Photoshop Magic

Whenever someone finds out that I "know" photoshop one of their first questions is about altering photos and what kind of "magic" I can do. I thought I'd share this recent example...

I really wanted a photo of my daughter and my cousins son (they are 4 months apart, my cousin and I are 3 months apart) together, since we don't see them very often. Well as you can probably guess, the two toddlers never did manage to look at the camera at the same time.

Original 5 shots

Best shot of Jillian

Best shot of Milo

Final photo of the two of them. Can you tell that it's 2 pics put together in photoshop?

First Day of School!

Jillian started preschool this week! Such a cutie and so proud of her pony backpack. We went out to lunch after school and when we got home she asked if she could go back to school.

Summer of Fun - August

We celebrated Fipsy's 9th birthday on August 3.

We spent the night in a caboose at Wildlife Prairie State Park in Peoria, IL.

The next night we stayed at Riley's Railhouse in Chesterton, IN, super cool bed and breakfast in a renovated train depot and active rail line across the street. 

Jillian hanging out in the kids loft at Riley's Railhouse.

Beach at Indiana Dunes State Park

We met up with some friends in the chicago area and the girls got to spend the morning together at Pirate's Cove Theme Park - a park designed just for little kids!

Summer of Fun - July

Photos from our July Summer of Fun activities...

Contemporary Art Museum Playdate, we built the "pony balloon" you see on the table behind her

Weiner Mobile!

Practicing for her future career as a veterinarian 

Pop Goes the Jillian (a new favorite game)

Storytime at the library - identifying colored crayons felt board activity

Lots of cooking - here she's making banana bread for Daddy

Lots and Lots of paintings

Feeding a camel at a birthday party at Grant's Farm

Summer of Fun - Grants Farm

Mommy, age 2, feeding the goats at Grant's Farm - Oct. 1984

Jillian, age 2, feeding the goats at Grant's Farm - June 2012

Summer of Fun - June

Visiting a friend's chickens

Visiting Grandpa's lab at the University of Missouri-Columbia

Nerf Archery at Whispering Pines Girl Scout Day Camp

Kick Croquet in the yard (1/2 a $1 store hula hoop)

Feeding the Koi at the Botanical Gardens

She was a big fan of the Lantern Festival at the Botanical Gardens

Mommy and Daddy's 6th anniversary

Summer of Fun - May

"Big Horse" at Suson Park

Too cute not to share (Children's Zoo at the St. Louis Zoo)

Stingrays at the St. Louis Zoo

She loves the elephants 

Train with mommy at the St. Louis Zoo

Playing kitchen at the 'new' Creation Station at the Museum of Transportation

Summer of Fun: Things to Do

I've become a pinterest addict and I want to actually try some of the ideas I've seen there. Below is a list in no particular order.

1. Sensory Activities
1. Waterbeads
2. Indoor Activities
1. Foam window clings
2. Bubble Bath Paint
3. Music and Movement Rings
3. Crafts
1. Paper Bag Puppets
2. Paint a t-shirt
3. noodle marble run
4. Egg Carton Train
5. collages
6. Lava Lamp Art Project
4. Outdoor Activities
1. kick croquet (make our own set with hulahoops)
2. Sponge Water Bombs
3. Hose Shower
4. Water Balloon Pinatas
5. Build a PVC Pipe Playhouse
6. Homemade PVC sprinkler
5. Bubble Activities
1. Snake Bubbles
2. Water Bottle Bubbles
3. Pipe Cleaner bubble wands
4. Paper Bubble Cone
5. Super Strong Bubble Recipe
6. String and Straw bubble wand
7. human bubbles
6. Sidewalk Chalk
1. Sidewalk Chalk Paint
2. Trace your body and color in

Summer of Fun: Places to Go

I am working on a list of awesome toddler ideas to keep Jillian and me occupied this summer, things to go see and do and adventures to have at home. Here is a list of places we can go together. As we make our trips, I'll try to blog about our adventures. The list below is in no particular order.

1. St. Louis Zoo (new sea lion exhibit opens June 30)
2. St. Louis Science Center (Discovery Room)
3. Magic House Trip (Sandcastle Beach exhibit May 17-July 1)
4. Botanical Gardens (children's garden and feeding the koi)
5. Tower Grove Park (playground and wading pool)
6. City Garden
7. City Museum (Toddler Town exhibit)
8. Grants Farm
9. Purina Farms
10. Circus Flora ("Little Top" Wednesdays - a special 1 hour show for kids at 10 am)
11. Transportation Museum (new creation station for kids)
12. Swimming at Ballwin North Pointe Family Aquatic Center
13. Swimming at Ellisville Edge Aquatic Center
14. Swimming at Manchester Aquatic Center
15. Swimming at Chesterfield Family Aquatic Center
16. Swimming at Des Peres Outdoor Aquatic Center
17. Free movies at Wehrenberg Theatres (Wednesdays and Thursdays June 6 thru Aug 16)
18. Laumeier Sculpture Park
19. Shaw Nature Reserve
20. Dog Museum at Quenny Park (Is this any good for kids?)
21. Farmer's Markets
22. Contemporary Art Museum (They host playdates for kids ages 2-5 on the first Tuesday of each month)
23. Suson Park Farm
24. Mark Twain Lake - Spalding Beach
25. Miscellaneous parks to add to Play St. Louis
26. Visit family in Columbia, MO
27. Visit family in Chicago
28. Visit family in Peoria, IL

Day 22: Where You Work

Cool decals on the office wall of one of my clients.

Want to play along?

 

Day 19: Something You Hate To Do

I LOVE my Chili chinchilla but I HATE to swap out the fleece mats in her cage. Each velcro tab has to be pulled thru the bars and stick the two sides together. My fingers hurt after this job - and it has to be done every other day.

Want to play along?

 

Day 16: Something New

We tried a new activity from pinterest today. It's flour and baby oil. It ends up having a consistency similar to beach sand. It feels pretty cool, but Jillian got a little too excited and threw it all over the kitchen. The recipe is 4 cups of flour to 1 cup of baby oil, but I ended up using a whole bag of flour and a whole bottle of baby oil.

Want to play along?

 

Day 13: Blue

The only "real" snow of the winter thus far, and it lasted less than 24 hours. Jillian discovered how much she LOVES the snow and the sled and ever since has been talking about the "snowy" non-stop.

Want to play along?

 

Day 12: Inside Your Closet

Lots of clothes that don't actually fit me....hopefully someday they will fit again.

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Day 9: Front Door

The front door. Enough said.

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Day 8: Sun

The theme of Jillian's 2nd birthday party is "The Very Hungry Caterpillar." As a result, we've been reading this book a lot!

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Day 7: Button

Yellow buttons on Jillian's new stuffed Mario backpack. She has been carrying him around non-stop since she picked him out last night.

Want to play along?