Balch Family Blog

Our California Vacation October 2009

Saturday October 10, 2009

We left the house about 8:20 after searching for Lela to head over to my Uncle Daryl’s for a mini family reunion. My Uncle Dale and his 3 children flew out for a weekend visit at the same time as our family vacation. We made the most of it meeting for breakfast before driving out to California. It was so great to meet them all. Dale looks just like my Grandpa (who passed away several years ago). Karen and I have written to each other several times and I really have a good connection with her. Jennifer is studying to become a Speech Language Pathologist and my mom thinks we have the same smile and eyes! Dave is just married and really fits in with the computer geniuses in our family. Our goal was to leave at 10 sharp but we were a little late. We made up the time on our very uneventful drive and arrived at our timeshare at 5:00 exactly. After settling in we went to dinner at the outlet mall nearby and we did some shopping at COACH and at a show store. I was in purse heaven at COACH.

Sunday October 11, 2009

LEGOLAND—Need I say more? The boys had a blast! We did everything from drive cars to dig for dinosaurs. We chose to go on Sunday so the boys could participate in the Brick or Treat Trail. That got lots of fun little treats from decorated mini houses. That evening we had dinner in our room and went for a dip in the pool.

Monday October 12, 2009

We got up early and enjoyed breakfast in our room (like we did everyday). Then we were off to the beach complete with kites, sand buckets and shovels. It was cold and we really didn’t get wet. The boys wore their sweatshirts most of the time. We grabbed lunch at our favorite Mexican spot and a treat from the bakery next door. Once we got back to the room the boys went to paint Creepy Crawly Snakes. They had fun until Carsten fell off the chair. I think he was so sleepy he that didn’t realize his position in space and onto the floor he tumbled. While he took a nap, Camden and I went for a swim. The family pool has a splash pad, but that water was VERY cold, a large pool no deeper than 4 feet, which was cold, and a hot tub which was very HOT! We spent most of the time in the hot tub! We decided to go see the movie “Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs.” Both the boys got a little scared but we had a good time.

Tuesday October 13, 2009

After breakfast, we got in the van and endured the CA freeway system. There was lots of stop and go on our way to San Diego. We let the TomTom direct us to Balboa Park. Our first stop was the Fleet Science Center. The boys really enjoyed the hands-on stuff they could do. Camden’s favorite was the water works station that shows the cycle of water. Carsten’s favorite was part was using a blower vacuum to fill up a vinyl glove with air. We took a few breaks for snack and lunch and then went to the Model Railroad Museum. This was definitely a stop for the boys. They really had fun looking at all the layouts. Camden’s highlight was being able to drive a train all on his own. Carsten had a blast at the train table playing with Thomas. Both of the boys fell asleep on the way home. We went to the hot tub again and then after dinner, we went to the activity center and the boys enjoyed ice cream sundaes.

Wednesday October 14, 2009

Mark went to The Crossings and enjoyed a round of golf. The boys and I played around the resort and had fun being pirates! When Mark got home we had lunch and then went back out to Moonlight Beach. On the news that morning I had heard something about a smuggling boat washing ashore and I thought it was at our beach. Sure enough, when we arrived there was a boat with cones around it and a couple of officers looking it over. We later read that there was 1000 lbs. of marijuana and 15 men on board. The boat looked big enough to hold about 5 men and only go near lakes not oceans. The beach was awesome! The water was cool but we all splashed in the waves! A couple of large holes and tall castles were built. There was not enough wind to get our large tri-plane off the ground like Monday, but we did have fun! Mark and I both got a little sunburned. After spending several hours on the beach we came back and cleaned up for a night out at King’s Fish House. All I can say is: YUMMMMMY!

Thursday October 15, 2009

LEGOLAND—-again! Our resort is really close to Legoland and there is a pedestrian access gate so we saved on parking each day. We focused on things we did not do on Sunday. It was nice a relaxing not to have to run around trying to fit everything in one day. The boys were done with Legoland with 2 hours to spare. We went back to the resort and played in the pool and had dinner in our room.

Friday October 16, 2009

We decided to go back to the outlet mall and do a little more shopping. It was fun, but even some of their outlet prices were too much. We ate a very yummy lunch at Ruby’s Diner. The boys enjoyed the train that went around the ceiling. Once we were done with shopping we got ready and hit the beach. That evening the resort had a movie by the pool so we watched that and played on the playground.

Saturday October 17, 2009

We got up early and packed up. We had one big stop before heading home. After checking out and grabbing breakfast we went down to Navy Pier in San Diego to visit the USS Midway. The boys were immediately amazed at the size of the ship. We walked all around but our favorite section was the flight deck. The boys got to go into 2 different helicopters and other planes. Once we had finished we hopped in the van and headed home. Both boys fell asleep, so we stayed in the van and drove through to Yuma before stopping for lunch. I think that really helped the drive for the boys.

We had a great time and really enjoyed spending quality time as a family. Looking forward to our next adventure!