Nelson Family Blog: Football games, cross country, and band competitions

Thursday, September 24, 2026

Football games, cross country, and band competitions

Hi, September came flying in in a hurry and we are already almost done with the month. I don't understand where the time goes!

The second Saturday in September was the President's Bowl at Howard Wood Field. It was really fun and a beautiful evening. The band played during the game, and then they performed at halftime. It was fun watching them, and really fun to watch Emma learn all the cheers and how to dork around in the stand with her friends. We watched a really good football game, and the Cavalier beat Lincoln pretty convincingly. I sat with Jim, Barb, Elliott, and Heather and Travis. We had fun bothering Emma, watching the game, and of course, watching the halftime show. It was awesome.

In other news, some dummy ran into me in the parking lot after work one day. She was just not looking at all, and plowed into my car. Luckily, the damage wasn't too bad. After numerous calls to insurances, and auto body shops, I am in the process of having my car fixed right now. Luckily, my deducible was waived, and I should not have to pay anything out of pocket, and I may get 2 new headlights out of the deal, so it really worked out ok. But, it would have been easier to not have gotten into an accident. So, right now, I have a Nissan car for a rental.

Elliott has been participating in both Soccer and Cross Country right now. He had his first soccer game a couple weeks ago. They played at Yankton trail park and they played 7-8:45pm. So, we got to watch him play under the lights. It was pretty cool. His team lost 3-2, but they played really well and it was a good game. John missed the game because he was in Redwood Falls for his work retreat. But, he plans to be at the next one. Elliot played goalie the entire game, and he had some really nice saves. He seems to really be enjoying soccer.

Cross country is another story. He had the three meets again, and luckily Jim and Barb could pick him up and bring him to every meet. I had meetings that night for Festival of Bands, and John doesn't always get off work in time. And it's not the most thrilling thing to race across town to go and see. But, Elliott survived the races, and he posted his best time at the last race, so that was pretty amazing. Elliott says he actually is starting to. like running. So that is really exciting.

We had our first band competition experience this past weekend. It was a super long day. Emma had to be at the school at 9:00 in the morning to practice. She got a lunch break, and then they practiced some more. And then the busses left for Marshall at 2:00pm. John and I had to help with the props at the school, and then get them all loaded into the trailer. We also left at 2pm with Elliott. Once we got to Marshall, we unpacked the truck (Elliott helped) and then we helped get the props onto the field for the competition. After the show, we had to help get all the props off the field as well. And we had to do this all within 15 minutes or else there would be a penalty. It was a little stressful. After the show, we had to reload the trailer again, and then we could finally sit in the stands and watch the last 2 bands perform.

Jim and Barb came, and my mom even came for the show. She sat with Jim and Barb and they all seemed to enjoy themselves. Eventually, Elliott joined them in the stands as well. We stayed to watch the awards, and Jefferson got first place in their division, and they also got outstanding percussion, outstanding music, and outstanding show. So, that was all very exciting. Elliott stayed to spend the night in a hotel with Jim and Barb and John and I headed for home at 9:00pm. We stopped at Quick Trip to get some supper and then headed home. Emma had to ride the bus home.

Emma got home around midnight. We went to pick her up, and then we all happily went to bed. Sunday was a recovery day. It was rainy and cool all day, so we just enjoyed some football games, did some cleaning and laundry, and just bummed around. It was a very exciting, tiring, stressful weekend. It was a great first weekend of band competition, and I can't wait to see how the rest go.