He's Home!

As soon as Daaaaaaddddd walks in the door,

Uschi is there to say hi.

Tanji is already inspecting the travel bag.

A split second later, Vladi is on the scene.

Me too, Me too, Me too!

Uschi looks peeved and Tanji slinks away

while Vladi gets his share of attention.

Tanji poses for his petties then runs around squeaking,

showing off his bins and routes around the furniture.

Vladi has his new Vera Bradley blankets to share.

And of course, Uschi has to demonstrate his prowess on the wheel.

Things are already back to fun, calm, and normal. 

Alone With Meowme

The boys have had two weeks alone with me while Mark has been

away visiting family.  Needless to say, Uschi has taken it the hardest...

U has been really quiet, no 5 a.m. wake-up Uoostering, he's just

lolling around, barely batting at his favorite flyswatter.

Tanji let one parent escape, there's no way he's letting another one

get away.  So he's been following me everywhere and is back to

sleeping by my side like a little kitten.

Vladi has been the least impacted, he has a new garden of

Vera Bradley blankies and towels to escape to.

I've learned a few lessons: have plenty of "Dumb Cat" cleaner for

angry cat accidents, and lots of bribe treats for pouting kitties.

We've all settled down, just in time for their "Paw" to return today.

Uschi's Royal Wedding

In honor of the royal wedding we recorded all
six hours and later in the day settled in with
Guinness beer and cake to watch the show.
(Yes we apparently have that kind of time.)

What we didn't count on was Uschi's excitement...

Singing steadily while the guests are arriving at Westminster Abbey.

Its the Queen's car arriving in the background,
and King Uschi in the foreground.

We're watching the wedding party arrive,
Uschi thinks we're watching him.

Katherine, the Duchess of Cambridge to be, (pre-marriage)
arrives at the church, and Uschi-Swirl the Marble of the Marsh
is trying to get our attention.

Look at me, Look at me, Look at me!

Luckily Uschi fell sound asleep so we could
enjoy the rest of the proceedings.

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Whipped Frenzy

We don't usually have a lot of "garnishes" around the house,
but I got a can of whipped cream for the anniversary party.
We knew who would be most excited about this...

Vladi, look what we have...

Vladi has a BIG smile!

He looks so tiny, this ought to fill him out a bit.

A little bit on the nose...

and a little drip that almost got away.

That's enough Vladi, you are looking a little batty.

How about you, Uschi?

Uschi takes a good sniff...

Where's the Fancy Feast?

Tanji helps him out.
Lick, lick, lick.

Uh-oh, Vladi is back for more. Poor Tanji!

The whole family is involved, this is exciting stuff.

Somehow Uschi has gotten whipped cream on his nose.

I may have had something to do with this...

Mmmm, that's not so bad after all!


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17th Anniversary!

Today is our 17th anniversary, and being the winter solstice, it is the longest night of the year too. Which is very fitting,... the darkest day of the year >;-). We decided to have a party (just us and the boys), and went to the liquor store to buy some alcohol to go with our feast. Well, we don't have a clue how to mix drinks, so I headed back to the grocery store to get ice (we don't even keep ice in the freezer!!) and mixers too.

Now we have all of the goods (even the umbrellas and straws),
but we're still web-surfing to figure out what to do with it all.

Our first try resulted in spilling ice cubes on the floor,
which was great news for the boys, who were ready to party...

As always,

Uschi was the first to scamper over to investigate.

Vladi runs over to investigate the new toys too.

Uschi is more interested in cleaning his dirty spot.

Uh-oh, someone else is coming...

Melting ice is fun to sniff and watch.

Vladi is a bit of an ice-piggie and wants all of the cubes,
so Tanji leaves to find his own party favors.


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Opening Ceremony

We are BIG Olympics fans.

We first started "dating" during the
1992 XVI Albertville Olympic Winter Games
and spent many hours watching those games together.

Since then we have:

Named pet rats Nagano, Zenkoji, Lizuna Kogen, and Hakuba,
(1998 XXVIII Nagano Japan Winter Olympics venues)

and

Both had the honor of being torch bearers
for the 2002 XIX Salt Lake Winter Olympic Games.

The 2006 XX Turin Winter Olympics were underway while
Tanji and Uschi were just a few weeks old and not home with us yet.
Hmmmm, our favorite biathlete is Uschi Diesl.... Hmmmm...

Our Olympic flag has been waiting safely in storage.

Today, it was prepared for outside installation,
the boys had to investigate...

Tanji, don't you dare kick-pickle a flag!!

We spread the flag out, and it is still in great shape.

Tanji, no walking on the flag either!!

As this is Vladi's first Olympics,
and since he did not wake us up today
at 3-4 am. (Uschi !!!) or 5-7 a.m. (Tanji !!!),
he was nominated as our flag-bearer kitty.

I start hanging the flag on the gate,
while Les holds on to Vladi nearby.

(Yes, we are wearing fleece and its August!)

Vladi is not supposed to be near the gate, so
he is a little nervous and I put the flag up quickly.

Les hugs Vladi and shows him the flag.

Vladi takes a good look...

its time to head back home.

Later, the family watches the Beijing opening ceremonies.

Just a side note,... Lesley made the push to get the
"Big TV" the month before the XXVIII Olympiad - Athens.
(Summer 2004)

Yes, I'm a lucky guy. >;-)

Let the games begin!


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