Nelson Family Blog

Sunday, June 7, 2026

April 2026

April started off with Easter. It's hard to believe we have passed the one year anniversary of my dad passing away. The time has really flown by, but I can't believe it's been over a year since I've talked to my dad. Time is a crazy thing. My mom is doing much better, but she still is sad and lonely sometimes.

We celebrated Easter with my family the weekend before Easter. It was nice celebration with good food and family time. The weather was crummy, and we ended up leaving Saturday night to beat a storm. It was sad to shorten the weekend, but it ended up being a really good idea because the weather was terrible the next day.

We celebrated with John's side of the family on Easter Day. We started with sunrise service at 6:30 am, had brunch between services, and then went to the Festival Service as well. The choir sang three different songs, and it was a busy morning. Then, we headed to the farm for lunch, an Easter egg hunt with the golf cart and side by sides. It ended up being a moderately nice day, so we enjoyed some outdoor time, walked through the greenhouses, and then headed back inside.

Elliott's soccer season also started in April. We had absolutely terrible weather for the first part of the soccer season. We had sleet, rain, cold, wind, and everything else. We spent some games watching from the car, and others piled under blankets and suffering. The soccer team had an ok season, I think they ended up around 5-5 on the year. Elliott loved it and he really enjoys his soccer teammates, so it's always fun to watch them play.

Elliott also decided to try baseball this year. At the end of April, he had his first practices and he loves baseball (even more than soccer). He made friends immediately and just enjoys playing ball with his friends. He plays at Pasley Park and he is really enjoying his season.

We also had the Science Fair and play night at the end of April. Both kids did well with their science fair projects, but I don't think either one of them particularly enjoyed the process. Elliott's project was about what solution causes iron nails to rust the fastest, and Emma's was about whether gender or age affects memory.

The school play was "It's Saturday". It was a cute play about kids enjoying their Saturday after doing all their chores of course. The kids hated practicing for it, but they really enjoyed putting on the play. They sang, they danced, they acted, and they had fun.

They also had their piano recital. Elliott played two songs, and did really well on them. He always gets really nervous when performing, but he did a great job and was relieved when it was over. Emma had a great last piano recital. Her songs were amazing, and then she played a duet with Hannah P, and it was really good and brought some tears to my eyes. It was moving to watch how far those two girls have come, and they nailed the song.

April was a busy last full month of school. There were sports, activities, homework, field trips, working in the greenhouse, and other activities all month long. I love this time of year, but this year it felt even more busy than usual.

Easter Sunday

The Japanese Gardens

Easter

Freezing cold soccer games

Elliott playing goalie

Piano Recital

The play

Emma's recital

More play acting

March 2026

Well, I haven't blogged in over 3 months. I'm not sure what happened. We have been busy, and my laptop was getting really slow and annoying to use, so I am happily typing this on my new Mac book. So, I will try to catch you up on what has been happening here.

The last thing I blogged about was the NELHS tournament. The following weekend (way back in March) both kids had the Great Plains Basketball Tournament. Emma ended up playing on both the co-ed team, and a 3 on 3 team with Hannah, Hannah, and Amaya. Emma played a lot of basketball that weekend. She had 3 games on each team, and the 3 on 3 games had 15 minutes halves and the three girls pretty much played the entire game, so it was a lot. The co-ed team went 3-0, and the 3 on 3 team went 2-2. Emma did so well, she scored 28 points in one of the 3 on 3 games, it was crazy. She also had to always guard the best player, and get all the rebounds, so she as working hard. Elliott also had a good weekend. He was scoring points, rebounding, and really enjoying himself.

Right after the GPLHS tournament, we went home and packed and then flew out of Florida the next day. We decided to do a spring break trip to Fort Meyers. We really wanted to see a Twins spring training game and just enjoy some nice weather in March. We flew out late on Sunday afternoon and didn't get to Florida until 11:00pm. We found our car, got to our Airbnb, unpacked, and then the kids wanted to do a midnight swim. So, we let them. They swam in our pool, in the dark, and had a great time. Finally, they got tired, and we all went to bed.

The next morning, we got settled a little more. We found a bagel place to eat breakfast, and then we did some grocery shopping and exploring. After that, we decided to check out the 6 Mile Cypress Slough Preserve. It was really nice. We walked along a boardwalk, saw all kinds of native trees and vegetation, and even got to see some alligators, turtles, a lake snake. and some other creepy crawlies. It was fun. Our next stop was a Manatee Park to try to see some manatees, but there were not any (because it was really hot), so we struck out there. We were all starving by this time, so we found The Boat House Tiki Bar for supper and enjoyed some amazing food and drinks there. Then we headed back to our place for some swimming. We headed to a nearby beach to watch the sunset, and then we swam some more before calling a night. It was a great first day in Floria.

On Tuesday, we made the journey to Sanibel Island. It took about an hour to get there because we had to take a long bridge to get there and there was a lot of traffic. But once we got there, it was worth it. It was a beautiful white sand beach, with seashells all over, and wonderful swimming and beach time. Once we were hot and tired, we found a place for lunch, cooled off and then did some tourist shopping. The kids found some T-shirts, trinkets and odds and ends. We watched another sunset, swam, and then ate a supper back at our place. It was another amazing day.

Wednesday started with a morning trip to the beach. Elliott had fun finding treasures on the beach and swimming. He also found a guy with the metal detector on the beach, and had fun asking him questions and helping him find items. After that, we got ready to head in for the Twins' Spring Training Game. They played Detroit. and ended up winning in the final innings. It was a really hot day, and we sweated and got sunburned in our seats. But, we had a great time and we want to go back again someday. We enjoyed some concession food, and Emma and Elliott got ice cream, so every one was happy. Next, we went to a brewery for some drinks and to cool down. Wednesday was the last night in our current Airbnb, so we enjoyed our last night of swimming, eating supper, and then we started packing up to move to our airbnb in Punta Gorda.

Thursday morning we went to the Edison and Ford estates. It was really pretty and cool to see some of the history there. However, not sure we would go again. The kids thought it was a little boring and got long. So, we stopped at a 7-eleven and got them some slurpees, since they had never been to a 7-eleven before. They loved it. After all that, we went to our new Airbnb to check it out, get settled, and of course, swim! There was also ping-pong, fishing, and other activities. It was a really nice place to stay.

On Friday, we took a morning bike ride (yes, there were bikes there too!) to the nearest beach. It was not a swimming beach, but it was a nice beach, and fun place to see the ocean. There was also a Nature Park to explore and then the Ponce De Leon Park, which was a wildlife sanctuary. We had fun exploring all those things. Then it was back to swimming and chilling. John and I went to a nice seafood restaurant for supper and let the kids cook chicken nuggets and fries for supper at the Airbnb. We enjoyed a nice adult meal, and the kids enjoyed the place to themselves and a break from mom and dad. It was great. We capped our evening with a couple episodes of Bones and then got packed up and ready to travel home the next day.

Saturday was our travel day. We spent most of the day flying home, and then Jim met us at the airport and brought us home. We had a great trip, but we were ready to be home. We recovered on Saturday and then caught up on everything on Sunday. We loved it.

The rest of the month was usual school, work, and cold spring weather. We did eat out with Hinners and try K Pot. It was an interesting experience. We were there for around 2 hours, and the food was good, but not sure I would need to head back anytime soon. It was expensive, and a little labor intensive.