Weekend Activities


Weekend Activities
By Allan Olson
It seems like nearly every weekend there is something to do either for work or play or both and this weekend was no exception.
On Friday early evening just prior to my departure for the game in town, my nephew and niece arrived for the weekend, these two little toddlers both under the age of four are sure busier and require a lot more “immediate” attention than my older kids – who I also find needy at times.  However, even though the two little ones required a little more supervision than my children – it was my kids that did most of the supervising spending all weekend making sure their little needs were met.
The next morning pancakes were on the menu always a great fare for morning, or really any time of the day. After a morning meal, I was ready for a morning nap, but the kids wanted to head outside and go sledding and my college niece decided that she and I should go out also. So instead of a nap – we headed out to enjoy the great outdoor weather. We spent probably about 30 minutes trying to slide down the big hill on our gravel road, before dragging the kids back in again, with all that cool fresh air – the kids should’ve been tired – but no such luck. They went inside and played some more, while I decided to get caught up cleaning out my vehicle again. By the time I was done, I hauled in at least three loads of stuff that really didn’t need to be in the vehicle and cleaned up some garbage. It doesn’t seem to matter how many times I ask the kids to grab their stuff and pick up any garbage, there is always some left behind.
Since I was on supper duty, my afternoon nap was very short, once the masses were fed and supper cleaned up, my wife made some dough for me to turn into my delicious caramel rolls. While the dough was rising we started a game of cards. Nikolai volunteered to surrender his seat in the card game when my niece came back from her college duties and went to roll out the bread dough and with the help of his two little cousins put the rolls in the pan – ready for baking.  In the process of rolling the dough out, Nikolai also managed to dump the cinnamon sugar bowl on the floor – something, that I have narrowly avoided a few times. This time, his two little cousins happened to witness the spill and also managed to have nothing to do with it. I helped clean up the mess and a little bit later, my nephew Korbin asked to help again, Nikolai said, “I think you have helped enough.” Clearly disappointed and quick to point out his big cousins’ mistake, he chimed in and said, “why, I didn’t make the mess you did” - truly out of the mouth of babes.
 The next morning, I was on breakfast duty as I had promised the kids I would make Malt O Meal for breakfast and a roll would be the perfect morning treat for the cereal.
That afternoon, my niece and I brought in a few of the kids to the Leech Lake Winter Carnival and shortly after we got back – they headed home. The house felt oddly quiet after they left – not a bad thing, but definitely felt different.
I had to get my niece back to college also that evening, so I informed her that if she didn’t get ready to soon – she was stuck at the house until morning because I was going to take a nap. So she weighed the decision but felt that she wanted to be back on campus and after another trip to the store – so she could “buy” a roommate, I helped her get her stuff back to her floor and headed home. Prior to the trip to her dorm, we also stopped for a coffee – so at least, by the time I got home, I no longer felt the need for a nap.
This weekend, hopefully the weather will hold and perhaps we will go for a drive checking out the winter scenery and in the process go geocaching.
Also – we finally solved the one vehicle problem so with any luck things will be a little less crazy this week for me.
Please remember to watch out for the buses that are carrying our most precious cargo. Also snap a photo or two to preserve a lifetime of memories. Thanks for reading, and have a great week! Feel free to drop me a line at cltimes1@arvig.net or stop by the office for a visit.


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