Getting Wild at the Zoo

Ernie's first whirlwind trip to the midwest was wrapping up but there were still some excitements left in store for him.

The Saint Louis Zoo! It's funny I remember that in my St. Louis days, if I wanted to go to the zoo I would park miles away if necessary and wonder to myself what sort of money hating idiot would pay to park when the zoo itself is free. Today I have become that money hating idiot so that my prince of a son doesn't have to ride in his stroller a minute longer than is necessary. Must be nice.

I did buy a pineapple drink that was inside a pineapple but I'm sure that was somehow Ern's fault as well.

I would someday like to just spend an entire day hanging out with primates. They are so much fun to gawk at and there's never enough time. Fun fact: cotton-top tamarin dads carry their babies on their backs around 10 days after they are born.

I'm glad that I learned that the Missouri Tarantula is a thing after I did all that Missouri hiking and camping.

When we got to the airport I made sure Ernie was aware how lucky he is that we aren't on tamarin rules.

The carseat thing is a bit of a crapshoot. We didn't buy him a ticket but apparently if they have extra seats available you can ask to bring your car seat aboard.

He had a nice snooze in his seat.

Ern perused the drink menu then told Lydia his order.

Mt. Rainier is always a nice welcome back to the PNW.

We did pretty well the entire flight but then we were stuck sitting on the tarmac for an hour. Ern did not like that so much.

Ernie gets close to zero screen time so it's a nice secret weapon to keep him entertained in an emergency situation.

Ernie is Now a Fly Boy

Today was momentous milestone for Ernie John: first flight!

It's funny I've checked in to so many flights that I can pretty much do it with my eyes closed, but Big Ern requires a lot more gear than I'm accustomed to have to drag around, so we had to press some different buttons this time. I'm happy to get the bugs out of our travel routine when on a fairly low stakes trip like this so that we'll all be masters by the time Ern decides he wants to leave the country.

Ernie was wondering if he is the 1% when we took him to his first airport lounge.

People were probably worried about sitting next to a baby on the plane but they didn't realize they were sitting next to the best baby in the world.

Linda and Doug live right next to St. Louis' airport so they were a logical first stop on our tour. Ern took a liking to Doug.

I think he was getting fussy so I gave everyone a "how to hold an Ern" tutorial.

Nailed it.

Ernie was excited to see his Springfield grandparents as well. An unexpectedly fun part of having a baby is how much joy he brings to my family, and really strangers as well. Everyone is always smiling at him and trying to get him to laugh.

I didn't realize how bad things had gotten in Springfield since I last visited. They seem to have resorted to using pickles as currency.