A Rough Start for the Red Maple

It was a little over a week ago we happily planted a new tree on the west side of the house. Last fall we cut down an old half-dead birch tree, and we've wanted to fill the space with something new (and not so dangerously close to the foundation!). Thanks to my Dad for his help and discount from Bachman's, we got a new Red Maple.

We found the soil to be somewhat clay as we dug the hole. Before dropping the tree in, we added water to the hole, but it didn't soak in very fast due to the dense clay-like soil. A few days later our leaves were wilting & curling, and looking pretty sad in general. We think it's a combination of over-watering and the shock of transplanting the tree.

As a last ditch effort, I picked up 10 bags of better topsoil dirt to put around the tree. I dug up the tree, still wet under the roots, and made the hole bigger and deeper for the new dirt. Our new Maple is now surrounded by 400 pounds of better dirt that should hopefully soak up water easier and help the tree. We may end up with a dead tree, but we'll let it go until next summer and see if it improves.

It's a Boy!

On the morning of June 26th, we saw the first pictures of our son, Nathan Benjamin, due to arrive on November 10th, 2009. He appears to be doing well, and is pretty much right on schedule, as the ultrasound determined he would be due on November 8th, only two days off of our original due date.


We got together with Beth's family later that night at the Sunshine Factory restaurant to reveal the sex of our baby. Every one of them guessed girl, except my 2 year old nephew. We had mixed predictions from my family a couple days later, but of course everyone was happy to hear the news and the name. Now we can start to prepare for a baby boy in November!

Twins VS Astros from Row 11

Big thanks to our friends Anna & Chris, who shared 2 of the four tickets they had for last night's Twins game. We enjoyed the game from Row 11, lower level behind home plate. We got pretty spoiled being so close, as we're usually in the upper deck.

We had dinner at Majors before the game, ventured downtown, and made our way to the Metrodome. The game turned out to be a good one. Kevin Slowey pitched and the Twins won 5 to 2.

BOTCO 2009

I had another good BOTCO fishing trip this year. For those of you who aren't familiar, the BOTCO fishing trip was started over 50 years ago with my grandpa & five of his buddies. We've continued the tradition every year at the same lake. The trip promises good times & good fishing, and this year was no exception. We rented out three cabins, and this year had 12 guys make it up for the trip, spanning 3 generations.

Dad and I and my brother in law made the drive up to Big Lake in Bemidji on Saturday morning. We had a little rain during the drive and when we first arrived. The rest of the trip was beautiful - sunshine & clear skies until we left on Tuesday after breakfast.

We enjoyed some good Walleye fishing and made a couple trips out just for sunfish, and were able to land enough so I could come home with a limit's worth of sunnies. My walleye catch wasn't much, but Dad landed the Walleye King traveling trophy this year.

My cousin Billy ran his annual bass tournament. Over the two-hour timeframe our boat managed to land a few small bass, which are fun to catch. We didn't recoup our $5 entry fees but left with a few door prizes Billy had gathered up for the tournament. My uncle Tom landed the largest bass at about 4 lbs.

When not fishing or relaxing, we enjoyed some excellent meals. The highlight each year is our afternoon fish fry. Much of the walleye catch from the first couple days was breaded & deep fried for the group on the afternoon of day 2. along with cooking the fish, we fried up a big batch of chopped potatoes, onions, and bacon, some baked beans, and a variety of homemade wine and sweets.

Overall, a nice getaway. I came back with a tan, lots of fish for the freezer, and had some relaxing time off from work.