A reunion of family

As per tradition on our family camping trips, we always take a family photo somewhere, and I was not about to let this trip pass without the requisite group shot.

By Allan Olson

It was all about family last week. My wife spent the first three days of the week at her family reunion with all but one of the kids. She enjoyed the luxury of an older RV borrowed from my parents that while not pretty, was functional – in particular, it had three beds and working AC. It sure beat sleeping in a tent, or in my case the vehicle, since she was sharing it with her mom (the third bed was more kid size). The couple of nights I used it wasn’t bad. At least I didn’t have to worry about waking anyone when I got up, which was always earlier than the rest of the family.

The reunion started on Sunday, but I wasn’t there so I really didn’t get to see much of it. Unfortunately, I also didn’t get to up in a private aircraft because the weather was too fickle before I left and I was gone by the time they decided to do it. The person who did go up said it was pretty cool. I can honestly say I was sad I didn’t get to go, but it made sense.

The reunion was over on Tuesday night, and on Wednesday some of us went to the Independence Day parade and then to my parents’ to celebrate my Dad’s birthday. Two of my brothers families were there so it was a full house. We had a great menu off the grill to enjoy, topped with dessert, of course. Two of my mom’s sisters and their spouses showed up unexpectedly during the party, so more visiting commenced. 

Before we knew it, it was time for us to leave. I told my wife either we go back to our camping spot or I was going to crawl into a bed for a nap, so we headed back to camp to clean up. Later a few of us headed in to watch the fireworks. My wife and Abigail declined the opportunity, opting instead to stay back and read and relax.

On Thursday morning I took some quiet time for work, and then after the kids woke up (after 11) it was busy time again. By that afternoon, all but a couple reunion guests had departed for home, leaving just my family, my mother-in-law and a niece. That afternoon, we were joined for lunch by my wife’s brother and his wife, along with their two sons and daughter. That really made everything more enjoyable for at least half of my kids, as they all played together and later everyone headed down to the river. We had a fire, played cards and enjoyed a few cocktails before the night was over, celebrating the fact that my wife did not need to report for jury duty the next morning – meaning we had a couple more days to have fun!

Friday morning was more of the same – I worked and the kids slept. I really wanted to go out for a geocaching drive, but my wife told me this was not a geocaching vacation and that I need to learn how to relax and not run off somewhere. That’s something I don’t do very well – relaxing, that is. Somewhat annoyed, I took her advice. I switched into my sandals and shorts and pretended to relax. I did some reading, played some games with the kids outside in the scalding afternoon sun, taking them to the river twice to go swimming and getting burned on my feet and apparently my chest, after sacrificing my shirt to a niece. I tried swimming once, but didn’t enjoy the mucky bottom or the lack of depth and so climbed back up on the dock and nearly fell back in, and now have a bruise on my leg to show for it. That night Nikolai, my niece and I played a game until the wee hours of the morning.

I found myself up early once again on Saturday, so I decided to clean up the barn (turned bar), moving chairs, sweeping the floor and all-around tidying up after ourselves. My wife woke up and decided that she had had enough of camping and was ready to go home. We started the clean-up process and set our departure time for about 7 p.m.

My wife had a dress fitting in town that afternoon and Abigail went to help my dad with a couple furniture deliveries. From there, we headed back and with some help loaded the canoes back on the trailer and started packing the Yukon. I informed my wife earlier that before we left, I wanted one more stab at a geocache that had thwarted me previously. This time, with help from my niece and Nikolai, we were successful in making the find.

It was a nice, cool ride home with the AC on, but when it came time to unpack the trailer and the vehicle, it didn’t take long for me to once again be covered in sweat. I took a cool shower, then worked on photos for at least an hour before getting to bed after midnight once again. I didn’t care – it was great to be back at home (although the camper was cooler). 

I have a busy week ahead, and my wife could still be called back for jury duty in the morning and work at night for the next two weeks. Hopefully, if she does get called, she won’t be selected – our schedule is already packed.

Over the next couple weekends we have Summer Fest, a family reunion on my side, and an approximate 18-mile canoe trip with around 70 geocaches. That takes care of July, and the schedule for August looks to be about the same, and before you know it it will be back to school. Then the weekends might not be quite as busy, but the weeks certainly will be.

Rest assured, no matter what our activities are this summer, we will be taking photos to document our busy lives. I encourage you to do the same! 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