"My Crazy Kids"

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...