Ernie's First Hotel

Today was a very big day for Ernie Baby. Up until today he has only slept in three places: Lyly belly, the hospital, and our apartment. We planned his first road trip for him down to Portland. We wanted him to see the sights and we wanted to practice using our travel gear in a low risk setting. That way we could get all the bugs out for some big trips. 

Every good journey begins with a tubby.

Mountain's out!

We had to stop I believe in a Wendy's parking lot for a little milk break.

We wanted to keep it classy for Ernie's first hotel stay so we went with the Benson Portland, Curio Collection by Hilton in Portland's downtown.

I was eligible for this student loan forgiveness but our clowny illegitimate supreme court ruined it. Very sad.

So far so good.

Ba Bar in University Village

Today we had dinner at Ba Bar, a Vietnamese joint in University Village. It was cool because the menu and the decor feel kind of hip but authentic at the same time. They had the Cardinals game on but they were getting savaged. I'm not sure if that's a good omen or a bad one.

Messed around with some Crispy Imperial Rolls:

"pure country pork, white prawn, mushroom, fresh mint, nuoc cham."

I ordered a Freckled Dragon: "pandan-basil gin, dragon fruit, sakura vermouth, lemon."

For my main I went with Lemongrass Rockfish: "Seared Washington coast rockfish, lemongrass, turmeric, cabbage salad, pandan rice. Served with side tomato tamarind soup."

I mean, free soup side!? This place is baller.

Ern Dawg had some dinner outside the Apple Store.

This is sad. I always liked taking visitors on this tour.

We returned to Zoe's new Seattle apartment to help her move in. You can see the space needle from her porch when the trees aren't so leafy.

I didn't want Ern to miss the sunset.

We helped her get her bed set up.

Shots then Communion

Big Ern had a big milestone today. He went and got his first round of immunizations. While it's sad he had to cry and get jabbed in the legs a bunch of times, I do get a sense of relief knowing that he's getting some protection from some nasty bugs. Also we were waiting for this before we took him on any planes so now he's good to go. He got some official measurements at the doctor's office which I'm always excited about. He weighed 16.9 lbs which was 99th percentile for kids his age. 25in long which is 100 percentile and had a 99 percentile head circumference.

To celebrate Lydia cooking me a giant cute baby we went to her favorite restaurant apparently in the whole city: Communion.

For a little appetizer I got us a plate of 

"Unc's wings

Marinated in our house Sez' blend, fried to perfection. RIP Uncle Mad Dog: the undisputed king of all deep fried foods."

I went with the 

"Gumbo Z'herbes

Stewed greens in a gumbo base, served with Dungeness crab, prawns, hotlinks, and braised brisket served with Chinese donuts."

Lydia got

"Hella filthy rice

A true Southern dish done the "CD" way. Filled with Lao sausage, bell pepper, onion, celery & spices, dirty rice is richly savory. Add catfish filet + $13"

Meanwhile Zoe was watching our human pin cushion. Those little bandaids on his thighs are so sad.

When the bread pudding came out I quickly recovered from my sadness.

Kirkland painted a pride flag in the street near the lake and it was quickly defaced.

Cardinals Boy

Today Ernie decided to suit up with his Cardinals gear and then do some serious, professional level playing at home.

I like it when he holds up one of his hands to examine it.