Superstar Dancer!

Esme is still a big fan of anything related to The Fresh Beat Band.  Here is her breakout interpretation of "I Can Do Anything!".  Check out her Flashdance move at the end. :)

Superstar Dancer!

Oh my gosh I love this kid.  And I love that right now she has little care what anyone thinks of her.  She definitely has her own rhythm.  Sadly, I am beginning to see that change a little bit, but I'm enjoying her confidence and joy right now.  You're a star Esme!

Strawberry Picking

Today Esme and I went and picked strawberries.  I thought it would be a great outdoor activity for us to do together and that she would really enjoy it.  And she did.  For about four and a half minutes.  Then she was done and wanted to go home.  Maybe it was because she couldn't see anything except the hair in front of her eyes...  Luckily, she was a good sport and let me pick for awhile before she really let me know that she had really had enough.

I'm excited for more strawberry picking trips in the years to come.  Hopefully, each year she will enjoy it a little longer. And hopefully next time I'll remember a hair clip for her! :)

Birthday recovery

Esme's still loving that it was her birthday.  She keeps re-reading the cards and wearing her favorite Dora visor.

She's such a good and sweet girl!

Bowling for Esme's Birthday

 Esme wanted to go bowling for her birthday, so we went to Monticello and did just that.  She had a great time.

 

A new bike for Esme

One of the many gifts that Esme got for her birthday was a new bike.  She has been riding a small bike at Grandpa Dan and Grandma Barb's house for awhile now and really likes it.  But, because she's 40 inches tall, she was on the cusp of getting the next size up in bikes.  She did a great job of riding it and of course loves that it's pink!

And yes, she's in her pajamas.  That's just how it is sometimes. :)

Guess who's 3???

Can you believe it?  Esme's 3!  It seems like not that long ago we were here.  But now look at this grown up girl!  And yes, I'm aware that in this picture she looks like she's 3 going on 23.  Yikes cannot even begin to cover it...
Three year old Esme's favorite place in the world right now is the Minnesota Children's Museum.  I think she would go there every single day if she could.  Aaron and I took the day off of work for her birthday and her surprise was that she got to go there.

So away we went!  Esme had such a good time and did not want to go home.  The "foam blocks" as mentioned in the video are her favorite.  They are literally just that - foam blocks.  The kids put them on conveyor belts (there are several) that they have to turn a wheel to move. It's the simplest thing and the kids just flock there.  If you mention anything about the Children's Museum to Esme, the first thing she will talk about it the blocks.  Apparently, everyone else feels the same way because it's always the most crowded area.

Let's get to work shall we?  Good job worker Esme!

Who would have thought that would be so much fun? The bubble area was another big hit.

She got to be a turtle.

She even loved the skyway between the parking garage to the Museum!

After a couple of hours of playing, we finally convinced Esme it was time to go home.  Getting her out of the Museum was no easy feat.  It's no surprise that there were tears involved...  Eventually we dragged her to the car convinced her it was time to leave and we went to Brasa to eat a late lunch.  Esme had yuca fries.  What an awesome girl and brave eater!  

sorry for the awful picture Esme!

As you can see, she was super exhausted.  She's eating her fries in an almost comatose state!  Maybe she wasn't such a brave eater after all.  Only a very tired and hungry girl who just had the best day ever at her favorite place ever!  Happy Birthday Eda MayMay!  We love you to the moon!

Swirl

Yesterday as Esme was playing outside and getting soaking wet, I was able to get a picture of her that I've been wanting to take for a long time.

Maybe all kids have this, but I've never really paid that much attention to other people's kids.  Look closely, can you see it?  And no, it's not the huge mosquito bite.

It's that little swirl of downy, fuzzy hair between her shoulder blades.  Isn't it cute???  I know it's ushy-gushy mom stuff, but it's just one of the fourteen million things that I love about this child.

Sprinkler Princess

Hello!  Remember us?  I know we've been MIA for awhile now, but we're back. :)  Look for back posts as I organize all the pictures that we've taken over the last few months.

This morning Esme wanted to wear her Easter dress and be a princess.  We were up early and the sprinkler system went off in the back yard.  She asked if she could go out and play in the water.  I figured 'why not?'.  She's only going to fit in that dress for a little while and she'll get much more use out of it playing in it than it sitting in the closet for special occasions, so I said yes.  Here is the preschool version of "Trashing the Dress".

Gotta love that face!

Friends

Esme L-O-V-E-S the neighbor boys.  She always asks if she can play with them, even if she was just with them 10 minutes ago.

Here is a super cute picture of Esme and Nathan.  I tried to take the red/white eyes out of the picture with Photoshop, but it isn't working so you'll just have to look past it. :)

Love it!