How I Wonder

Ernie is funny with star shapes. When he saw one it used to be he'd sing the "how I wonder what you are" part of "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star". Now he's gotten more efficient and just calls stars "how I"s. It's very cute.

Ernie's haircut place is so fun that he's usually pretty pissed off when it's time to leave.

People were complaining that the other 8 beer related Christmas ornaments we have weren't enough so I had to buy one more. To be fair our McMenamins journey has been extensive and worth remembering I think so why not have a reminder on the tree?

Zoo then Mall

Wake up! It's time to go to the zoo!

Stick bugs are great: they combine the fun of both sticks and bugs.

There's a good indoor kid's area that's just about worth the price of the membership alone.

Who's the animal now?

Bellevue Square Mall often has these photo booth things set up that are delightfully bad at doing their job. I never pass up the opportunity.

The giant video wall thing that responds to movement, on the other hand, is peak.

There was a long line outside my ramen spot Kizuki for some reason today. Oh well.

Love is Blind and Wine

I was still fondly recalling the Elysian Great Pumpkin Beer Festival and our own personal pumpkin beer tasting party, and I got this email about an Elysian pumpkin beer sale. Hurray!

Then a few days later I got this email canceling the sale because the entire Taproom location was closing! They still have two other locations but it was jarring. I really like that place so I hope they don't die.

Zoe was nice enough to invite me to a work party she had at her house. One of her new coworkers is a local celebrity due to appearing on Seattle season of Lover is Blind on Netflix. I picked up a couple of bottles of Love is Wine to be funny. She was amused but also seemed to be drowning in it at home. I got the impression she gets it for free or something. 

After Zoe's house we galavanted around Capitol Hill a bit.

I Now Know How to Xiao Long Bao

I was walking back from the dentist today and noticed a plethora of fungi.

This was my favorite: a water meter cover broke creating this perfect little cave for mushrooms to create their own little civilization.

Meanwhile Ern was doing some important science of his own at school.

While waiting for our table at Din Tai Fung we helped the nearby Container Store rearrange some of its merchandise.

How to Bao

Another good day for the record books.

Johnny Appleseed

It's hard to believe but after work and school I think we all enjoyed some time at home today.

I bought every apple flavor I could find and did a little taste test.

We can't throw boxes away until we thoroughly explore their potential for amusement.

One of my favorite games is to see how many balls I can stuff into Ernie's clothes.