reunion

On June 21, my brother-in-law had his 20-year reunion with his high school classmates. The evening before, they had a potluck at our house. But the main event was on Saturday, and it was held at a nearby park. I actually went, which is funny because I've never been to any of my reunions (not even sure if we've had any). It was interesting to watch, though. Once I got sufficiently bored, I went home.

graduation party

On June 10, my department had an end-of-term party for our student assistants. This was especially to celebrate those who were graduating (though I don't think any of them made it to the party). The food was pretty good.

california adventure

On June 8, my sister and her family went to Disney's California Adventure. They were meeting their relatives there. (It was one of the kids' birthday, so that family was spending the weekend there.) Since I hadn't been there before, I decided to go with them.

The kids were very interested in showing me some of the rides. They were especially keen on going on the Grizzly River Run, which is sort of like a river rafting ride. Though I haven't ridden on this particular ride, I've actually ridden the version at Disney World; it's at the Animal Kingdom theme park, and it's called Kali River Rapids over there. It was fun. I'm just glad I didn't get soaked like I did in Florida.

We didn't really get to ride that much. We did Mulholland Madness and watched Aladdin. My niece and I waited while they rode on California Screamin'. We may have watched It's Tough to be a Bug, but I'm not sure.

Here are a couple of shots from the park:

We also crossed over to Disneyland and rode a couple of rides. I know we went on Star Tours, but I can't remember if we were able to go on the other rides (many had long lines, some were closed).

That day, we ate at the Storytellers Cafe, which is located in the Grand Californian Hotel (see pic below), where their relatives were staying. They had a pretty good buffet. I especially found their warm bread pudding very memorable. (Yum! I want some right now.)

first day

On Monday, June 2, I started my job at the UCLA Library. On the way to work, I took a few pictures of the Murphy Sculpture Garden, a five-acre outdoor area filled with over 70 sculptures by well-know artists. I actually didn't take many pictures of the sculptures; I was too busy looking at the jacaranda trees all lovely in purple.