Happy Memorial Day!

We hope everyone has had a great Memorial Day. We will start off with an update on the garage. Late last week the workers arrived early in the morning and when we came home we had a garage. Well, almost... we still need a garage door, a finished roof, and electricity. Hopefully it will be all done next week.

New Garage!



Side View

Saturday morning we woke up early (to pouring rain and thunder) and drove out to Madison so I could do a practice ride on the Ironman course with the triathlon group we train with. The storms continued when we got to Madison and the ride was postponed an hour to let the storm pass. Diana and Cassie volunteered with a few others to be the support crew for the ride and we had a good time. Only about three and a half months to go.

After riding we went a set up camp and Lake Farm Park, part of the Dane County park system. All of the state parks were full when we were making plans a few weeks ago. Sunday was brutally hot (up to 95) so we went a few miles away to Lake Kegonsa state park so Cassie could get in some swimming at the dog beach. She loves swimming and had a blast.



Day at the park 

Now we are back home and back to the grind.

Sunny Spring Weekend

This week has been relatively uneventful, however we have had a nice weekend to rest and relax before summer hits us in full swing. Andrew has been in and out of Milwaukee doing field work in Port Washington (45 min north of Milwaukee), but otherwise life is pretty normal. The weather in Milwaukee has been great, so I was able to take Cassie to the stream for a mid-run dip.









On Saturday morning we went on a 42 mile training ride with a group from Tri wisconsin. The ride was hot and hilly but otherwise a good time. After rehydrating, refueling and cleaning up a bit we went out to the garden store to spruce up the front of the home for summer (we didn't have mom & dad mitsche to help us out this year.) We think it was a success!

Front view of the house

Today we took cassie and a picnic out to Minooka Park to work on off leash training. We had a blast, especially Cassie! We still have to work on training, but she is getting better!

Most importantly my peonies have started to bloom!

Last fall we divided our 2 massive plants into 6. We are relieved they are still alive!

Close up of the first full bloom

Busy May

We are about halfway through May and it has been pretty busy. On the weekend of the 5th we were out in Madison for the Lake Monona 20k run. This was just shy of a half marathon running around Lake Monona. Diana and I ran with some friends and David had a few friends run also. This was a good start to our summer of training and racing. Afterwards we went downtown to the Old Fashioned for the required fried cheese curds and beer.

This past weekend we were in Philadelphia for the Dad Vail Regatta from Thursday night until today. Diana is volunteer coaching for Marquette and I went to spectate and to support the University of Delaware. We had great weather and had a great time visiting with college friends that we don't see very often since we live in the Midwest.

At the same time we have the continuing excitement of the garage construction. All of the concrete has been poured and the next step is to frame the garage once the concrete has had time to cure.


The prepared subgrade

The new driveway and garage foundation!

New Garage!

So the garage construction has begun! Actually only the demolition has begun but it has been fast. See the series of pictures. We are very excited to see the new garage go up in a few weeks. Stay tuned for more updates.

Tuesday morning before leaving for work

Tuesday evening after returning from work. No garage!

Wednesday evening after returning from work. Concrete almost all gone!

The concrete removal is taking a little longer since the slab is thicker than they expected. The back portion of the garage is almost 2 feet thick (you can see it in the picture). The should finish the concrete removal tomorrow and will pour the new slab soon after. Then we wait a few weeks for the concrete to cure and they will be back to frame and finish the garage. More pictures to come.

Wedding in Dallas!

This past weekend we were in Dallas for Matt and Kim's wedding. We flew down Friday morning and came back on Sunday afternoon. It was a short trip but it was nice to see people and the wedding was great. The wedding was a nice small gathering in a park near their apartment. Here are a few pictures we took.

The location of the wedding and reception

Helping set up the day before the wedding

The groom and his groomsmen

Matt and Mom

Matt and Kim

We wish Matt and Kim the best and had a great time visiting Dallas.