"My Crazy Kids"

Abigail with her great grandfather, on the eve before Christmas Eve. By Allan Olson We spent the Christmas holiday weekend away from home – nothing unusual for us, since our family is all up in the North country. Possibly a little unusual was celebrating two Christmases in the same weekend, as often we celebrate one family gathering early and the other on Christmas – but such was not the case this time. We hit the road late Friday afternoon for our first Christmas celebration, and arrived up North at about dark, still in plenty of time to visit before dining on the delicious food. We stayed and visited and the adults exchanged gifts of Christmas goodies while the kids exchanged gifts. The surprise of the night was when my niece arrived – who we were last told due to her near-child condition would not be able to attend. However, she got doctor’s permission and decided to head up for the family Christmas. We finally called it a night and headed over to my par...

—Merry Christmas and Happy New Year from my family to yours! By Allan Olson Early last week, Nikolai and I headed out in search of a Christmas tree. We were armed with a chainsaw I borrowed from my brother (that I couldn’t get started) and a handsaw. I had two locations in mind; the second one was an afterthought and I really was certain it would be a good location. It turned out that it wasn’t, and we ran out of time to continue our search due to darkness. That was Monday – the one and only day I had an opportunity all week to conduct such a search. On Saturday morning I called out to the kids to ask who wanted to go out searching for a tree again with me – the only one interested was Nikolai. I was clearly not happy with my other children. My wife decided that she was going to go along, and in addition, all the kids would go as well. After all, every other time for the past six years we have all gone out together to pick a tree.  So everyone put o...

#7688—The girls helped “Stuff A Squad” after school on Friday, December 8.   By Allan Olson Every week for the last forever, because I’ve lost count, I’ve been busy on the weekends. Last month it was hunting and holidays, this month the theme is kids and holidays. My wife wanted snow on the ground for family photos, so why didn’t we do it before all the snow melted and it was tad warmer? I have no idea. We got up bright and early for a Saturday (but far later than last Saturday) at about 7:30 a.m. Our intent was to take our family photos outside, in the back yard, before the harsh morning or noon sunlight could create issues with shadows – if we were fortunate enough to get some sunlight. So we got kids up, made them put on the nice new sweaters we bought for the occasion, loaded up the vehicle and made the long trek to the backyard. It might seem silly to start the vehicle to drive us all to the backyard, but I knew it would be cold and it was a given th...

Abigail and a book she received from Shriners. By Allan Olson Once again – we had another weekend – with one day spent – gone all day and the other, spent from the bed, to the chair, to the table, oh and a quick trip to the store. Saturday morning – the boys had to be in two different directions – Nikolai to St. Cloud for a robotics event, Marcus – to Northome for a Lego Robotics Event – that meant no sleeping in for Dad. So well before the roosters and the rest of the barnyard animals were awake, we were on the road to town. I told Nikolai, he was responsible to get himself up and his brother, I wasn’t getting up any sooner than I had to. When my alarm woke me out of my slumber at 4:30 a.m. – I looked out my door to the kitchen and saw the boys were at the table eating some food already – I was happy to see that I didn’t have to wake them. So I grabbed some toast, took the time to brew some tea, started the vehicle and we headed down the road. I dropped Nikolai off first,...

The girls at a geocache in Detroit Lakes. This cache has collected several favorable comments over the years, and the girls and I were happy to add one from us as well, as we appreciated the creativity that went into it. By Allan Olson It was a great weekend. I could just leave it at that, because it was just that – a great weekend. The kids and I hung out at or near the house for most of the long weekend. Nikolai and I tended to our neighbor’s stove all weekend, and on Thanksgiving Day and Friday, that was the only reason I left the house. We hosted about 12 people for Thanksgiving dinner. My wife and mother-in-law prepared the meal, with the exception of a couple pies and a few other goodies and snacks. We sat down to enjoy the feast at 3 p.m., and by the time we started serving pie about 90 minutes later, I was still so full I couldn’t even finish the two pieces I had dished up for myself. I probably should have just put one on the plate, but I couldn’t ...

- Our loyal friend Bob, with a nephew of ours a few years ago. By Allan Olson Saying goodbye – sometimes it’s a hard thing to do, especially when it’s the final goodbye. Our family has had to say goodbye before, but this time it was a little different, and it hurt. For our busy family having a long day is nothing new. Going 10-12 hours or more is not out of the norm at least one day of the week for the whole family, and that’s what we did last Wednesday. Whenever we had a long day like that, no matter what time of the day or night we arrived back at home, we could always count on our faithful companion and loyal friend Bob (our dog) to be waiting by the front door, ready to greet us upon our return. But not that day. Our furry boy came to us 5-1/2 years ago as a young puppy barely weaned from his momma – the kids all took to him immediately, and he to them. All he wanted was for someone to rub his back or belly or nose, and the kids showered him with love, u...

