Newport Beach

Summer in Newport Beach.  'Nuff said. 

 

The Happiest Place on Earth

What's a vacation away from the North Pole without a visit to Disneyland?  Like any good tourist, Prim wanted to visit the House of the Mouse and see for herself if it really was the Happiest Place on Earth.

The only problem is that Disneyland is overrun with excited, inquisitive children who all know about the story of the Elf on the Shelf and who all wholeheartedly believe in the elf's magical powers.  So not wanting to risk exposing the fact that she's an Elf off the Shelf, Prim experienced most of Disneyland from the pocket of my purse. 

In California Adventure, she did, however, get to experience the terror and horror of Mickey's Fun Wheel. 

But how can Mickey's Fun Wheel be horrible?  What could possibly be bad about a giant ferris wheel?  It's a wheel of fun for goodness sake!

See the beautiful views of the park from up on the fun wheel? 

 

See how high the fun wheel takes you? 

See how you have to hang on for dear life as your pod on the fun wheel swings back and forth and back and forth and back and forth and back and forth as the fun wheel goes round and round and round and round? 

 

Well, as it turns out, Prim is prone to motion sickness.

At least whatever Disney Imagineer dreamed up the fun wheel had the foresight to include barf bags in each pod.  That made it fun for everyone.  

       

Antique hunting

The time has come to recount Prim's most exciting adventure yet. 

Antique shopping in Lodi.

Prim was quite fascinated by all the old knick-knacks.  She just doesn't see this kind of stuff back in the North Pole. 

But then again, who isn't fascinated by antique pillows?  

And who wouldn't want to own an antique toilet seat?

And why would anyone pass up the chance to buy a miniature antique hairdresser's chair?

And who, praytell, wouldn't want to wear an antique cowboy hat with their antique wedding dress?

Antique E.T., that's who. 

Prim in Lodi

Prim's been to some pretty exciting places.  From the snow covered plains of the North Pole to the sun kissed shores of Cabo San Lucas to our nation's capital (more on that later), she's had her fair share of adventures and seen some sights.

But she hadn't really seen anything until she visited Lodi. 

She visited this couple and joined in on their eternal celebration of wine:

Prim also visited the Veterans memorial:

And if that's not exciting enough for you, tune in next time to see Prim go antique shopping in Lodi!

Prim gets pampered

After being tossed around the chili cook-off, Prim was in need of a little pampering.  So we headed to the nail salon to get a mani-pedi.  

Prim wanted her nails painted red.  But I thought it was a little too matchy-matchy for her outfit. 

  

No big deal, though, 'cuz then Prim reminded me that she doesn't have any fingers or toes to be painted. 

A Chili Cook-Off

At the beginning of June, firefighters from twenty-one fire departments across San Diego cooked up a whole lot of chili for the 29th annual Tailgate Party and Chili Cook-Off to raise funds for the Muscular Dystrophy Association of San Diego and Imperial Counties, which helps cutie patooties like this guy:

Prim, as you can see, was there.  And did I mention that firefighters from twenty-one departments were also there?!  That's a lot of firefighters. 

The bad news is that all those firefighters weren't in uniform.  The good news is that they wore costumes instead.   

 

Those ladies in the background totally crashed Prim's photo op.  But those men in the front are firefighters.  Hopefully off-duty ones.  Imagine if this guy showed up to save you from a burning building:    

See, the thing about the chili cook-off is that the firefighters try to win your vote with their winning personalities.  And their winning bodies. 

There were rockstars, cowboys, men in kilts, Baywatch babes, and the cast of Jersey Shore, who tried to give Prim a spray tan:   

  

There were also pirates. 

And hillbillies, who made some pretty good chili.  Or chilly, as they call it. 

Each booth was also decorated.  Like this one from the "scater" firefighters. 

And this one, from "the most interesting firefighters in the world."

Needless to say, everyone had a pretty good time, including this group of attendees.  They took quite a liking to Prim.

Prim, however, preferred to hang out with the firefighters. 

Prim the Scientist

A while ago now, before Prim got wrapped up in wedding and graduation celebrations, she spent a lovely day at the California Science Center in Pasadena. 

You know it's going to be a fun place when even the gift shop has live animals on display.     

I'm not sure if this lizard-thing has ever seen an elf before. I do know, however, that Prim has never seen a lizard-thing before. 

The Cal Science Center had a little bit of everything.  Here, Prim's learning about condensation.  I think.  

She also learned about how televisions work. 

This won't be the last time you see this pretty face on TV. 

Prim learned quite a bit about the space program, too. 

Random thought:  Prim and Buzz Lightyear would make a pretty cute couple. 
 

The Science Center even had some preserved human organs.  Educational, but grody to the max.     
  

The highlight of Prim's day was the NORTH POLE exhibit! 

It's been about seven months since Prim's seen her mother land, so her nostalgic reverie was expected. 

The snowmobile ride, however, was not expected. 

Prim also learned about fish.  She learned that they are attracted to her.  Wherever she moved around the tank, they followed. 

Perhaps she found her calling as the Fish Whisperer. 

Random thought:  Can fish hear?     

And finally, Prim got to pretend to be a news reporter. 

See, I told you that you'd see her pretty face on TV again. 

Random thought:  I don't know who that person is on the left of the TV screen, but I like her purse.