And picnics! The photos enclosed in this post are from two different parks. The first park is located in Bellevue, off 101st street. This park has a beautiful view of the lake, and we found many ducks to feed. We ate leftovers from a catered lunch at Sunny’s work. For the second picnic we climbed a large tree at the Ballard Locks. Also a very pretty park, but we had trouble finding a dry spot to sit – the grass always seems soaked and muddy. The sky was a vibrant blue with bright white clouds, but my camera only had eyes for Sunny…

Sunny and I played bunko with Laurie’s friends today. I did pretty well, finishing at the top table. The sunset over Magnolia was beautiful!

These pictures are actually from two trips Sunny and I made to Greenlake over the last week. The weather has been hot, and a trip to the lake is the best way to cool down. I love people watching at this lake, there is always someone doing something that makes me smile. And a sunset over a lake is one of God’s most wonderful creations.

I love a good burger, but Red Mill does it best – a pile of bacon! I took this picture at the Phinney Ridge Red Mill after ordering the… yep, you guessed it… bacon burger! I also love their special sauce, which seems to be a spiced mayonaise and ketchup mix. Great with fries.

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!