Decemberfest!

Well, not much has happened since Thanksgiving. Obviously it was a tough time with Grandpa's passing, but we got through.

The snow has started to fall here. A few inches here, a few inches there and we are finally in our winter wonderland.

We did get a chance to take the Nieces out to the Mall of America for some shopping and rides. More rides though since the girls love them. For the record, I highly recommend all adults staying away from the the Race Car ride. Back wrenching turns are a blast!

Cutest moment was when Ashley wanted to go on the Merry Go round, but didn't want to ride the animals, so she just sat in the handicapped seat..... it was hilarious.

This week is the infamous 12 bars of christmas. Only 30 hours until it begins!!! About 1,000 people roaming the bars of Minneapolis trying (and suceeding) to get drunk. Great times are had by all.

Auf wiedersehen Opa!

Today is a sad day for the entire family. At Midnight, our Grandfather, Edmund Weiss passed away at age 86. He was truly a great man who would make a friend in everyroom he entered. He was always light hearted, and never missed a moment to make someone smile.

I have many great memories of him, and I will do my best to share a few...

Every Sunday when we would head to church, Grandpa would drive wearing his derby cap, and signing some song that never rang a bell with me, but Grandma would join in and sing the harmony.

Watching old school pro wrestling on the TV and after every absurd stunt hearing Grandpa say "Da Hell??"

Playing catch with Grandpa at Becky's graduation party. Even with an old arm that hadn't thrown for many years, he still did his best to muster up enough strength to throw a few times, and even show Becky how to throw a curveball. I never knew how much he liked baseball until that day.

and those are just a few of them....

Grandpa, you will be forever missed!

Nothing to report

The last two weeks have been relatively uneventful in our house. Working, cleaning, and a little interior renovations have been taking most of our time lately. Sad!

Last weekend we did get to make a trip to Alicia's 10 year reunion. Good times, too bad we left before the fight broke out! It was a shame to miss that!

On tap: More work at home
Getting Chicago plan finalized

End of the season

Well, our cabin season is offically over for the year. Last weekend we finally pulled the dock out, put the storn windows on, and cleanup some old wood pieces from many years ago. Closing the cabin is always a sad event since we know that as soon as we leave, we won't be back for another 6 months.

Julie, Mark, Ryan and Colonel sportin' the waders and clearing out the dock footings.

This summer did produce some memorable moments up north.... The garage-mahal finishing, making the gameroom, Friends weekend, Aunts returning to thier old cabin, the red dragon making its maiden voyage, removing the pontoon with a flat tire, pieceing together the fort, hunting down the fish guts, falling down the driveway, almost losing the ping pong table on 35W and then having to dent it back together, the rained on mattress and getting the new one from Duluth, all the rock hunts.... a very good time.

Also this week Ryan was traveling on 280 on the way to work and was rear-ended by another vehicle. Luckily most of the damage was done to the Mustang that hit him, but we still need to have the insurance people come see all the damage. So far, Ryan only has slight injuries......

This week:

Poker at the Skoge's

Gaffigan?

Gopher Hockey games with Kev and Jenny.

Return to the Dump, err Dome.

After a few week hiatus in Germany, Ryan finally got to use his gopher football season tickets. Here are a few picks from the Game Vs. Purdue, in which the Gophers decided to take the "moral victory" instead of the game.

Joel and Greg chillin' in the lot. No walk-ons!

Kevin shows his lover for Wichita State.

Ummmm.... yeah.

Kevin felt the tree needed some nourishment.

The Dome.... too bad it wasn't on fire for real....

Last Friday we got a chance to go see the Arnold girls again. Cute as always, but now a little more devilish....

Ashley likes the whipcream, and would go any lengths to get it.

The look of wrong doing, but still cute!

Ainsley, Ashley, and Alicia playing on the playground.

Auntie Alicia with Allison.

On top for this week:

Closing up the cabin for the winter

Shipwrecked!

Okay, okay, we weren't ship wrecked. The pontoon/kayaks/trampoline/party island/red dragon/paddle boats are all fine. Those have all been brought in for the winter. Sadly we did lose the purple club 100 (aka the cooler raft), but it had a good run. For two years the club 100 was the cooler keeper, and holder of the empties. RIP club 100, you served us well!

This weekend we did start our closing of the cabin. Got the boats put away with the neighborly help add a flat tire! We even assembled the fort in the woods for the kids.

