Nelson Family Blog: Emily's Bachelorette Party

Well, summer continues to fly by over here. Softball continues a couple days a week for Emma, I have softball one night, and we find other things to fill our days as well.

Two weekends ago, we all 4 made the trip to Minnesota. We stopped at Ryan's on Friday evening and had a grill out with a campfire. We had a good time filled with conversation and good food.

On Saturday, it was Emma's 12th Birthday. So, we had plans to go to the Twin's Game, but the weather didn't cooperate and the game was cancelled, So, we shifted gears and went to Mall of America. Emma really wanted to do the climbing walls, so for 2 hours Emma and Elliott climbed walls. Emma was really, really good at climbing. She could just zip up with wall with no problem. She wanted to do all 40 climbing walls, but she didn't quite get them all in. Her hands started to hurt and blister, and she got tired. But she finished about 75% of the walls. Elliott also did really well, but he struggled a little more than Emma. He did better on the easier walls, and he wasn't as interested as Emma.

After climbing, we needed to eat somewhere. Emma picked the food court. Elliott and Emma ate at A&W, and John and I found other places to eat. After eating, the kids were pretty much done with the mall. We did a little shopping, and then John and I headed to IKEA to shop while the kids chilled in the truck.

After Ikea, we headed for home. John and I did stop at a brewery on the way home for a good beer, and then we were to my parent's house around 10:00pm. We all went to bed pretty tired. Overnight, it ended up raining 6 inches, on ground that was already really wet. So, my parent's got a lot of water in their basement. My parents were on vacation in NYC, so they were not even home when we were staying there. So, Ryan came over and we found some more sump pumps and started to pump all the excess water out of the basement. They got slammed with water, but eventually we caught up. What a mess.

In the afternoon, we went to Lila's 90th Birthday party at Squirrel's in Fairfax. It was hot and crowded in there, and little awkward, but we made an appearance, visited a little and then got out of there. Next, we headed to New London. We were a little early to drop Emma off for camp, so we stopped at Goat Ridge Brewery and had a beer and some pretzels. Finally, it was time to drop off Emma. It was a little emotional to drop her off at a camp all week where she didn't know anyone else so far away, but she did great. She wasn't nervous at all, and she couldn't wait for us to leave.

So, holding back some silly tears, we left her there. And we didn't hear a peep from her all week. Since Emma was gone all week, Elliott went to Jim and Barb's for the week. He had a great time. He got spoiled, made a lot of rainbow loom bracelets, and just generally enjoyed his time.

Our week at home without kids was kind of weird. We didn't do anything crazy. We got some weird tasks done like an Amazon return, dropped off clothes at Goodwill, and made a Costco trip. Otherwise, we actually stayed home, enjoyed our patio, and just chilled.

The weather has been the major focus around here lately. Sioux Falls and surrounding area experienced severe flooding. The Big Sioux River is very flooded for the bike trail, roads, parks, and some interstates are shut down. The city of Rock Valley is completely under water. It's been really devastating for some people. Luckily, we did not have any water problems or flooding at our house, but it's sad to see.

I almost couldn't make it to Emily's bachelorette party because some roads were shut down, but I found a clear route and ended up making it. I went to Rachel's house on Friday evening and basically just settled in so we could leave early the next morning. We left at 8:30 the next morning, and made the 2 hours drive to Stillwater. We had a good weekend. We ate good food, went to a beautiful winery, had some drinks, played some games, saw some live music, and ended with a brunch on Sunday. It was pretty fun overall, and every one got along well. We were all ready to go home on Sunday.

On Sunday, I met Emma (finally!! hadn't seen her in a week) and my parents in Sleepy Eye for some beers, company and some pizza. It was nice to catch up with them after their trip, and nice to see Emma and hear all about camp. She LOVED camp by the way. She made friends, made crafts, swam, had bible study, biked, and was pretty busy the whole time. It rained some while she was there, but mostly in the evenings. And she wants to go again next year, so that's awesome.

After the brewery, we made our way home and got home around 8:00pm. What a day. Emma was so happy to be home (so was I).

This week is another adventure. I am off all week for the LWMS National Rally. And Emma has basketball camp Monday-Wednesday at Jefferson, and Hannah and Rachel and Jacob are coming over. Basically, it's another wild week. Oh, and softball tonight. And tomorrow, I signed the kids up for Kids Night in the Park where they can sell something they have made. So, Elliott is selling Rainbow Loom bracelets and Emma is going to do face painting and temporary tattoos. So, we will see how this goes. They are really excited for it. The rest of my week will be many volunteer hours at the LWMS Rally, so we will see how that goes as well.