A Few Firsts

It has been an eventful couple of weeks.  Getting a house, visiting a new place, and a few other things. Definitely the most firsts for Esme. To start out with, her first time on kid rides. We had to do something fun the last day before Shannon, Curt's mom, went back to work after a carefree summer, so we took the kids to Jungle Jim's, like an indoor carnival.  Esme was so adventurous! She begged to go on rides and even went by herself which I was still trying to coax Eli into. She even preferred to sit with Curt over her brother.  For some reason they didn't fight over the steering wheel the way siblings do and she liked his crazy driving and crashes.  When Eli rode with him he would chew Curt out when he got jolted and Esme just laughed.

Looks like a date to me

Must've been her favorite, judging by the expression.
For some reason my kids have blank stares on rides and get off smiling and saying how fun it was. 

It might've been Mousie's first carnival ride
too, Eli would want this recorded.  His obsession
with that mangy thing just keeps getting worse.

And Eli gave his first talk in Primary his last day there before we move. He did so well, not as shy as I thought and did better than our practice runs. I had to keep reminding him that even though I was whispering, he had to talk louder. 

Oh, and on the same day Esme looked so cute (not a first for her), I couldn't resist a photo shoot.

And, this past weekend we joined Brian for one of his martial arts trips. A summer camp in Aspen.  I realized he leaves us 4 times between April and October just for martial arts, not to mention regular work conferences.  He goes places like, San Diego, Aspen, Sun Valley, Idaho, Whitefish Montana, Arizona, and we've never gone since driving that far is a nightmare, we just sit around bored waiting for him to finish, and hotels are pricey.  But now that he's "regional examiner" his expenses are paid and Aspen's not too far.

During our long wait for it to be over I ventured into Aspen by myself and it was my first time there, or even in Colorado. Luckily it was a small town and the road practically led us downtown, where there was a playground and farmer's market going on, besides the snooty people shops.  Hopefully Brian was proud, all I bought were these irresistible pastries and some awesome red shoes for Esme at a second hand kids shop.

I think she knew how many calories were involved,
couldn't get her to take more than a couple of bites.


So I found a diner and we had ice cream for dinner.  She wouldn't eat any until I called the pink ice cream "strawberries" and she opened up.  Maybe I should start calling fattening food things like "cabbage" "green beans" or "salad" hmmm....

It's a hard life trying to gain weight. 

Anyway, it was a nice trip. Definitely easier to stay home, but good to see where Brian's going all the time.

As for the last "first". We came home from that trip and the next day went to get the keys  for our first house. So exciting. It is now 11:30 at night and Brian just finished painting two rooms. I'm not too picky, but the peach/cantaloupe color in Esme's room had to go.  Well, the first thing I did was tear out the carpet to reveal some decent hard wood. 

As soon as we got in yesterday they ran straight for the sand box in the back yard, already full of toys to play with. First time playing in their own back yard.

Pretty significant, I'd say.