I Heart Faces: A Touch of Whimsy

This week's theme at I Heart Faces is A Touch of Whimsy!  I love this photo of my son and our neighbor's cat.  He is giving her a hug!  

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Trendy Treehouse - Father's Day

Matthew loves his Grandpa (and Grandpa loves Matthew!)!  This photo was taken on Father's Day and it makes me smile.

Father's Day & Another Day at the Lake!

I love that my parents live on a lake!  We get to visit and use our boat!  We always have so much fun!!!  Here are some photos from Father's Day:

Let's Hear It For the Boys

This week's challenge at I Heart Faces is "Let's Hear It For the Boys!".   Here is one of my favorite 'boys'!

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Dad

Father - Grandfather - Husband - Fisherman - Friend - Joke Teller - Hockey Fan - Football Fan - Golfer - Woodcarver - Hard Worker - Treasurer - and many, many more!

As I was working on this post, Katie asked if she could write it for me.  Here is what she added:  He is very funny.  He makes us laugh.  He has corny jokes sometimes.  He is a great fisherman and he eats a lot of fish.  Once his granddaughter, Katie, caught a big fish.  It was a catfish.  They had to throw it back in because we were not allowed to eat it.  He is a awesome dad and a phenomenal grandfather.  

We love you, Dad!!

Dance Recital

Oh, darling, don't you ever grow up, don't you ever grow up
Just stay this little

Oh, darling, don't you ever grow up, don't you ever grow up

It could stay this simple

These lyrics were played during Emily's recital.  It wasn't her even number but still, I felt my eyes begin to fill with tears just hearing the words.  Oh Emily, I do want you to grow up, but I also....don't.    

Photography Lesson

The other day a friend asked if I could give her a few photo taking and camera tips.  I am far from an expert, but I have learned a few things that qualified me for the task.

I started with aperture priority (A on a my Nikon and AV on her Cannon).   My quest for acquiring more photographic knowledge began with trying to figure out how to blur the background.  I now know that the blurry background is called bokeh.  The aperture is controlled by f-stops.  I am not going to explain this now, other than to say this:

The smaller the f number (e.g. f 2.8) = less of the photo in focus (i.e. creates the blurry background/great for portraits):

The larger the f number (e.g. f 16) = more of the photo that is in focus (great for landscapes). 

By switching to aperture priority mode, you control what is called, 'depth of field'.  This is the information that I gave to my friend.   We had a great time and I was able to capture a few shots for myself!

Time Trials - Hammerheads Swim Team

This is the first year for the girls to participate on a swim team!  It is very exciting!  Lots of practice, but tons of fun.  Plus, they get to go to the pool everyday!  What kid can argue with that?

Last night was a pre-meet.  I guess it was sort of like a regular meet, but with only our team.  Katie and Emily were great!  Having never competed like this before, neither one seemed the least bit nervous or scared.  A bonus for them was getting to write on their arms with permanent marker.  This may have actually been more exciting for them than the competitions!  Either way, Michael and I were very proud of them!

Of course, I was out there trying to capture the action with my camera.  Here are a few (ok, maybe more than a few!):