Over the summer a very cute little cat strolled into our yard and stole our hearts. We call him “Roller” because he likes to roll over and have his tummy scratched. He began visiting daily and likes to follow us to the back yard and chase things (he especially likes chasing blades of our decorative grass).

 Every morning at 6:30AM he’s sitting on porch waiting for us to wake up and feed him. (He cries loudly as soon as he hears us make a sound). Until recently he was not allowed in the house but it’s really hard to close the door when you hear that crying (yes, I’m a pushover)…. so now he’s part of the family. We still haven’t found out who the true owner is but we’re going to put a collar and note on him in hopes we can adopt him since it’s obvious he likes being at our house (yes, he has a bowl at our house… how else would I feed him??)

View photos of our borrowed cat Roller.

Posted in Friends & Family 117 Comments »

Our friends Kurt and Susanne visited from Dallas over the 4th of July holiday. Unfortunately a heat wave was starting during their visit so they did not escape the heat from Dallas. We had a great weekend sightseeing around the city, eating, and hiking in the mountains. It was great to catch up with them!

View our photos from Kurt and Susanne’s visit.

Posted in Friends & Family, Seattle 1,148 Comments »

( Sorry for the “essay” but I had a lot to write about!)

 We had a great visit with my parents, my sister Patty and our friend Sue last week. Mom’s first flight ever was smooth and uneventful so we hope they’ll make the trip again soon!

We packed a lot into 5 days and saw a good portion of the state! With the exception of whales, salmon, and the space needle, we hit everything on the itinerary!

We visited the Ballard locks and the salmon ladder. We had hoped to see salmon swimming in the ladder but it’s not the right time of year and unfortunately we were not able to see any salmon. The Locks aren’t a typical tourist destination but it is one of Zvonimir and my favorite places.

We visited Pike’s Place Market where we watched the fish flying through the air, bought some amazing fruits, vegetables, and local crab for dinner. We listened to some street performers and were entertained by the colorful locals. After the market we took the Argosy lakes cruise which takes you through Lake Union out onto Lake Washington.

Later that night my cousin Bill and his family, Leslie, Jack and Cole, as well as Leslie’s father, Richard, joined us for dinner. We had a great time catching up and eating our market purchases.

We did quite a bit of driving on this trip. We put over 1000 miles on the car in 5 days! On our first road trip covered nearly 350 miles. We drove north to Stevens Pass where there is still nearly 10 ft of snow on the ground. Then we drove on to Leavenworth, which underwent a transformation in 1962 to mock a Bavarian village to revitalize its economy. Then on to Aplets and Coblets factory so Sue and Pat could buy some treats.

Returning home we traveled through the farmland of central Washington to the Columbia River Gorge, where we took a quick detour to see several petrified trees.

Patty nearly killed us as she yelled “Z STOP!” on the highway and we were forced to pull to the side of the road. I thought maybe she had been stung by a killer bee or something but as it turns out she thought she spotted a cool bird (later we learned that the bird she thought she spotted doesn’t even live in WA…). En route to Snoqualmie pass we also saw a herd of Elk covering the hillside. We returned home tired and in need of sleep before our next adventure!

We took the Bainbridge Island Ferry over to Bill & Leslie’s vacation spot on the Hood Canal. We had a great picnic on their deck and watched an eagle soar above and spotted a seal fishing in the Sound. Next we went into a temperate rain forest in the Olympic Forest.

Our final day we drove north to the Skagit County tulip festival. The tulips are a blooming a bit late this year but we were happy to see a few colorful fields. We drove across Deception Pass and down Whidbey Island on the way home and were amazed to see 15 eagles that day.

We were exceptionally lucky with the weather and enjoyed the first days of sun we’ve had in a while! The minute their flight left Seattle the weather turned and it was cloudy and raining.

View the photos from my Family’s visit.

Posted in Activities, Friends & Family, Seattle 85 Comments »

Our friend Hendi, (a Wharton classmate) was recently married so we traveled to Boston for the wedding. They had a beautiful ceremony at the Harvard club. We also met up with Zvonimir’s friend from MIT, Pratip, his wife Aleena, and their beautiful little girl Asha .

We had a great time in Boston but missed our connecting flight in DC due to delays so we made an unscheduled visit with my cousin Shari and her family in Northern Virginia and were able to catch a flight the next day. Sometimes travel is a real pain!

View our photos from Hendi and Jesi’s wedding .

Posted in Friends & Family 4 Comments »

We traveled to San Frnacisco for our friends Chuck & Jessica’s baby shower. Unfortunately we didn’t get a single picture of Jessica…not one! We had a spectacular weekend though. The weather was perfect and the BBQ was really fun. We also caught up with Jeanne (Plessinger) and her family on this trip as well

View the photos from Jessica’s baby shower (even though I didn’t take a single picture of her….sigh)

Posted in Friends & Family 91 Comments »