My nephew and I teamed up in the deer stand on Saturday night, but no deer appeared for us to shoot. By Allan Olson Last week was a crazy, whirlwind week, with lots of activities all jam-packed into a few short days, and I was really feeling it by Saturday morning in the deer stand. Between deer season and the change back from Daylight Savings Time (DST) to Standard Time, my sleep schedule has been messed up all week. I have been waking up around 4:30 a.m. – on non-hunting days! – and it sucks. I really do enjoy hunting; it’s the one time of year when all my brothers, my dad, my uncle and now my son and niece and nephew all head out to do the same thing – sit in our stands and wait for deer to walk by. Unfortunately, it has also messed up my sleep schedule. The first day of hunting we woke up at about 5:30 p.m. The next day it was about an hour earlier due to the end of DST, and on Tuesday and Wednesday I found myself waking up far before my normal end-of-...

Our ragtag hunting crew on opening weekend.   By Allan Olson The annual assault of the orange army into the woods and fields of Minnesota started Saturday, and Nikolai and I, along with my siblings, nephew, uncle and dad, joined the attack once again. This year we had snow on the ground, with more snow falling all day on the hunting opener. We had close to seven inches of snow over the course of the evening prior and day of – a big change from previous years. The opening morning proved successful for three hunters in our party – but not for me. My oldest brother was the first to fire, and my son the next, each shooting two rounds apiece. Those rounds were followed up a brief time later by another volley – which turned out to be from my dad’s rifle. Meanwhile, I was sitting in my stand waiting for something other than birds to present itself for a target, but that didn’t happen. Next came the “Who did what, shot what?” moment. I found out that Nikolai...

#6378---Marcus spent the entire day at the gym on Saturday, helping with “Flag Ninja” duties, match after match, for about 10 hours. He also occasionally helped with the field reset, and a little bit with the tear-down process. By Allan Olson This weekend was exhausting, working as chief photographer and media representative at the robotics competition held in Cass Lake on Saturday, I took quite a few photos, talked with a lot of people, and assisted where needed, when needed. One of the FIRST robotics event leaders told the group in the morning meeting that he takes about 25,000 steps at one of these regional events. At about 3 p.m. I checked my FIT app, certain that I was nearing that mark and, to my dismay, I wasn’t even close. As a matter of fact, I didn’t break 10,000 steps for the day! I don’t know how, because I felt like all I did was run from one part of the gym to another, taking photos of the many different facets of the event and the people involved...

By Allan Olson It doesn’t seem to make a difference if the week is short or long, the days still go by in a blur. Since the kids were off Thursday, I took that day to have a “dad” day and went to play in the woods with a friend. I met him at 6 a.m. and we took off for Hill City. Our target was a series of caches that form a star in the woods. We spent the day hiking and driving, pushing our way through patches of thick brush, carefully avoiding water traps. When they couldn’t be avoided, I embraced the challenge of swamp water by putting on my water-proof boots. By the end of the day, we had logged about four miles on foot and added 32 more caches to our total – not a huge day of finds but still enough to make us feel like we accomplished something.  I got home a little after 7 p.m., exhausted and tired from spending a full day out in the warm, fresh air. The kids enjoyed their day off at home, doing a minimal amount of work – just what they were asked, wit...

By Allan Olson As the fall season is quickly winding down to the “hunting” season it was time again to do some preparation on the deer stands to make sure all is in good shape for the upcoming hunt. Friday evening we headed north – sometime after 6 p.m. –about an hour later than I had planned, but plans change. The best thing about the trip north was seeing the northern light show from the vehicle after dark. The lady auroras were dancing across the sky –in what appeared to be a very brief show. Because we pulled over on the side of the road and we were only about 10 miles from my parents, I didn’t take any photos but it was still nice to watch. At my parents I went outside several times in the next couple of hours to see if they would start dancing again – but since they didn’t seem like they were going to I opted for bed instead. The next morning, my dad and older brother headed out to the lake, they decided the night prior that they were going to try and fish for a couple ...

Photo: Alivia and I did manage to get out hunting during the week while everyone else was busy with school stuff. We only had about an hour and chased up no birds, but it was still a great time to be outside. By Allan Olson It was a pretty decent weekend weather wise, except I didn’t spend as much time enjoying it as a I probably should have. It wasn’t like I was a shut-in all weekend; I just didn’t get out hunting or fishing. I’m thinking I might as well put my motor away and flip my boat over, because it doesn’t look like I’ll be getting out on the water again this year. Friday night was a good one as the girls and I watched the Panthers cruise to a homecoming football game victory – their first in nearly a decade! The victory made shooting pictures at the game tons of fun – and the decent temperatures made for comfortable conditions all the way into the fourth quarter. Most Saturdays I like to stay in bed, at least past the time I normally get up for work...