Thanksgiving Weekend


Left: My great-nephew Brody helping me play Euchre.

Right: Alivia was the most dedicated geocacher of the group, getting out and assisting me at nearly every stop we made in the woods of Aitkin County. She most certainly found more than me; I think I had four finds to my name!

By Allan Olson

As is usual on an extended week, we were plenty busy. There was a mountain of food for Thanksgiving dinner, and guests started arriving as early as 10 a.m. My wife and mother-in-law and Abigail (who is usually only found in the kitchen when the food is done) were busy preparing dishes for the day’s feast. 
The night before, Abigail had also prepared an amazing pumpkin pie cheesecake. I will admit that with all the pie choices we had on Thursday, I didn’t even sample it until the next day. But hey, the best part of hosting Thanksgiving dinner is having lots of leftovers – especially turkey, for cold turkey sandwiches.
Thursday was spent crazing and cooking, eating and then cleaning up – which is usually where I get involved. Nikolai and Grandma handled the dishes, while I worked on finding room for leftovers in the fridge. We spent time visiting and eating some more, and then toward the end of the day a few played Scrabble.
It wasn’t a late night as our guests needed some time to travel, but it was a nice relaxing evening for us.
Black Friday
There were lots of deals in a variety of stores, some of which I would have liked to participate in, but they weren’t in the budget. I did manage to hit a couple of stores, though, tagging along with my niece, her fiancĂ©e and my mother-in-law, and as a bonus, my niece bought me coffee at Caribou. I can honestly say that she still owes me a few more, but that was a nice treat for the day.
Back at home, I brought in all the Christmas decorations, and then I took a nap on the couch. Later, the family headed out to a local tree farm in search of a Christmas tree – it will be our last one from that place, as it is closing permanently. I guess that means I need to start looking for the perfect tree early next year during my travels in the forest, and mark it on my GPS to go back and find it in the fall.
Once we got the tree in and set up, we made supper. I wanted more leftovers; for the kids I fried bacon and sausage, Nik made a triple batch of pancakes and Abigail made the same in waffles. It was quite a feast, and just in time to join us another niece arrived with her two kids. We enjoyed the food and then played the card game Euchre. Everyone but Abigail played, since Grandma had taught them the game earlier in the week while their mom and I were both at work.
Friday was not a late night, either, as I had plans for Saturday – a full day of geocaching, with all four kids and a dog in tow. The plan was to meet a friend at an event in Grand Rapids, and from there we were headed into the woods to finish a series we had started on in October.
I got the kids up at 6 a.m. on Saturday and we were out the door by 6:40. We reached the big city of Grand Rapids, and stopped to grab a few more food items for the road, and fill the gas-guzzling but necessary four-wheel drive rig to traverse the back trails with on our search. We attended the event, then my friend ditched his vehicle in the parking lot at a local box store and we headed for the woods. 
I wasn’t sure how things were going to go with four kids and the dog, but in all honesty, it went pretty well. There were a few minor arguments along the way, and the dog jumping out each time the kids got out was fine, but then he didn’t want to get back in, which was was a pain, so we made sure he only got out when we were going to be walking somewhere. As the day wore on, the kids got tired and were not getting out at each stop, so that made it easier for the dog to stay in the vehicle as well. 
In the end, we had logged 62 caches (far better than our deer hunting experience this year), and for a treat at the end, we swung through DQ and grabbed Blizzards for the road home.
I slept in on Sunday. It was a strange feeling not getting up at 6 a.m. and not having any plans for the day. I finally started moving about 10 a.m. Nikolai and I left the house to do a little exploring for about an hour before heading back home again. That evening, the kids got the tree decorated, and we sat down to play a game of Scrabble. Once again my wife beat us all. I was leading for a while, but she came up with some good words at the end, and I didn’t.
In all it was a great Thanksgiving weekend.
This week promises to be busy, and at the moment the weekend is not quite fully planned. Nikolai will likely by gone Saturday for a robotics event, but for the rest of us, that day is yet to be planned, as is Sunday.
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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