The big 3-0 (and Photoshop actions)

Folks, today is my 30th birthday. How can it be? I've never been one to care about age, but somehow 30 feels...significant. Always looking for an excuse to be outdoors, I requested we celebrate over breakfast at a local park with my sister, Meg, and her family. Our morning went something like this:

Cricket and Cousin Iris played and played.

Then they smelled some flowers.

Then we all climbed a big hill (Cricket ran up it, head down, arms pumping) to our picnic table, where Meg served a delicious breakfast of ricotta cheesecake and roasted strawberry buttermilk cake. Yum.

My brother-in-law, Christo, grabbed the camera and took this shot of Nora with her old mom.

Because we met up mid-morning, the golden hour for taking photos was long gone; the sun was blazing. If you've spent any time on my blog or website, you know I love bold colors. But since these photos were a bit stark in the bright light, I decided to run them through a Photoshop action called Heartland by The Pioneer Woman. Have you used actions before? I just added some to my tool box a few months ago and am always looking for opportunities to use them. 

The Heartland effect turned out well, but I couldn't resist including a few color shots since Cricket's eyes are so blue. I can't wait to see what color Nora's will be when they finish changing. (Christo also took the photo below of Nora.)

Let my 30s begin!