Thanksgiving Weekend

Thanksgiving Weekend

#8241---With the decent temperatures over the Thanksgiving weekend, the kids were tempted by the recently-frozen Big Rice Lake and decided to explore. This beaver lodge appeared to attract the most interest. Even the dog found the large conglomeration of sticks, grass and mud interesting.

By Allan Olson

Oh, what a weekend! All week we had been working, working and working some more to get the house in order for the loads of company we were expecting on Wednesday, Thanksgiving and into Friday. We didn’t know exactly who was going to be staying how long, but it didn’t really matter, since our plans were to stay home.

After the kids finally got their rooms cleaned – all I have to say is that if they would have put half as much energy into working as they did into complaining about working, their rooms would have been cleaned much faster, but eventually everything was picked up and ready for the vacuum cleaner. (Their bookshelves have yet to be touched, but they will have to wait for another day.)

The company started to arrive somewhere around 9 p.m. on Wednesday. The kids were excited to see their cousins, especially Michael, who ended up staying for the next five days. Before we knew it, it was 11 o’clock and the new deck of cards we bought specifically for playing Euchre hadn’t even been touched. But it was bed time. My wife and at least one niece stayed up to make pies; I hit the hay – it was well past my bed time. 

The hustle and bustle in the kitchen began early on Thursday, with the oven turned on (thankfully it heated right up this time, unlike our Thanksgiving 2011). The crockpot was ready to cook a nice pork roast to perfection, and many other preparations that I didn’t have a hand in were well underway for the afternoon meal. More people arrived, and soon the house was bustling with children ranging in ages from five months to 16 years – and a few more adults.

Finally came the moment we had all been waiting for – dinner time. The turkey was ever-so-perfectly prepared in the deep fryer, the pork roast was juicy and melting-in-your-mouth good, as was everything else. The kids were too busy playing to really enjoy the food. They came in, tasted a few morsels, declared they were full, and took off again to play. The majority of the adults consumed the fabulous food until they were bursting at the seams before pushing away from the table.

Then came time for clean-up. This time I assisted, and made a niece help. My mother-in-law washed some dishes, and with a team effort we wrapped it up. And then it was rest time. Well, sort of. We visited, ate some pie (because we hadn’t eaten enough yet) and visited some more. At some point, people started to leave, and eventually the seal on the deck of cards was broken and the Euchre games began. That evening some beverages were poured and the cards continued. Even though I was still full from dinner, I had to have some more turkey, and some dinner rolls . . . and a half a piece of pie. Thankfully, my brother in-law finished the other half so I didn’t feel like it was taunting me.

After many games of cards, a few beverages and some more snacking, it was bed time. My brother in-law and his spouse and my mother in-law all planned to venture out early on Black Friday. My wife and I said, “Have fun – leave the kids; we’ll watch them.”

Early on Friday morning, we both had a flashback to a time about six years ago when we still had an infant in the house. I had to get up and find a diaper for the baby, but then I drifted back to the Land of Nod. Before long my wife told me it was my turn to watch my niece, so I snuggled with her and we dozed a while until I heard the next youngest tot calling for his parents. I went to find him – after going downstairs, I stumbled back up them and landed right in front of him. Well, it turns out my rescue mission was in vain. He didn’t want anything to do with me, and headed off to find his big brother and cousins.

Later that day, I sent the kids outside and took a nap. They came back later and talked about what they had done – they found a beaver lodge! I proceeded to give them the “ice is never safe, be careful” lecture, and left it at that. 

They headed outside again on Saturday afternoon, and since it’s a considerable distance from the house to the lake, I got nervous watching them and decided to go out and check things out for myself. I found that the ice conditions were both “safe” and “slippery” (they won’t be so much now) and played with the kids some and took pictures.

On Sunday, we made the kids pick up the house, especially downstairs. Then we made caramel rolls from scratch, and my wife made donuts for the first time in our marriage. My donut is already big enough, so I have only sampled a couple, but they sure are good.

Plans for this week – just staying warm! It’s highly unlikely that we will be venturing out for a geocache anytime soon, but who knows, I just might decide to go out and play in the snow anyway.

Please be safe while ice fishing this season, and remember to take a picture to preserve a lifetime of memories. Also please watch out for the buses that are transporting our children. And please remember to drive safely and slowly this winter season. Thanks for reading, and have a great week! For more of my columns visit: http://allan-crazykids.blogspot.com.