Emily and Mitchell in the USA

 This weekend we went to a pumpkin patch!  During the week we had been to dinner and an escape room with friends which was really fun. We split into teams and raced against each other, but finished at exactly the same time! We'll be going back again to try the other rooms for a rematch.  This is Mitchell trying to take a picture of Stephie and Milan in the car behind us Mitchell had his wisdom teeth taken out on Friday afternoon, so we didn't have any fun food adventures, but that Saturday we went back to Tanaka Farm for American fall fun. We visited the barnyard to see goats, cows and bunnies, and then we walked the corn maze. There wasn't much to it, but it was still very tall.  We then got a horchata because it was still hot this weekend, and went to go and pick our pumpkin. They had a big field with ready to go pumpkins in white, and another with tall orange ones. We walked through here and onto the field where they had some still on the vine to pick out a fairyt...

After our camping weekend, we had a relaxing week. On Thursday we went for drinks to celebrate Bruno passing his driving test, and while we were there a student society dropped in and asked us to take a picture, which made for a slightly chaotic scene.  On Friday it was the neuroscience dinner so I met Mitchell on campus and we had an evening with his department with free food and drinks. The next day I was working, but it was the eclipse! I did get to go outside and see it, and Mitchell went to an event on campus where they had lots of glasses and telescopes set up so people could watch. On Sunday we went to visit the South Coast Botanic Garden where they had a special exhibit of trolls. We walked around the rose garden and the desert garden and then it was time for lunch. We had our food and then an ice cream because it was so hot.  We then went to walk the trail and follow the birdhouses to find the trolls. There were six to find and they were all huge and all different....

The weekend started with Marine's birthday party. She liked her pomegranate tree I had bought earlier in the week from the group, and she had provided some nice French food and drinks. We sang some karaoke, played some Just Dance, and had a good time.  In the morning, the two of us got packed up and drove out to Leo Carrillo State beach for our camping weekend. On the way, we stopped at the Getty Villa, a museum in a Roman style villa, with gardens and ancient sculptures. It's based on Herculaneum in Italy (which we have actually visited!) and they describe it as being able to walk around what the city would have really been like 2000 years ago. Our first stop was lunch after the long drive, and then we went for a walk around the grounds. From the top of the hill you could see the ocean, and there was a salty breeze cutting through the hot sun.  There were several gardens, with pools and columns to wander around. We also went to look around the museum inside which had lots of ...

To start the week off, I went for an outing with Stephie. We went to the local San Jacinto wildlife preserve and worked out how to get a daily permit (which was confusing because they also give out hunting licenses there on the weekend).  We were going there for birdwatching, and we did see lots and lots. There were ducks, ibis, herons and other water birds. The marshes were man made, but still very pretty, and reflected the mountains in the water. There were dragonflies everywhere too.  We walked around them and stopped for a snack, and got to see so much because Stephie brought her binoculars and was pretty knowledgeable about the sorts of birds we were seeing. At the end of the day Stephie drove us back, and it will be a nice place to bring people as it's so close and we got to see so many birds.  This weekend we headed into Anaheim for a concert on Friday night. We went to the House of Blues to see Frank Turner's Lost Evenings. The venue was part of a little mall, so ...

This last weekend we had a nice time at home after arriving home from Zion late on Thursday night. We went out for a little date night on Saturday evening and to do some shopping together, and then had a Sunday on the beach with friends and Mitchell's improv show. It was a really good one this week and we had a big crowd with us. While we were at the beach, the water was all murky, and someone told us that it was because of the bioluminescent algae. So after the improv show we went back to the beach (via a stop for some burritos) and sat on the shore in the dark. Every time there was a big wave, it lit up a bright blue as the water crashed over. It was very cool and there were lots of people watching and making oohs and ahhs each time there was a good flash.  Friday night was Federico's leaving party, and he's now back in Italy.  On Sunday we went for a big hike in big bear. We got up early and left for the mountains, driving past the lake and arriving into the picnic area ...