Nelson Family Blog: Emma's Minnesota Birthday Party

We are flying right through June. We are already almost halfway through. I haven't really enjoyed 2020 very much, but it's still going by way too fast. I'm going to blink and summer is going to be over.

This month brought a few more things that are helping us feel like things are a little more normal. We started softball this past Monday. It was hot and windy, and we played without having any practices so that made for an interesting night. We lost our first game, and then won our second. I pitched both games, which went ok. But man, was I sore the next couple of days. It was really fun to be back out playing softball and hanging out with friends.

Last weekend, we went to Minnesota to celebrate Emma and Elena's birthdays. Mom and dad rented a giant bouncy house slide, and that was their gift to the girls. The kids had a really fun time with the bouncy slide/pool, and definitely got their money's worth out of it. It did get pretty windy on Saturday, but luckily the inflatable held up and did just fine.

On Saturday, Marcel and Gretchen and their kids and grandkids came out to use the inflatable and to just hang out with us all. I also invited Samantha over to catch up. It was a great afternoon of visiting, pool time, and we capped it off with a nice bonfire. It was nice to see Emma and Elliott get to spend some time with their cousin as well. It had been quite a while since we had seen everybody.

Then, on Sunday, we headed to Tim and Janel's house for Jenna's confirmation. It was nice to see the extended family, but it was definitely different without any grandparents around. It was a nice gathering, but by early afternoon we were ready to head home and get ready for another crazy week.

During the first weekend in June, we hosted a grill-out at our house with some of my friends from work. It was fun to have people over, and the kids really enjoyed having all the other kids over to play with. We got to enjoy our pergola, and it was a beautiful evening for a fire. We also used our projector and had an outdoor movie with the kids, which everyone enjoyed. We decided we are going to have to have more friend gatherings this summer when we are around.

Covid-19 seems to have stabilized for the time being. Our numbers here in South Dakota have remained pretty flat, and have even gone down overall. The city removed all restrictions, and they are just trusting us to be smart and protect ourselves when in public. The city pools are closed for the summer, but the Midco and the splash park are open, so there are some options. Also, we are camping a few times this summer, so there will be some lakes we can swim in. The panic seems to be lifting over the virus, but the experts are still worried that this fall we will have another spike.

The bigger news lately has been the Black Lives Matter movement. There have been protests all over the country and people are fighting for equal rights for everyone, no matter the color of your skin. On Memorial Day, a white officer in Minneapolis, arrested a black man, George Floyd, for using a counterfit bill. After the black man was cuffed and laying facedown on the ground, the white officer knelt on the back of his neck for 8 minutes and 46 seconds. During this time George kept saying he couldn't breathe, and pleaded for the officer to get off. There were bystanders who were witnessing this occurring, and one lady recorded the situation. The bystanders were also yelling for the officer to get off the man. George eventually lost consciousness, the EMTs were called, and he died on the way to the hospital. Rightly so, this angered many people, and helped to initiate a change across the country.

The police officer who knelt on the suspect was fired and arrested for second degree murder. The other three police officers who stood by and did nothing lost their jobs, and could possibly face charges as well. And Minneapolis plans to completely restructure their police force and how they do things. There has been some good changes that have occurred so far, and the protests continue to happen. There have been some violent protests, and a lot of businesses in Minneapolis were looted, damaged and some were even burned down. This has caused some more division within our country, but it has also united people to help change the world for the better. It's sad that in 2020 I even have to write about things like this. Hopefully, we can all help nudge the world into a better place with more love and generosity and less greed and hate. Fingers crossed.