By Allan Olson
We spent this past weekend just like every weekend should be spent – having fun!
We took the kids to town on Friday morning, cramming their bikes into the van just so they could participate in the bike parade at Norway Beach. We got their early and they went to work decorating their bikes. I think Abigail was decorating hers the entire hour; the others did their decorating and then rode their bikes around until we made them stop to wait for the parade.
After the parade, we headed home to wait for company and do some more cleaning – not exactly fun, but something that needed to be done. That afternoon I headed out to do a little more mowing, but then it rained. I didn’t think a little rain was going to stop me from what little mowing I needed to do, but after a few minutes of rain drops pelting me in the face (thanks to the strong winds), I decided to wait until it quit, and eventually I was able to finish that job.
Things were pretty laid back that evening. My cousin and his family were going to be working the geocaching trail a little longer and then attend fireworks; ultimately we decided to forego the fireworks in Bemidji and chose to watch a movie instead. Our selection for the small screen was “What About Bob,” truly a classic. Probably the best part of it was the kids’ reactions to certain parts – I wasn’t sure if the movie would be to their liking, but judging by their laughter, I figured it was a hit. We had plans of starting “Honey I Shrunk the Kids” next, but the arrival of our company put a halt to that. We all hit the hay sometime after 1 a.m. – we had a full day of geocaching planned for Saturday.
Since it’s hard for me to sleep in, I was still awake by 7:30 a.m., just waiting for the others to wake up so we could hit the road. We were on our way at around 11:00; the food and water and kids were all packed, and off we went.
Our first stop for a geocache was Plug Hat Point on Lake Winnie. The youngest one of the group, my cousin’s daughter, was able to claim the find with “a little” assistance from my wife. From there we ventured north of Deer River, working to find a few geocaches along the way, with our ultimate destination being “The Lost 40.” For several years I’ve wanted to make this trip, but have never made it until now. I can finally say that I’ve been to this untouched paradise. We walked the winding trail around the Lost 40, with the kids running up and down the hills, trying to leave the adults in the dust – except we did make a rule that they must be able to see us at all times, because we didn’t want anyone getting “lost” until they were “40” – as Marcus joked on the way there.
While in the woods, we solved the puzzle to a geocache that was hidden outside of that woods, but we never ventured after it, since the coordinates sent us 500 feet into dense cover which would have required bushwhacking the entire way, exposing us to swarms of mosquitoes that would either carry us off or suck us dry. We decided that a return trip in the fall is now in order to avoid that fate.
After our visit to the big woods, we ventured back toward home, finding a couple more geocaches along the way, finally returning at 8:30 p.m. I fired up the grill, and it didn’t take long before the food was ready – just in time to beat the rain. We settled downstairs and started watching “Honey I Shrunk the Kids” to wait out the rain for a chance to set off some fireworks. Thankfully, the rain stopped before it got too late, and we entertained ourselves with our own pyrotechnics extravaganza.
On Sunday, my cousin and I went out and grabbed a few caches that he had yet to find around the area (and five that I hadn’t found yet). After the company left that afternoon, I read some, grabbed some winks, and read some more.
That evening I played catch with Nikolai, colored with Abigail, made banana bread with Alivia, and played catch with Marcus. In all, it was an exhausting but very fun weekend.
This weekend looks to be busy again, and hopefully just as fun. On Friday morning we will be cheering my niece, Angela, on in the Open Horse Show class at the Lake of the Woods County Fair, visiting a couple family members, and then probably making our way to my cousin’s house for a birthday party. We are looking forward to continuing our Summer of Fun.
I hope everyone enjoyed their July Fourth holiday weekend with family and friends as much as we did. As always, we welcome your comments and feedback. Drop me a line at cltimes1@arvig.net or stop by our Facebook page and check it out!
Please be safe while enjoying your favorite outdoor recreational activity and on the lakes, and remember to take pictures to preserve a lifetime of memories. Thanks for reading, and have a great week! For more of my columns visit: http://allan-crazykids.blogspot.com.
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