Dinner and a Seagull

Now that we live in Santa Barbara - Goleta actually - we spent our first post-move weekend at the beach. Tonight we attended Ryan's Chemical Engineering Department welcome BBQ. By the time we got our food the picnic benches were full so we opted for the lawn. There were seagulls a plenty hovering nearby, but soon I noticed that there was one alpha-male seagull standing guard and clearly scaring off any other seagulls who tried to hedge in on his turf. I found it unnerving to eat with that guy staring me down. He was about two feet from us and when Ryan went for seconds he came about one foot closer which made Marielle and I very nervous. Yes, I know I am bigger than he is, but his beak is sharper and I don't want him near me. As we finished up our dinner I told Ryan how I felt some sort of obligation to give him our left-overs since he had hung with us the entire time we sat there. Ryan reminded me that he was in fact a seagull and we could throw away our food without any guilty feelings.

Our "friend"

Here's how most of the students spent the evening

Here's what Ryan was doing

Couldn't resist posting this sweet picture

Oh, and we love it here. Our apartment is still a disaster zone but we have more room than we anticipated. We play outside all the time since the weather really is as fabulous as everyone told us it would be and there are tons of kids for Marielle to run around with.