"My Crazy Kids"

Fishing and company I wanted to get a group photo on my fishing trip last weekend, but I left my tripod in the van. We came up with a modified tripod by using a tackle box and the tailgate of my brother’s truck, and by setting the timer on the camera, I got a photo. It was a fun day hanging out on the lake with my dad and older brother, doing a little hard-water fishing. – Photo by Allan Olson. By Allan Olson If everyone weekend was this much fun – why would anyone go back to work? I got to spend last Saturday in a fish house on Lake of the Woods. When we got up to head out to the lake, it was a balmy -10, not counting the brutal winds that felt like they were cutting through us like a hot knife through butter. We (my dad, older brother and myself) made it out to the local resort at about 7:15 a.m., and the line of eager anglers waiting for the gate to open so they could head out onto the big lake was already long. On normal days the gate opens at 7 a.m.; ho...

#0353- Hockey was on our agenda last Sunday. We watched two of our nephews skating for a team from up north take on a Bemidji team. Unfortunately, the family members didn’t go home with a win. Mid-Winter Weekend By Allan Olson I announced to my family on Friday evening, “I don’t want to leave the house tomorrow,” and I had mentioned it more than once prior to that. Then my wife informed me that she had to go to a couple of stores in Bemidji on Saturday. I protested that I had expressed my desire to not leave the house, so we compromised and headed out Friday evening. We visited four stores in the short time that we were in Bemidji, and then we headed back home. We also picked up some movie supplies (candy) while we were there. I got my way on Saturday – I didn’t leave the house, even to just go out in the yard. The kids spent the day terrorizing each other, trashing the house and stopping only occasionally for a bite to eat. I think I snuck in a nap during the day and w...

Caught in the act!  The cop caught us putting our hands in the cookie jar – thankfully no citations were issued. We signed his log book, and the kids picked up a few swag items. By Allan Olson It was bound to happen. We were out geocaching over the weekend and got busted – by a cop! After the boys and I went geocaching on New Year’s Day, the owner of a geocache that we had found contacted me and suggested I take the kids to his two stage multi-cache named: Flies, Maybe…..Cookies, No! I was waiting for some warmer weather to venture out, so Sunday was perfect, and I convinced (forced?) everyone we should head outdoors. The whole crew climbed into the vehicle, including Bob the dog, and we headed off to find a couple geocaches. I had two in mind, and if they went fast, I was hoping we could find another one or two. We arrived at the first stage of the two-part cache at just before noon, about 80 feet off the driveway we found a frog sitting on a tree stump, ready t...

Welcome to 2014 Take One: I set the camera on a log with the timer on – and apparently at an angle, judging by the photo. I gave it just one try and really hoped it would work for a photo of the boys and me on our cold weather geocaching adventure. This was our second (of three) geocaches of the evening, and even though it was a bit chilly (-15), it was still a fun time out with the boys. By Allan Olson It’s hard to define when exactly the weekend was in the last two weeks, with the Christmas and New Year’s celebrations in the middle of the week pretty much messing up everyone’s work schedules.  We had a house full of company beginning New Year’s Eve and lasting until about noon on New Year ’s Day. That company included a total of nine kids ranging in age from six months to 16 years, along with five adults and one dog. It was a madhouse affair with kids running everywhere, but it wasn’t too bad since they spent the majority of their time downstairs ...

Christmas Week, Continued —The boys dug into their Christmas stockings after we unwrapped gifts on Christmas Day.  By Allan Olson Last week was a full week of Christmas. We celebrated the holiday with family in International Falls on Sunday, December 22, and then again in Baudette on Saturday, December 28. And in the interlude, we celebrated the actual holiday as a family at home on Christmas Day. A couple weeks ago my wife and I finished the Christmas shopping, and she had everything wrapped soon afterwards. We put the gifts under the tree, and the next day when the kids ventured up the stairs, they spotted them and started to count their gifts. Well, it turned out that not every person had the same number of gifts under the tree – i.e., I kept a couple of Nikolai’s out of sight because they would have been easily identified. After that issue was raised, my wife came up with an ingenious plan to mess with the children a little. Marcus, who was obsessed w...