Another weekend of work….

This weekend was yet another weekend of fun at the cabin. A little sun, a little rain, a little hail, and a plethora of work. Since we bought the cabin three years ago, it has been a large amount of work with a little play. First, we removed the steps and built a large deck with the help of Phil, Jim, and Mark. Then we had to remove a few trees for landscaping reasons. Trimming back the overgrowth, and removing some brush were a constant chore to be done. Last year, we built the garage-mahal. About 1700 sqft of garage with two bedrooms, and two bathroom and the ability to park three large boats side by side in the garage. Of course, with the new build comes tons of work, which has consumed most of our time while we are at the cabin. Last weekend was cabin as usual as we put the pontoon in the water, put the closet shelves in, put the door handles on, cleaned the garage, put the beds together, mowed the yard (first of the season) and started our rock steps. The weather was great on Saturday until the storm hit. Tornado warnings were issued, but we never saw one, just heavy winds, rain and hail.

The Storm....

The Calm After the Storm……..

The first finished room..... with air conditioning...

Stair work..... next weekend we should have the banister up.....

There once was a young woman who lived with a shoe......

Since this has been an uneventful week, we thought why not introduce you to another installment of the family, the Shoemakers. No, they are not Cobblers, nor are they habberdashers. They are the southern installment of the Danielson bunch.

There is Renee and Aaron, the leaders of the Shoemaker Clan. They are stealthy, and impossible to photograph.

Then there are the rug rats. First, Luke. He has a wicked case of "reverse male pattern baldness". Growing up he idolized Uncle Fester, and went for the sleek and aerodynamic cue ball look. Great for summer, swimming, and keeping fleas at bay. Lately, he has decided that hair is important for his image, and it appears he may be going for a solid 70's fro. As you can see by the picture, he is agile, hostile, and mobile. Hockey is his sport of choice, so stay tuned for the "hockey hair" mullet pics.

Batting second is Emma. Renee must have listened to a ton of Celion Dion when Emma was young because Emma has a love for belting out ear shreaking notes. Broadway appears to be Emma's goal in life since she sings constantly, and has a William Shatner-esque acting skill. But it appears hockey may be her calling.

Sophie rides in the third spot. The third oldest, and second youngest. Sophie looks sweet, and acts sweet, but don't let her fool you. She has a little devil in her. Her hobbies include coloring, and reading.

In the cleanup spot is Greta. Named for her great aunt, Greta is a little pocket monster. Climbs on everything she can find and has no fear. Some of her favorite foods include wet wipes, and sheet rock. Youngsters in Rosemount beware! She will be a heartbreaker when she gets older. You mess with her, and she will probably beat you up!

This week consisted of softball, and working. Salty bees time went fine, and it looks like they are moving ahead.This weekend: Cabin work. Steps, cleaning, and landscaping.....

Fash-ya's Day

This weekend was father's day for us. Instead of heading to the cabin for some R&R (renovation and repair), we stayed home to see the men who made us who we are..... fathers. This year, we added in grandfathers to the equation since, we sadly only have one left, Grandpa Weiss.

Edmund Weiss, born 1921 in Wisconsin I believe. Of Austrian ancestory, his hard work and "make hay while the sun shines" attitude has got him to where he is today. Loving husband for 60 plus years, father to seven children, grandfather to twelve, great grandfather to four (almost five) and friend to countless people. A few people have even wanted to adopt him as thier own grandfather. I have never met a person who has not instantly taken a liking to him. Perhaps it's his rugged good looks, his witty personality, his charm which has wooed him the finest for a wife. Or maybe it is more his smile, and laid back attitude. Grandpa is notorious for his quips like "da hell", or "you little scheisster" and for his long drawn out "ohhh.."s as he tries to remember things from his past.

Grandpa has slowed down is his recent years. His hard work ethic from his early years as a farmer has been his gift, and his curse. For 86 years young, he is still as strong as an ox, and not frail like most seniors his age. Unfortunately, the same thing that made him so strong is finally taking its toll. So, here's to you grandpa....

The Arnold Angels

I found these pics on my camera from about a month ago. These are some current pictures of 2 of our 9.5 (almost 10.5) nieces and nephews. Ainsley is the eldest. Her hobbies include coloring, singing, dancing randomly, and watching the sound of music. Looks like the Austrian Heritage is coming on strong! Grandpa Ben gave Ainsley a little jeep for her 4th birthday this year. So if you see her on the road, be careful, her fly ride tops out at 3 Mph.

