal. *PhotoStuido*

You can't even tell they like each other :) *PhotoStuido*

Even Gramma gets a turn sometimes. *PhotoStuido*

I love these 3. All done with ColorSplash. A little bit of color adds something so different and cute to each picture.