Thomas and Friends

This weekend we took Owen to Thomas' Big Day Out. There is a Thomas train to ride and all kinds of other fun stuff. We've been wanting to go the past few years but couldn't make it due to other obligations. So, even though it was raining like crazy, we packed up and drove to Union, IL for the big day.

Waiting to see Thomas

Thomas

Getting ready to ride Thomas

Meeting Sir Topham Hat

The railway museum where the event was at is one of the largest in the country or world (can't remember which) and they have all kinds of old trains that used to be in Chicago and Illinois, it was really neat.

Being silly

Old CTA Train

They even had old electric streetcars to ride.

There was a bounce house...
And tattoos and trains to play with.

One of Owen's favorite things was an old hand pedal car.

Picture by Owen

Despite the rain, mud and soggy conditions we all had a great time!!!!And here is Owen's certificate of participation:)

School Artwork and Sad Goodbyes

Owen's class had a Wild West theme and they made a story quilt. Such a cute idea!!!

The school also had an art fair a few weeks back and Maddi's room made this beautiful painting.

Sadly today we had to say goodbye to Maddi's best friend at school, Noemie:( Her family is moving to Singapore, so far away. The girls are one week apart and have been inseparable at daycare. Always hugging, kissing, etc. So sweet. We stopped by their place one last time to say goodbye. Ms. Rahel, their infant teacher came with us.
I tried a new app on my phone called hipstamatic, fun!
Goodbye Noemie and family, we will miss you!

Photography Class

Yesterday I took a compact digital photography course at the Chicago Photography Academy. Basically I wanted to learn how to truly use my camera. I found out about them through a groupon-type promotion.

It was fabulous. The class was 6 hours long and we covered all of the basics of how to do manual settings. I now know how to shoot without a flash no matter the light and how to manipulate my camera for all sorts of effects. Their ultimate goal is to enable you never to shoot on Auto.

During lunch we are asked to take lots of photos trying out different settings to see how the same photo looks with different setting changes.

Here are some of the photos I took from the day that I really liked:

Cool tile pattern in a store
Life in the city

Go Stillers!

Cool contrast
Lovely flowers
Bike loop shot on the wrong ISO
Bike loop shot on the correct ISO- Amazing!

This next series of photos was one of the neatest tricks I learned that day. I was trying to take a shot of this steeple and the light behind it was really casting a bad silhouette since it was so cloudy. I was struggling to capture any detail.

Original Shot

Switching up the ISO- helped a little, but still missing good detail of the steeple even though there was good cloud detail

My teacher caught me on the sidewalk trying to get the shot and taught me that if I hold my fingers over the light I want to remove, set the focus, move my fingers and then take the shot, it will remove enough light to get the detail. Here is the product:
Same exact shot, light everything. Crazy!!!! The sun did manage to come out during my lunch hour so I got this nice shot as well.

In the afternoon we learned to take "Macro" shots when we want to shoot something smaller with a lot of detail. A great technique for all you crafters and jewelers out there!

All in all it was a fabulous day and I definitely recommend this to anyone living in the Chicago area. They have other classes too, include ones for people with a SLR camera.

I'll leave you with a parting shot of Owen as a Woody/Buzz hybrid. He asked me to take his picture. Such a silly boy.
A big thanks to Brett for spending his Sunday running errands, doing laundry and watching the kids so I could get out and enjoy the day.

Baptism for Baby John

Today we celebrated the baptism of dear friend's baby, John. He is the baby of Jill and Jeff (Maddi's Godfather.)

It was so nice to be part of their celebration. The ceremony took place at Old St. Pat's which is where they were married.
Afterwards we went back to their house for some food and fun. It was so nice to catch up with friends and spend the morning celebrating with them.