Harry Styles Tickets

So I guess we are going to Chicago for Memorial Day to see Harry Styles at Soldier Field…

Esme had been talking about this show for a few weeks now and how she really wanted to go. I didn’t think a lot about it because I really didn’t think going to a concert in Chicago was worth it. We’ve been to a lot of concerts and travelled a lot recently and I felt like this is one that we could miss.

This morning she came downstairs before I left for work and let me know that the presale was happening today. I was like “ok, and???”. But then she told me that she was going to find a way to go if she could, even if she had to buy nosebleed seats aftermarket. 

A few days ago Jodee had said that she and Julia were looking at going too. I wasn’t sure how serious she was so I texted her this morning and it turns out she WAS interested for real. So I went on the website at 10am when the presale started and this was the craziness I saw! 

You’re kidding right??? And after an hour…

How crazy is that???

Needless to say, by the time I got into the part where I could choose seats only single seats were left. So I ended up going on to SeatGeek to get the tickets. There were so many tickets already up to well over $1000. I’m certain that a lot of those “people” waiting in the queue were actually bots. It’s infuriating to be honest. 

But nonetheless, we are going to Harry Styles with Jodee and Julia Butkowski over Memorial Day weekend and I suspect it will be fabulous! Yay!!!

University of Minnesota

Esme is a Gopher! Well, sort of…

She is doing a PSEO class at the U of M this trimester and her first class was last night. A lot of people do PSEO classes that are online but Esme is actually going to the U. The class is Intro to Business Law and is on Wednesdays from 5:45 to 9:05pm.

Since last night was the first night, Aaron and the dogs rode with her and then walked around while she was in class. Aaron said she did great at driving down there (although she tailgates more than he would like her to) and finding where to go. When I asked her how class was afterwards she said that everything they went over last night was stuff she had already learned in AP Gov last year or the law class she took at Northwestern University this summer. That’s good as it gives her a lot of confidence. 

I asked them to take a photo of her for this blog and Aaron got a few good ones. There was nothing that said U of M on it so they found a parking sign. 🤣

All in all, I think she enjoyed it and is excited. I’m excited to see what she learns!

She found out!

No photos today but Esme came to the blog to presumably look for photos of when she was a kid and found out that the blog was being updated!

I had turned a few things off to make it harder for her to find it, hoping it would lock her out but apparently she knew my password to get in and there you go… :)

I am hopeful that now that she knows about it I will get better quality photos because she will actually give me good smiles and poses, just like when she was little. 🥰

Eagle Lake Golf

Today we went golfing at Eagle Lake in Plymouth. It’s an executive course and pretty nice. We went to Glen Lake a few weeks ago and I think I like that one better but they are both so nice!

We ended up having a guy join us and he was pretty good. I felt bad though because I played horribly. Aaron and Esme had really good games. I think Aaron had his personal best, if not ever than for sure this summer. He did great!

I did ok except for my chipping which is pretty prominent on an executive course so overall I just stank! Esme was good at trying to help me because she is really good at chipping. Overall it was fun and I hope we can get a few more rounds in before the fall/winter comes. 

Minnesota Get Together!

 Today Esme was supposed to work. She’s being trained in as an expo at Hilltop. But the girl who was supposed to train her called in sick so Esme got the day off! We had talked about going to the fair after Esme got off work so this made it really nice. 

We normally go to the fair early in the morning and leave somewhere between noon and 2pm but today we didn’t even get there until about 3:15. It was still really nice. It wasn’t too crowded, I mean it WAS crowded but not like the fair can be. The weather was warm but there was a breeze and it was overcast. It really was the perfect fair day!

I feel like we got most of the foods in that are the staples we usually go for; a corn dog, fries and a malt/shake or some sort of ice cream. There were a few new things we wanted to try but the lines for them were so long! Esme wanted to try the apple fries and I am not exaggerating when I say there were probably 100+ people in line. It was soooo long!

Esme was ok about taking photos, still not giving me the really good smiles, but that’s ok. If she knew I was doing this she probably would be a little better but I think the surprise will be so good I can’t imagine telling her yet!

Homecoming Dress Shopping

Today Esme and I went shopping for a homecoming dress, her final one!

We drove to Rosedale and she was kind of quiet on the way there, just looking at her phone. She didn’t even ask what kind of music I wanted to listen to until I started playing something that she did not think was appropriate for the fall vibe she was feeling. Then she quickly took control of the music situation.

When we got there we looked at Macy’s and Windsor and didn’t see anything worth trying on. We went to Von Maur and she tried on several and found one she liked right away. And then she was done! She really had no interest in shopping any longer. This is the dress. I can’t wait to see it when she is all done up.

Two of the dresses she tried on were glittery and the poor girl ended up with glitter everywhere. Look at the bottom of her foot. That is all glitter!!!

I was able to talk her into going to Kendra Scott to look at necklaces and she said she was going to order the same shoes that she already has in white, but in gold from Amazon. So that was that! Short and sweet!

Here is her necklace. 

                                 

Overall it was a good shopping trip! She was definitely tired and that’s ok, it was still a great day. I took some photos for here and told her that she was just going to have to get used to me taking pictures of everything from now on since it’s her senior year. It worked so far! I’m still so excited for when she sees the blog!

First day of Senior year!

I'mmmm baaaaccckkkk! Ha ha!

For years Esme has asked me to continue to add to Everyday Erntson and I just didn't. I wish I had now for obvious reasons but I had the seemingly valid excuses of  "life is busy", "there's not enough time", yada yada yada...

I have no idea if she'll see it beforehand but one of my graduation gifts to Esme, and my future self, is to do my best to document her senior year here. It might just be a quick note here and there but that's ok too. Perfection is the enemy of good so I will not strive for it. 

Yesterday was Esme's first day of her senior year of high school. It seems impossible that could be the case. I vividly remember her standing in front of the sign at Albertville Primary for her kindergarten orientation that read "Welcome class of 2027" and thinking that 2027 was so far away, impossible to reach. Much like I thought that 1999 was impossible to reach when I, myself, was a senior and we were singing Prince's 1999 at parties thinking about our 10 year reunion and how it was a lifetime away, unreachable. But here we are, decades past 1999 and staring straight into the face of 2027. 

Esme and I took the obligatory first day of school photos with the homemade sign that has not changed since preschool, 14 years ago. She smiled the million smiles and posed the multitude of poses and I took at least 20 photos just to get the one or two that would be good enough. Then she gave me real, heartfelt hugs and kisses and went down the road to her friend Carly's house where she was meeting more friends for breakfast and more photos. 

I asked her to send me the photos from there, promising not to post them. Being secretive about why I want more photos this year might bring unwanted suspicion but hopefully she will be so busy being a high schooler that she won't even notice. 

At the end of the day she came home and said her day was fabulous for the most part. The only bad thing she had to say, which was not really bad at all, is that she didn't really like the new principal. So overall I would say that her day was amazing! She is so grown up it's killing me. And also I could not be more proud of her.