Blogging from MPLS

Hi Everyone,

Lots has been going on over the past couple of days.

If you haven't heard we are renovating the lodge. The renovations will include moving offices, moving the gift store, building the Red Paddle Bistro, and changing the front desk. Currently the renovations are on pace and we have moved the offices upstairs and are now building the gift store.

Speaking of the gift store...we have been down in MPLS at a big gift mart. Gift marts are where people with gift stores go to purchase merchandise for their stores. We have been walking through the Umaga mart for two days. It has taken 3 of us two days to sort through all of the lines and pick where we would like to place an order. (Our current favorite gift is a blueberry scoop...it will make picking blueberries much faster)

On the way down to MPLS we stopped to see Kevin and Shawn at Freedom Enterprises (www.freedomEnterprises.com). For those of you who have been past guests, you probably remember seeing the hand-carved animal dolls throughout the lodge. Kevin and Shawn have been upgrading their dolls for years and we finally were able to get a couple of new ones. We are planning on making a pretty big display case showcasing their dolls.

Well now we are off to finish purchasing the gifts for this summer.

Lee