Ernesto's First Haircut

Big Ern was born with a nice head of hair and it's been fun watching it grow into the unruly mess that it is today. All messy things must come to an end, sadly, and we decided to get it cut so that he would be comfortable at daycare.

We took Ernie the Long Haired Wernie to Sharkey's Cuts For Kids in Bellevue Square Mall for the big event. I was a bit nervous for him and hoped that he wouldn't be too scared of this foreign process. Sharkey's was a pro at this though and had all kinds of fun stuff to distract the big man. They had a little tv running cartoons at each station and the seat itself was a police car. I was a little bit jealous.

He was amused by his cape thing and chewed it a lot.

"Who the hell are you?"

He was a very brave big boy and I was very proud of him. He has a very calm and happy personality which I am very thankful for.

We had given the stylist some instructions but she didn't speak English incredibly well and she pretty much ignored them and did whatever she wanted. I thought it would be cool for him to have a little mullet and she chopped that hair off immediately. Whatever. Ernie is not the only chill dude in attendance.

We told them it was Ern's first cut so they gave him the grand treatment. They took before and after photos, they gave us a certificate, and they saved a little lock of his hair. It was nice and it's nice to know that we can now clone our best baby if we ever were to wish.

We visited Woodinville institution Molbak's Garden and Home. They had a ton of Christmas ornaments and plants for sale in a fun environment. They even had carolers singing and were giving out generous samples of Danish Kringle.

I had somehow never heard of Kris Kringle's dessert namesake.

Back at the fort I celebrated Ern's glow up with a My Stars Shine Darkly from Portland's Breakside Brewery. It's an imperial stout aged in bourbon and maple syrup barrels.

All Aboard the Christmasy Express

It was time to do some Christmasy stuff so we had to get jolly.

I can never get enough walks to Lake Washington in my life.

I don't recall visiting the Volunteer Park Conservatory before so coming to see the model train “Volunteer Park Express” setup was a good excuse to check the place out while also getting into the holiday spirit.

Ern likes to touch plants so this was a bonanza.

"Where's Santa though."

Eatin' and Multiversin'

Eating used to be a highlight of my day, and it's still pretty fun, but I think watching Ern eat might be my new favorite. Will he eat it? Throw it? Wear it? Nobody knows.

We're getting pretty good at rolling around.

Shoplifting has gotten bad enough that the Redmond Target has been turned into a giant vending machine that you can walk around inside.

I finished Starfield. Spoilers!

The end of the game is kind of cool. You meet sort of the entity at the center of the universe who invites you to die and be reborn with super powers in another universe similar to your own. Like a multiverse situation. Most of them are just like your universe but you can make different choices for different outcomes, but others are wild like one character is a houseplant instead of a person, or everyone on your team is a child version of their normal self. I didn't mess around with it too much but I thought it was an inventive way to increase replay value.

It was a bittersweet ending because by choosing to go to another universe you die in your old one, and your friends can't come with you.