Geocaching, Cleaning, Baking


Geocaching, Cleaning, Baking


Cutline: Abigail decided that she needed some more exercise and fresh air after school on Monday and decided that she wanted to run/walk part of the way home. She still had energy left over after her little jaunt, and kept right on wiggling the rest of the night.

By Allan Olson
This weekend I escaped the house by myself, and then my wife escaped by herself; both were unusual opportunities. Normally I get out of the house, but it’s usually for work – a meeting, game, community event, or all of the above, sometimes even on the same evening. That is something that seems to have occurred quite a bit lately.
On Saturday morning I kindly asked my wife to “whip” up a batch of homemade sweet roll dough so I could make some caramel rolls. By noon I had the rolls baked and my mess cleaned up. Then we discussed the possibility of me heading out to a geocaching party in Bemidji. The event consisted of a small group of geocachers getting together for some laughs, sharing stories and just having fun. The kids were all busy cleaning, and I was tired of asking them to get their work done, so I was able to sneak off on my own.
By the time I finally decided to go and left my home in the sticks, I ended up being late for the event. I still had a great time when I got there, with lots of laughs, and it made me wish the snow would disappear so we could get outside and find some more geocaches.
Once I got back home, I checked on the progress the girls had made in their room. Surprise! – none. Frustrated I walked away. All day in their room, and hardly anything had been done. The boys had their room mostly cleaned up, and I assigned other tasks to them.
I asked my wife to make another batch of dough so I could make some more rolls. Before long it was time for her to take off to celebrate her birthday and her friend’s birthday with a movie and a dinner. It was my turn to stay home with the kids. I whipped up some French toast and fed them all, and then turned my attention to making the rolls again. After supper, I sent the girls back to refocus on getting their room cleaned. A short time later, Alivia came to me and said, “Dad, I’m tired of cleaning. I want to go to sleep. Will you cover me up?” I followed her downstairs and found no signs of progress in their room. Abigail was already in bed – apparently she was tired, too – and ready to sleep.
I finished making rolls with a little help from Marcus, and was soon ready for bed myself.
On Sunday, it only took the girls about an hour to get their room cleaned. It’s amazing how fast they can clean it if they actually work at it. We planned to work on some of the other rooms that could use a little TLC, but time flew by, and so some work remains for another day.
This weekend we will listen for some good news from the BCLB Bears wrestling team, and hopefully get to cheer on the Panthers on Saturday.
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 remember to drive safely this winter. Thanks for reading, and have a great week! For more of my columns visit: http://allan-crazykids.blogspot.com

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