This little cutie is Ashley, currently the newest and youngest Arnold (soon to be middle). Don't let her looks fool you, she is devilish, and will climb on anything. In her spare time she enjoys riding her cop motorcycle, riding on the pony, and jumping on anything she can. Her smile lets her get away with anything. You can usually find her rubbing elbows with the infamous "froggy" when she is not attached to mommy's hip.

On a cold and gray Chicago Morn....

Well, I am back from the Chi-town Trane office. Apparently Trane finds it more worthwhile to send me to Chicago for a day, than to just do a webcast, but hey, I can't complain. Free meals, hotel and air points.... not too shabby. Bad part is the business travel, packed parking lots, busy rental cars lots, and traveling in foreign cities. A special thanks to my co-worker Matt for the use of the TomTom. That little device saved our butts numerous times, but unfortunately, can not stray one from the Chicago Ghetto. Luckily, a rental car that you don't care about can. Needless to say, I am back. No one got arrested, no tom foolery. Just fly in, dinner, wake up, learn, fly home. Our newest employee started to raise suspicion in the TSA security line at the airport, but that is nothing new to him. Baby Huey as we call him is either drunk or retarded, we are not sure.

Going to visit the Grandparents this weekend...

Monday, off to the land of Salty Bees... fingers crossed.......

The varietals of Minnesota

Friday, we had a nice BBQ with the Hoops-tertags in White Bear. The Hoopstertags are experts in the enteraining business, so naturally, a good time was had by all. We even got a chance to dip into our wine "reserve" at the house and pop the cork on one of our favorites we picked up in Napa. 2001 Grigch Hills Cab Sav. For those of you who like the heavy reds, we highly recommend this one.

Sadly no pictures from this weekend... I forgot the new camera, so check out Greg and Nicole's blog for pics, and just read my ditty after.....

Weren't those some nice pics? So as you can see, we went wine tasting on the great plains on the United States this weekend. Greg, Nicole, Joel, Kevin, and Jenny provided the company. Winehaven, St, Croix, and Northland were on the docket for places to taste at. Winehaven was the first stop. Located in the lovely metroplis of Chisago (not Chicago), Winhaven is known for its honey wine, or "mead". Very delicious, but could not top the delicious-ness of Dolce (www.dolcewine.com). For the most part, the wines were good. Some wines resembled Hi-C, but unfortunately, none of them had the taste of Ecto Cooler.

St. Croix was next on the list. Located next to Amodt's apple farm, this little gem was home to.... well, nothing really. Wines were par, but the winery was quaint (yes, quaint).

The last stop on our wine crusade was Northland. Located in Downtown Stillwater, this little place had the tasting down to a science..... just give the people as many wines as they want....
The kicker to this place was the little grocery store next door where you can pick up some food, and sit down on the deck of the Northland Winery. Great view, and great peeps made this an exceptional day.

The marathon day of drinking was fished with dinner at the Freight House, and more drinking.

Sunday, nothing was accomplished.

On tap for this week.....
More kitchen design
No softball for me, I am in Chicago for work
Chicago Cubs game
Friday, cabin time!! Need to finish up the stairs and get the game room finished off.

Slips, steps, and stain in the a$$

Ahhh, another "relaxing" weekend at the cabin..... after a late "gametime" decision, Mrs. T and myself decided to head north for the weekend for a little R&R. Our long drive to the sanctity of Grand Rapids was exciting as the local deer decided to have their own national night out. Deer everywhere! Anyhow...

Saturday consisted of an exhilarating day of:

Staining.....

Stepping......

I would show you the slipping, but luckily there was no camera around for that show. Saturday it rained all day allowing the lake to rise almost 4 inches, and turning our walk down the cabin into a piggy slip 'n slide. I will tell you the fall was graceful, and the landing was painful. Mudbutt.... yep!

We did get a good chunk of stuff accomplished, but still a long ways to go......

On tap for this week....

Softball twice

Possible walk through with the Skoges... or Skogi (plural)

Wine Tasting in the St. Croix valley this weekend

In the beginning

This is the first post, a test if you will. Why? Well, why not? Just a place to keep up to date with us, and what the heck we are doing now. Haven't talked to us, or seen us in a while. This is the easiest way to figure out what we are doing, without actually contacting us. More will be posted later, as we get something exciting to talk about.