"My Crazy Kids"

A warm winter weekend Marcus made it down the icy driveway without falling off the sled while practicing his snowboarding techniques on Sunday afternoon. By Allan Olson Finally, the weather has turned around and given us a taste of spring, teasing us just a little bit of what’s to come. What a week it was, for work and family it was business –  and busyness – as usual. For the world – in particular the U.S.A. – it was time to turn the tide as the country’s 45 th president was sworn into office. For some it was a state of mourning, for others, a period of rejoicing. Personally, I’m taking a wait-and-see approach. I’ve voted for or against a few presidents over my 20 years of legal voting, and I’ve yet to need counseling or been so upset I’ve trashed something because my candidate of choice didn’t get elected. Instead, I just get up in the morning and take care of my duties to the best of my ability, as I have any other day. Personally, I don’t think eith...

Outdoor Fun! The kids inside the Chippewa National Forest chalet at Shingobee Hill on Saturday, January 14.  Pictured (l to r) in front: Cherylann Watkins and Aliva Olson. Back: Abigail, Nikolai and Marcus Olson. By Allan Olson Finally, a break in the winter weather! There were no impending snowstorms and no sub-zero temperatures over the weekend, and we made good use of great conditions. Saturday was the busy day of the weekend; Sunday was a lazy day.  On Saturday morning, Nikolai and I attended a free movie in Bemidji about the OshKosh Airshow, and afterwards we met up with the rest of the party. Our destination and plans were to go sledding at Shingobee. The first time I had ever explored Shingobee Hill was this past fall. It was a struggle for these out-of-shape legs to get up the hill then, and I knew it wasn’t going to be any easier in the winter. I had barely gotten to the top of the hill and kids were already taking off on their sleds fo...

Another busy week Camera-shy Nikolai allowed a rare photo, taken by one of his friends at the Robotics Game Reveal in Nevis on Saturday, January 7. By Allan Olson It was most definitely one busy week last week. Every day was filled with running either for myself or others in the family; I spent the whole week in meetings and games. In a discussion with some others this week, they referenced how they miss the running with their kids. I can honestly say that thought is a mystery to me right now. Instead of wondering how I’m going to survive all the running, I should be thinking about “How in the world can I get these kids to do their chores?” I don’t think it’s just my kids, but I don’t understand why anyone would want to take all day to do a job that should only take an hour at most. When the kids are asked to clean their room, it’s always the same battle, and if I’m on my game, I end up taking stuff out of the closets and from under their bed. Although I must...

The dog days of winter Abigail had the honor of finding our first geocache of 2017 on Sunday evening, and not too far from home. By Allan Olson A couple months ago, in a moment of what can only be described as weakness, I granted my niece permission to get a dog. Since she is staying with us right now, I have that authority until she has her own dwelling. For a few months I had been saying absolutely not, but for some reason I relented and she jumped at the chance. Within eight hours there was a new dog at our house. My wife and I soon realized that our dog really doesn’t like puppies, and neither do we. They require way more maintenance than either of us care to experience again. On Thursday night, another dog kept coming around to our place. I was 98% sure it didn’t belong to any of our neighbors, and the kids were even more convinced it didn’t. At 10 p.m. I sent Nikolai out to the garage to shut off a light off that he had left on, and he discovered the do...