Nelson Family Blog: Fall 2021

We are already halfway through October, and I'm not sure where the time has gone. The weather has been absolutely gorgeous, and we have been taking full advantage of it.

I'm a little behind on blogging again, so I will try to catch you up on what has been happening around here. Two weekends ago, we camped for a second weekend at Lake Vermillion with the Hinners. It didn't really go exactly as planned. First of all, on Friday evening, we had an after work gathering at the !8th Amendment because Meditech Expanse went live that day. It was kind of a disastrous launch of Meditech Expanse, so we decided to have a few drinks. Well, they kept buying me drinks and pretty soon I couldn't really drive to Lake Vermillion, so I stayed home Friday night and didn't come out until Saturday.

In the meantime, Travis' brother passed away on Friday night, so they packed up their camper and left, and it ended up just being us and Hannah P camping for the weekend. We still had a good weekend, but it definitely wasn't what we were expecting. We did some biking, skipped some rocks, played some softball, and made some beef stew in the dutch oven, which was amazing. We also had a nice fire and then called it a night. It got pretty cold overnight (like 36 degrees) so we had a brisk morning. We went to town for church and Sunday School, and then we headed back out to watch the Vikings and then pack up and put our camper away for the last time this year. It was bittersweet to pack it up, but I'm ready to be done camping and move on to other things.

The week passed with some Soccer Sprouts, late nights at work, Choir practice, and homework. Last weekend, we went to Minnesota for some fall harvesting. They were just starting the corn, so we did some chopping, kids rode in the combine, and I rode with dad in the grain truck to town a few times. I even drove again this year, and I made it into 6th gear which was pretty exciting. Emma ended up being sick for most of the weekend. She had a fever, a headache, and just didn't feel well. So, she spent a lot of the weekend on Tylenol and resting on the couch. John and I ran out of things to do in the afternoon, so we went to New Ulm and checked out Herman the German and walked around the MLC campus. We also decided to check out October Fest on a whim. It was okay, not really worth all the hype. But we had some beer and some good German food and we headed back to my parent's house. We left on Sunday after lunch, and got settled back to home for another week.

I actually had Monday off, and so did the kids. So, we spent the morning cleaning, and then we went to Great Life to swim in the pool. We had lunch at Fizolis, and then went to the bike trail. We rode to Sherman Park, the kids played for a while, and then we rode back and shopped at Dollar Tree. After all that, I took them out to Jim and Barb's house since they didn't have school on Tuesday as well. John and I took advantage and had a date night at Urban Chislic, which was actually pretty impressive. We ended the evening with a trip to Walmart, and then we called it a day.

This weekend was another busy one. Friday evening we went to the Stampede Game, which was also their Halloween night. The kids got to wear their costumes, and then trick or treat around the concourse. They had a really fun time. The game was pretty good. The Stampede lost 4-3. But we stayed the whole game, and the kids actually watched. And after the first period, the kids got to be in a costume parade and got to walk around on the ice, they thought that was pretty cool.

On Saturday, we slept in. Then, we took some family photos at Legacy Park. I think they turned out really well. Then, John took the kids back out to the farm while I went to the gym and the grocery store. We were supposed to see Chris Stapleton at the Denny, but they cancelled the concert about 2 hours before it was supposed to start. So, John and I had another date night. We went to Squealers in Tea, and then we went to Buffalo Ridge Brewing in Hartford. We enjoyed both experiences. It was a really nice evening out, and the weather was absolutely gorgeous.

Today was another beautiful day. We went to church, then we went and got kids from the farm, and then we did some catch up stuff at home. John mowed and fertilized, while I cleaned, cooked, and made some homemade bread. We did some piano lessons and reading time, and then we finally were able to relax for a little bit. What a weekend.

It's been so nice out that we are so busy doing things and being outside, but holy cow. We just don't know how to stay home and do nothing sometimes. But, it was a great weekend, and this week we are getting new flooring! I am so excited. We are getting new vinyl plank in the kitchen and living room. It's going to look so much better than our crappy carpet, and it starts Wednesday. So, that's a little bit of an added stress for the week, but I can't wait for it to be installed.

Here's to an exciting week ahead!