I had to work this weekend and I enjoyed it… This was our annual disaster recovery test, a difficult but exciting event where we unplug our Data Center from the network and try to rebuild the network at our offsite location. We have this test scripted in a way that makes it easy for us to succeed. I really like this event, it gives me a change to show off my skill. We succeeded in brining all primary systems online. Our work was tested and things looked fine. The second day of the two day event was spent rebuilding the network. We had plenty of food and good company.

Just a few weeks ago we went on a canoe ride around the Arboretum. We liked it so much that we came back! We arrived at the park at the start of the Huskies/Idaho game. We could hear the fans from across the lake – the cheers and chants echoed through the park. At first it was hard to find a parking spot!

We followed a nicely groomed path through the woods until we reached the river, where we ate a lunch on a bench. We followed the river until the path ended at the lake. The arboretum is very beautiful, a quiet retreat from the heat of the city.

Sadie’s 2nd birthday was celebrated at Ian and Dria’s house. Dinner was spaghetti while dessert was a yummy cake made out of pink cupcakes. Dria did a great job getting everything ready; we had a fun time.

Khai and Dad went fishing yesterday! Sunny and I baked the salmon in lemon, pepper, and fresh rosemary. The salmon tasted wonderful and had no fishy smell. This was probably the best salmon I had ever eaten!

Sunny and I had a really great time at Laurie and Scott’s house for Ian’s birthday. As you can see in the pictures, the cake was chocolate goodness! It was nice to see Link and Grandma Minty together. It has been a long time since we’ve visited.

My favorite photo is the one with Grandma Minty, Link, Sunny, and Sadie. But I love any picture of Sunny!

We had a Ruiter Family BBQ at my parents house today. The food was terrific, but the weather was not good enough for a baseball game. However, we always find ways to entertain ourseleves!

I love spending time with Sunny and one of the things Sunny enjoys is shopping. In these pictures I am posing in front of a Do Not Enter sign that I accidentally drove down while looking for a parking spot, we are in the University Village (where one of our favorite restaurants Zao is located), and Sunny is posing in front of a fountain at Molbak’s.

We rented canoes at the University of Washington and rowed through the lily pads around the arboretum. I can’t believe we haven’t done this before, we had a great time! We packed a lunch and spent hours rowing around small islands of reeds and clumps of trees. And we stayed afloat!

Sunny and I visited Grandma Minty today. We spent the evening chatting on the roof of the building, overlooking the city. Seattle looks very pretty from Queen Anne.

Alvin, Nora, Sunny and I took a road trip to Silverwood, near Coeur d’Alene Idaho. Silverwood is a park split into two parts – half filled with water slides and the other with roller coasters. The drive to Silverwood was brutal, we were crowded in my car. But the park was beautiful. We arrived at Round Lake State Park after dark and quickly setup our tents. Round Lake is a pretty lake surrounded by tree topped hills. The next morning we ate breakfast at a diner on the road to Silverwood. Click here to continue…

Click here to see more photos from our vacation to Silverwood…