The fun part of the weekend came on Sunday when we went to leave at 3pm. When we started to load up the car, we couldn't find Alicia's keys. We searched the garage, the cabin, the fort, the yard, the parking area, the boat launch, to no avail. Thinking we may be stranded, we started making calls to see if we could get out of the jam. GR is on the edge of no where, and being 15 miles from it didn't help our cause. All the locksmiths were unavailable, and even if they were, we still wouldn't have a key fire up the engine. So, we called Mark to come rescue us. He made the trek from Duluth to get us, and then dropped us off at Black Bear, where Diana and Ben met us to bring us home. So, instead of getting home around 6:30pm, we strolled home about 11pm. We finally found the keys at 5pm when Alicia's mom called to say she had taken the keys, leaving us stranded. Home safe and sound, Alicia has to go back to the cabin this weekend to retrieve her car.

This week:

Catching up with the Hoops

Wine tasting

Gopher Football

Gutten tag, Dobre Den, and Hello....

Well, we are finally back from our little vacation. We decided that our next vacation after the honeymoon would be another big one, so we headed back to Germany, and threw in a few days in Prague. Everything went great! Weather was good for the most part, we hit almost everything we wanted to. Met many wonderful people from all over the world, and took in as much history and culture as we could. Since we were gone 10 days, we will just summarize the trip for you.... with pictures.

Day 1 - Frankfurt and Mainz

Alicia and her sweet honey melons....(okay, so we like funny pics)

The old town in Frankfurt.

Diana on her way to here favorite places, the $hit shops.

Frankfurt's old town hall, actually new since it was rubble after WW2.

This old church in Mainz had the bluest stainglass. There was no other lights in the church at the time, and the whole place was lit up in a beautiful blue.

Alicia and well.... no comment

The view from our hotel balcony in Mainz.

Day 2- Rhine and Mosel Valley, Burg Eltz, Bacharach.

Our first stop on the Mosel River valley on the way to Burg Eltz.

Burg Eltz, more like an old townhome in the hills off the mosel river. It was never taken over.

Diana and Ben taking a rest on the walk down to the Castle.

The interior of Burg Eltz.

Rhinefels castle ruins. A very large castle, which may have been cool if it wasn't "ruin-ed".

The view from the boat as we arrived in Bacharach.

Doing a little evening stroll in Bacharach.

Day 3 - Heidelburg, and Rothenburg

The clock tower featuring a town drunk.

While we were there, they had a little throwback festival. Here is an incredible blacksmith.

We also hit the medevil crime and punishment museum. Shame masks were popular back then. If only we used them now......

A picture of a crown, but more importantly, the holy handgrenade.

The church in Rothenburg had a beautiful alter piece on the mainlevel and a second one...

by Riemenschnieder carved from one piece of wood.

Alicia gives the reading according to Rick Steves

Rothenburg is one of the few walled towns with the walls still intact, so we walked the whole thing.

Day 4- The Castle Day and Andechs

Neuschwanstein Castle, the model for the disney castle. The castle interior is not finished, but what was completed is magnificent. Kind Ludwig II bankrupt his country building this, but thankfully he did. This picture was take from Mary's Bridge.

Mary's Bridge

The view from Neuschwanstein, in the lower left is his boyhood home, Hohenschwangau.

Another view from Neuschwanstein. Simply spectacular!

Alicia, Diana, and Ben all tipping back a few brews at Andech Monestary. Big Pretzels, and Pork Knuckles were delicious!

Day 5 - Munich

Alicia in Marienplatz

Ryan and Alicia hanging with the Wittlesbachs (not as good as the Hapsburgs).

Alicia walking through more the Wittlesbach Residenz.

Ryan and Alicia enjoying a beer at the Hofbrauhaus.

Surfers at the enterance to the English Gardens. The largest park in Europe.

In the English Garden.

Ryan trying a white brat.... veal meat. Apparently you are supposed to suck the meat out like a dyson.... no thanks.

Day 6 - Nuremburg

This was to be the home of the Nazi party. Never comleted, this would have been twice as tall, and could hold 200,000 in the interior. Now it is home to the Nazi Documentation Center, depicting the rise and fall of the party. Needless to say, a very interesting place to visit pulling at all your emotions.

The Nazi Rally grounds.

The city of Nuremburg itself is beautiful. Here is the location of the largest christmas market in the world.

Alicia on the river in Nuremburg. The building that is built on the river to the left is actually a hospital.

Day 7 - Dachau

The door to the concentration camp. "Work will set you free" was the slogan. "Prisoners" of all types were sent here (political, war, "lesser" religions, handicapped...) to work, and then eventually..... Americans liberated this camp.

The long row down where the baracks would have been.

The gate where the "prisoners" entered.

Day 8 and 9 - Prague

A miniature Eiffel Tower that we climbed to the top of.

They view from the top of the tower. On the left in the Charles Bridge, and the right in the Cathedral in the Castle.

One of the many stainglass windows in the castle Cathedral. This one was done by someone famous.

And finally, Ryan and Alicia being funny.....

So that was our trip in a nut shell......

On tap for this week:

Work

Papa's b-day

Cabin time finally. Lots of work to be done!