Bellevue Sunset

One of my favorite parts of Ernie's daycare is that it's a place for him to make a huge mess that isn't my house.

I would estimate that we go to 7 playgrounds on average a day.

Bellevue Downtown Park treated us to a ravaging sunset today.

We had a nice dinner at Hokkaido Ramen Santouka Bellevue.

We're big edamame fans.

Ern likes a good airplane ride on the way to his lil bed.

ELMO!

Today we took a stroll around Redmond Town Center and I noticed they were running the same promotion as last year, where if you post a picture to your social media they'll give you a gift card for $10. They did change the fine print to read "you can only do this once". Last year it was "one per day" and I racked up the score. I would be proud if they told me they changed the rules because of me specifically.

For dinner we got Thai takeout from Isarn Kitchen.

Today Ernie surprised me by very clearly asking for Elmo. I think this is his first word with more than one syllable. He says mama and dada and Wawa but this is the first with different sounds in one word. He's got an Elmo toy, an Elmo toothbrush, Sesame Street Jammie's with Elmo and the gang, and likes to listen to Elmo in the car... there are lots of opportunities to demand ELMO! Meanwhile I have never heard him say his own name.

Today I was saddened to learn that my favorite brewery in St. Louis, Earthbound, was closing. This was one of the stops on my 40th birthday St. Louis tour. They always had weird fun flavors and felt like they had an adventurous spirit.

Volunteer Park Halloween Pet Parade.

Today we checked out the Volunteer Park Halloween Pet Parade.

We had a good time.

Don't worry. Volunteer Park has playgrounds too.

We went to the Elysian Capitol Hill Brewery to relive yesterday's glory and get some food.

Great Pumpkin Beer Festival

Ern is quite the fixture at KidsQuest Children's Museum.

Zoe and I split a case of champagne and had it mailed to the US from one of our favorite wineries on our recent French excursion. Well we had it sent to her place and her roommates failed us, and UPS said they tried to deliver it too many times and that now it was headed back. I was majorly stressed about this.

I've been curious about Elysian Brewing's Great Pumpkin Beer Festival for years. Today was finally the day!

The had a Tzar Dumplings food truck on site. That is my jam.

Elysian really takes branding seriously.

There was a costume contest. This mothman won some sort of price when the time came.

One booth had a beer affogato situation.

There was a giant pumpkin being used as a beer keg. Tapping the keg apparently involves a very large drill.

There was much rejoicing.

Next we made an appearance at Navy Strength, which was having a fun Halloween event.

It was a winner of a night.