Prolonged tantrums

We take a walk down to the lake, Esme nearly falls in - I catch her as she gets water in her bangs! She wasn't scared at all and was happy until we said we wanted to go back home -- and then she cried all the way back up to the house. Then she cried all the way down the stairs.. and in the kitchen. Wow what a memory this kid has... and I asked her if she wanted to go upstairs and go to bed if she was just going to keep crying.. and she grabs her milk cup and goes upstairs! We change clothes.. all the while whining.. and then she picks up her cup again and goes to her bed and puts her arms up. I say 'We need to take off our shoes again if we are really going to bed.' She takes off her shoes. Still whining. Still putting the arms up. I put her in bed. She screams at the tops of her lungs. I go back downstairs to ask Mark if he has everything he needs for dinner and by the time I'm back she is sound asleep.. not a peep. Wow.