Amyblog

MOVIE MUSEUM

Officially, it's called the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Museum. Mr. BAW, being a big fan of the movies, decided to get tickets to see it right after it opened. Coincidentally, the feature exhibit is Hayao Miyazaki and his movies. We are all a huge fan of Hayao Miyazaki, my favorite movie being My Neighbor Totoro.

The Motion Picture Museum was right across the street from the Petersen Automotive Museum, in fact, we actually had to park at the Petersen Museum parking lot. We saw this adorable display of Rat in a Mouse Trap at the park lot! The Motion Picture Museum is pretty small...there were still some empty spaces that they have not filled yet. Part of the problem with going so soon after they open. But what they do have there was pretty cool, the kids' favorite was this circular theater where they were showing some sci-fi movies past and present. I enjoyed the costume section. The Miayazaki exihibit was also pretty small, just about two rooms worth of drawings and pictures. But there was this one little hallway area that you get to walk through where they simulated the feeling of quiet yet eerieness as Chihiro walks into the dark tunnel at the beginning of Spririted Away which was amazing. Photos were not allowed in the Miayazaki Exhibit so, sadly, I don't have pictures from the exhibit to share. The pictures of Miayazaki's movies below were wall murals outside the exhibit.

Even with COVID restrictions, the feature restaurant Fanny's was serving food. We tried it and the food was good, but too fancy for the kids. Plus, the main focus of the restaurant was "Old Hollwywood" where you are treated like a movie star. Well, it was fine but you also end up paying for movie star prices. So we won't be dining there again. Enjoy some of my pictures from our day at the museum.

Posted on October 22, 2021

MONARCHS

On my recent day off, I met up with a friend/co-worker whom I haven't seen for over a year. She invited me to a monarch butterfly exhibit at the South Coast Botanical Garden which is only about three miles from my house. Then, we headed over for a wonderful lunch at WA Dining, one of our favorite restaurants. Even though I don't miss working at the office everyday, especially in the cold, dark winter months, it was very nice to see my friend in person. We had a great lunch with lots of catching up and laughs.

Although the monarch butterfly exhibit was pretty small, it was very pretty. It was a cloudy day and the lighting was perfect for some really nice pictures. I also learned how to tell whether a Monarch is male or female by looking at the pattern on their wings. If you see two dots on their bottom wings, then it's a male. The females do not have the two black dots and the black veins are thicker. Turns out that all of the pictures I am showing below are males! Someone did comment at how many more males they spotted in the butterfly pavillion than females. Maybe the females were just more shy and didn't hang out on the lower flowers as much. We also strolled through the rose garden on our way out and I couldn't help but snapped a few pictures. Enjoy!

Posted on October 8, 2021

A SWEET ROSE

I walked by our green waste bin one day after our gardeners have left and saw that it was full of mostly green cuttings. But underneath it a vibrant red peaked out. Turns out that the gardeners were prunning our roses in the front yard and disgarded this gorgeous bloom. So I rescued her and brought her into our kitchen where she provided us some much needed brightness and fragrance in the middle of a gloomy October week. She stayed in our kitchen for a whole week. I also trimmed off the leaves of some hardy rose stems and stuck them in water. I've had some success in rooting and propagating rose stems into new rose plants. I wonder if winter will come early for us this year. Normally, we would still be hitting the beaches all the way til November. Hopefully, we will get a wetter winter this year, we need all the water we can get!

Posted on October 7, 2021

Seventeen Mile Drive

On our way back from our SF trip last month, we decided to take a brief detour and drive the kids over to see 17 Mile Drive through beautiful Monterey. This is basically like a national park and you have to pay a fee ($10 per vehicle) to get in. So at the pay booth, I made the kids turn off their electronics so that they would actually look outside the car to enjoy the view! Haha, such an evil mom I am! Since we had Kepler with us, we also got out of the car to let him stretch his legs a bit. The kids got to roll around on the beautiful white sands. But, much to their chagrin, they weren't dressed for getting wet so I didn't let them go near the water.

While driving through 17 Mile Drive, we saw seals, sea gulls, the iconic lone Cypress tree, and amazing turquoise waters, Pebble Beach Golf Course, and lots of amazing mansions!

Posted on October 5, 2021

OCTOBER

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