If you follow me on Instagram, you’ve probably seen the instagram stories from our visit to Seattle this past weekend. It was a quick trip; flew there on Saturday and flew home on Monday, but it was memorable and action packed!
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Here are the sweetest moments from our travels to Seattle (well, Issaquah really), our boating trip, and photos from my cousin Eric’s beautiful barn wedding.
Watch our Trip on Instagram Stories:
If you want to see a whole bunch of VIDEO captures from our trip, you can view them in 3 separate stories saved to my Instagram profile:
- Step 1: Visit my Instagram profile on your Instagram App and search for @natashaskitchen (or click here to view on desktop).
- Sep 2: Click on one of the 3 videos from our Washington trip (and if you’re curious about house progress, those videos are saved here also).
Why this post makes me happy:
- I love sharing a peek into our personal life with you because there is a family that tests and approves the 800+ recipes on this blog
- I love to come back to these posts just like sitting in the living room with a family album. They are my favorite!
These photos are in chronological order. We flew into Seattle on Saturday around 1pm and went to my cousin Vadim’s house. Vadim and his wife Katya are such gracious hosts (thank you for making our trip so fun!). As soon as we got there we were out the door and went boating on Lake Sammamish.
It’s been awhile since I’ve been on a boat and it was sure fun! The boys had a blast on that giant 3-person tube (Amazon affiliate link); it was so big that it didn’t flip over with turns, waves or “super fast” speeds as the boys called them.
Now this was neat! Here’s my cousin Vadim surfing on the wave behind the boat. You start with a rope and then let go and follow the boat, riding the wave that pushes you along.
Sunday morning the boys cooked breakfast and we sure enjoyed a feast! On the menu: pan fried potatoes, some mashed potato pancakes from last nights mashed potatoes, and European style bacon from their local Costco.
Sunday afternoon was the wedding and it was a gorgeous day to get married. Planning an outdoor wedding in the Seattle is risky business but it was warm, breezy, sunny and perfect.
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The reception was in a barn and all the windows and doors were open to the outside air. The decor was elegant and tastefully done.
This picture makes me laugh. She’s tried to smile for the camera, but really just wanted that chicken. lols.
I’ll be serving strawberries out of a wooden crate forever. So pretty!
I had a big ‘ol slice of that wedding cake and it really, really reminded me of our chocolate cake with Swiss Meringue Buttercream Frosting but it had layers of strawberry frosting between the chocolate layers.
This wedding felt like a family reunion with all of our cousins. I love everyone in this photo so much and it is always a joy to spend time with these beautiful ladies.
With our gracious hosts – my cousin Vadim and his beautiful wife Katya:
My cousin Enna on the left and Lena on the right. (Enna can sure sing and I tried to record some of her and her husbands singing at the wedding on Instagram stories).
I’m so happy for these two. God bless you both in your journey together!
Monday morning we boarded our plane and flew back home with a glimpse of Mt Rainier’s peak in our plane window. Our visit was quick and so fun. Hope you enjoyed the photos as much as I enjoyed sharing them ;).
Are you doing any summer traveling this year? Flying? Road trip? I would love to hear about your adventures in a comment below.
If you’re road tripping, check out our favorite healthy road trips snacks ideas here.
I love issaquah especially the barn very unique location. Did you get to enjoy the farmers market they hold on Saturdays? I am from Washington how exciting you travelled to the state lots of things to see next time come to the eastern Washington side where all the farming of fruits and vegetables are in full season in the summer time (cherries, corn, apple…)
Thank you Natasha for sharing your pictures these are wonderful. This year we don’t travel because my oldest son is gonna have a surgery on 20th august. Last year we were in California (Los Angeles, San Francisco and Las Vegas) for a road trip and it was magical. Maybe next year we are going to Florida but we will see. We love to come in America.
Hi Veronique! I love that you are traveling all over the country! Where are you traveling from? Thank you for following our blog. We wish nothing but the best for you and your dear son.
Beautiful photos! Natasha, you always look great. How do you stay so trim being around all this delicious food, cooking, and testing recipes? Any secrets/tips? 😉
Thanks!
Hi Svetlana! Thank you for the wonderful compliment! No secrets here, I try to exercise but definitely not a hard core workout person :). I’m thankful for a speedy metabolism and we try to make good choices in our food and enjoy things in moderation. We cook at home ALOT and don’t go out to eat too often.
Thank you for sharing and encouraging all of us to cook and eat more at home 🙂
You are so welcome, Svetlana! Thank you for following our blog!
You have a beautiful family! You are very photogenic and equally as beautiful.
Thank you so much!
Thank you for sharing the wedding photos. Your little family has grown, the children are getting tall now. You are great parents!!!
Thank you so much Jill! 🙂
So beautiful!
God bless,
Lisa R.
It was a great weekend! Thank you, Lisa!
Beautiful photos! Thank you for sharing! God Bless you all!
Thank you for that wonderful compliment, Katharina!
What a beautiful wedding and a beautiful family too. May God bless you all and thanks for sharing with us!
Thank you for that wonderful compliment, Margaret!
Her dress was one of the prettiest wedding dresses I have seen lately. Loved all the detail. Nice that the weather was so lovely. Great pictures.
Thank you Gayle! It was stunning!
I see you had a great time… that’s a wonderful thing to have a short mini vacation. oh I see my fitbit friend (Lena)…
Ha ha! That’s fun how fitbit connects people. 🙂 It really was like a mini vacation for us 🙂
Ah, so fun to reminisce all the fun memories that were created over last weekend. We love spending time with you and are so thankful to have you as family. Thank you for staying with us. Love you guys!
-Katya
It really was an amazing trip, short and very sweet. Thanks again for letting us stay with you – the whole kolhoz! lol. We always love spending time with you 🙂
your family is so cute especially your kids i hope guys had fun
You’re so nice! Thank you, Beatrice!