By Allan Olson
A blur . . . or a whirlwind . . . would be the
two best words to define the past weekend. Oh, and of course . . . fun! The
weekend, or should I say the Fourth of July holiday, was all of those and more.
We headed north to my wife’s family farm for a long weekend of fun and
festivities, arriving late Wednesday evening. As soon as we arrived, I left –
and no, it wasn’t because all the relatives scared me off. My niece simply
wanted someone to ride with her on a run to her house; on the way, she informed
me that we had to go to town, too. She had neglected to inform me of that at the
outset because she figured I wouldn’t go along, and she was right.
Thursday, the big July Fourth holiday, was
another day jam-packed with fun. Nikolai and I got up early, conned my niece out
of her vehicle and headed to my parents’ place to go fishing with my brother,
his boys and my dad (on his birthday). We hit the lake at about 9 a.m. and
enjoyed a fresh, warm breeze off the lake. The fishing wasn’t very productive,
but it still beat working. We got back to the resort at about noon, and from
there headed back to my parents’ place. We dropped my brother off at his
vehicle, and he headed to town to get ready for the parade. My job was just to
take pictures of all my nieces and nephews that would be in the parade – at
least that’s what I thought. I dropped my niece’s vehicle off at her place of
work, and my wife picked me up. She informed me that it would be great if I
could drive my brother’s vehicle in the parade. Um, okay, I replied. In all the
years that I lived in that town, I can’t recall ever being in the parade.
Nikolai and Marcus walked in the parade with their uncles, handing out candy,
while the girls and my niece rode with me in the truck – it was fun. After the
parade we headed back to my parents’ to make dinner for dad’s birthday. We
enjoyed cake and ice cream and had more fun. Then it was time for the fireworks,
which were awesome, as usual. We finally got back to our place of lodging
sometime around midnight and crashed.
We attended a pancake cook-off at the farm on
Friday morning, and then I took Nikolai, two nieces and two nephews on a
geocaching run. The first cache was a real challenge – it hadn’t been located in
nearly two years. We made a half-mile walk through tall grass and mud (in spots)
to get to the location, swatting mosquitoes the whole way. Nikolai and nephew
Ben got there first and were searching like mad; bringing up the rear was my
nephew Michael. He got to the spot and found the cache in about 30 seconds. We
took a quick picture of the group and headed back to the van to avoid being
carried off by the mosquitoes. Originally I was only going to find this one
cache, and only because it had been so long since it was last found, but the
rest of the gang wanted to go find another one that was close by. That one
didn’t require a long hike, just climbing around and over lots of deadfalls in
the woods behind a picnic area. We searched and searched and finally my niece
Angela, standing on a log, said, “It (the GPS) says I’m right on top it!” Her
brother Michael arrived at the same spot and said, “You are!” The geocache was,
literally, right underneath the very log she was standing on.
We headed back to the farm; it was time for
lunch. The kids were begging to go swimming. After all, we did bring the life
jackets to the farm. I finally caved, and then I couldn’t resist the temptation
myself. I donned my own life jacket and dove in the mighty Rainy River. I was
also pulled in and pushed in at least once; my niece Makaylah managed to dunk me
once, too. I did manage to get a push or two in, as well. The kids enjoyed the
swim immensely. Abigail got out at least twice to warm up before pulling her
jacket back on and jumping in again. Alivia was like the energizer bunny – she
kept going and going and going . . . she stayed until she was forced to quit,
and even then snuck in one or two more last jumps.
That evening we all partook in a potluck supper,
and at dusk enjoyed a splendid private fireworks display overlooking the Rainy
River. And once again we hit the hay at about midnight.
On Saturday morning we slept in until after 8
a.m. When we did get rolling, we started packing the van – in the rain. We went
back to the farm and took at least our third annual family photo with my wife’s
nearly 94-year-old grandfather, then hit the road in the pouring rain. We made
it home after 3 p.m. and, after unloading the van, I took a nap. I think the
kids were fighting and watching television, but I’m not sure – I was
snoozing.
After supper on Sunday evening, we went out and
located three geocaches that were just published in the last week, putting us
only eight away from 400.
We have nothing planned for the coming
weekend, but we might start planning supplies for our coming
vacation.
Thanks for reading, and remember to be safe on
the lakes while enjoying the summer. Be sure to spend some time with kids!
Thanks for reading, and have a great and safe weekend. For more of my columns
visit: http://allan-crazykids.blogspot.com
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