Rein of Terror

Ernie's little blue eyes flashing in the nightvision of his crib cam at 4 in the morning is like a little horror movie.

Today we met up with our German friends Miriam, Christopher, and their son Max in their neck of the woods at the Cougar Mountain Zoo. It was an odd place. We were here at this particular point in time to witness the majesty of the Annual Issaquah Reindeer Festival. Calling it a festival seemed like a stretch but there were reindeer present.

Many zoos go for a natural aesthetic to make the people and the animals feel like they are in a relaxing earthy atmosphere. This place was more like an internment camp run by a retired blacksmith. Everything was metal.

Like how many sets of bars can you spot in this picture? "Wanted: animal jailor. must hate animals and self. Serious inquiries only."

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.

A Food Tasting Zootastrophy

Our friends Derek and Gabby invited us to Whiskey & WildBites at Seattle's Woodland Park Zoo. It was a tasting thing where you go to try local chefs' and distillers' creations. It was also a huge mess.

We got there maybe 30 minutes after the base level ticket gate opened and it was already pandemonium. Lines wrapped around the entire area we were corralled into. I was also annoyed because I figured since we were at a zoo we could, you know, see some friggin' animals. No. We seemed to be hemmed in to a smaller space. The ticket was $100, so I had expected to be treated with some dignity, not stand in line for hours to likely receive such a small food portion I would have to buy dinner afterwards.

When I saw some of the booths were already out of food, that was the last straw for me. Gabby and Derek hadn't even arrived yet and we marched to the zoo's offices and asked for our money back. This thing was shockingly executed.

We ended up salvaging the evening by meeting up with them at a couple of local breweries instead. The day was saved. It's sad though because that was my first visit to that zoo and it was such an awful experience I'm not really dying to ever return.

Zoo Babies

Took my parents to the Saint Louis Zoo.

I thought I should at least be festive for the end of the world.