Balch Family Blog

Yesterday we celebrated Camden’s 9th Birthday. We had a mellow but fun day. We started with a fully decorated living room complete with balloons, then birthday cake and submarine shaped pancakes, science camp, being sung to by all the kids, and sharing cookies with the science camp kids. Then we had lunch at Joe’s BBQ with Gran, followed by a quiet afternoon at home. Pizza was his dinner requested. He opened presents and then enjoyed the big cookie Gramma Tucson and Papa Ken sent.

Here are a few pictures from his fun day!

Our family headed out to sunny and cool California on Sat. June 9th to enjoy a week of vacation! Here are some highlights of things we did.

Sat 6/9:
We left here bright and early! The boys did great on the drive and we made to San Diego in just under 6 hours with 2 short stops. We had lunch at Ricky’s, which is well know for their Apple Pancake. It looked scrumptious, but we would have had a tummy and a toothache if we tried to eat one! After lunch we went out to Coronado Island and found a great place to park. The boys changed in the car and we were off to the beach. Coronado Island is beautiful. The sand was soft and the boys loved the water!

After some fun at the beach we went and checked in at The Vagabond Inn on Hotel Circle. Not a five star resort, but it worked for one night. We went to the mall across the street and watch Men In Black 3. It was great. We grabbed some dinner at the food court and enjoyed the spa back at the hotel.

Sun 6/10:

It was cold and overcast this morning. Our original planned had been to go to the beach. We decided to visit Point Loma instead. We all had a good time and the boys were even sworn in as Jr. Rangers! That afternoon we went to Moonlight Beach. More waves running and sand digging and hanging out. About 3 pm we headed out to Escondido to The Lawrence Welk Resort. We checked in there, hit the grocery store and then went to the hot tub.

Mon 6/11:
Mark and I both went for a workout in the gym. Mark took the boys to play golf on the Par 3 course their. After lunch we headed over to Boulder Springs Pool and the kid’s played on the splash pad, went swimming and Camden braved the water slide! We had grilled ribs and veggies from the Farmer’s Market.

Tues 6/12:
SeaWorld!! We had a blast at SeaWorld! The boys loved the shows and animal interactions. It was great fun! We grabbed dinner at Applebees after we finished.

Wed 6/13:
We had our cabana at Mountain Springs for the morning. The afternoon we spent hanging at our room. We also participated in the family scavenger hunt. We took 2nd place and won free ice cream for our family!

Thurs 6/14:
We headed down to Oceanside for the morning. We took a walk out to the end of the pier. We saw a man catch a yellow fin, it was small. Another man was mad at the starfish because they kept eating his bait. At the end of the pier we caught glimpses of dolphins swimming. That afternoon, Mark played golf and my dad and Betty came over. We went down to the Broadway Hill and got some ice cream (our prize!) and the boys painted turtle banks. That night I cooked a spaghetti dinner for all of us.

Fri 6/15:
We picked up Dad and Betty in Escondido and headed for the Fleet Science Center. We had fun with all of the hands-on exhibits. Mark and Camden built a ship out of these wood planks. We thought about buying some but it was $60 for 100 planks, so it didn’t seem worth it. We had lunch down in Balboa too. We went to the SD Railroad Museum as well. After that we headed back to our respective “homes” for a little down time and then dad treated us to a great dinner at The Fish Market. It was yummy!

Sat 6/16:
We met Dad and Betty down at Oceanside Beach after Moonlight Beach parking was closed off for a special event. We spent the afternoon there. Mark rented a boogie board. Both Mark and Camden really enjoyed that! That evening we had leftovers and went to watch the Dive-In Movie at Boulder Springs. It was the Sandlot. All was good except it was cold and the movie skipped and froze and we missed the ending.

Sun 6/17:
We headed out about 9:45 to come home. It was an awesome vacation!

***Wordpress has changed the format for pictures. I couldn’t figure out how to make them show under the day, so I uploaded them in order but it shows them in reverse. I hope it makes sense.***

While driving in the car this week my boys said some cute things. Camden asked Carsten what he wanted to be when he grew up. After much thought he said he wants to be in the Coast Guard. This followed:
Me: You know, to be in the Coast Guard you need to be a really good swimmer.
Carsten: Well mom, I am taking swimming lessons!

Camden was elaborating on the mechanics of how planes take off from aircraft carriers. He explained the complicated piston system and corrected my inaccuracies and then ended his explanation by saying. “Its simple physics, mom.”

I have such sweet boys!

Carsten’s school had a kinder end of the year program, and while he didn’t sing much, he sure was cute!

We had the house painted. After 10 years, it was due for a fresh coat and we love the colors!

Here is what are backyard looks like now. We are loving it and using it often! Only a few minor things need to still happen.

We have been working hard on our backyard. Here are a few “in progress” shots!

After demo, before we started.

20x20 paver area for our pool in the summer

Raised patio area

Raised patio filled in.

Walkway

Tree - COMPLETE!!!!

Every Easter I take new pictures of the boys and try to get a new family photo as well. I am pleased with this year!

Camden

Carsten

What we did in Grenada while visiting Mike and Andrea with Mark’s parents!

Saturday March 10th
Drove to the Spiceland Mall
Wandered around the shops and outdoor market, bought souvenirs.
Went “shelling”
Celebrated Carsten’s 6th birthday
Dinner at the Beach House
http://www.beachhousegrenada.com

Sunday March 11th
AM – walked to the nearby point, watched the waves and took
photos
PM – went to Grand Anse Beach
http://www.grenadaexplorer.com/Beaches.htm
Played in the waves, rode on an inflatable pulled by a ski boat
Pizza for dinner

Monday March 12th
Breakfast at The University Club
http://etalk.sgu.edu/contribute/universityclub/
Went to Fort Frederick and Fort Matthew
http://www.grenada.mot.gd/forts.htm
Went to a fruit stand. Bought tamarin balls and cashew fruit.
Went shelling, swimming and relaxed
Went to the Dodgy Dock for dinner and saw a 747 fly over us.
http://www.truebluebay.com/restaurant.html

Tuesday March 13th
Went down to mum & dad’s condo and hung out on their beach.
Did some shelling, played in the sand, and read our books.
Drove to the grocery store (by ourselves!) and picked up some food.
Went and met our catamaran at the dock for our snorkeling
adventure. Went with 7 others (3 from England and 4 from
Canada). Went to Flamingo Bay And then the Sculpture Park. (http://www.grenadagrenadines.com/dive/dive-site-details/flamingo-bay/). (http://www.divegrenada.com/sculpturepark.htm)
Saw lots of fish, coral and sponges. Sculpture Park was
fascinating. Unfortunately, dad got pretty seasick.
Dinner at Ali Babas http://www.alibabagrenada.com/
Food was delicious, had a Chicken Shawarma Wrap, but service
was, as seems typical, not so great.

Wednesday, AKA cruise ship (see below) March 14th
7000+ cruise passengers supposedly descending on Grenada today!
Went to Food Land, bought some souvenirs and fed the koi.
Went to Grand Anse Beach. Boys got driftwood necklaces and
shark tooth necklaces. Boys had great time body surfing!
Heather cooked a great home-cooked meal of salad, pasta and bread
with brownies for desert.

Thursday March 15th
Glenn our tour guide picked us up at 8:20. We first went through
St. George’s, got stuck in a ton of traffic due to a car accident
and then went off up into the mountains.
1. First stop was Grand Etang Lake, http://www.grenada-beaches.com/grenada-attractions/grand-etang-lake/. We got a nice
tour of the visitors center and then went down to look at the
monkeys that were out. The monkeys sat on our shoulders and ate
bananas.
2. We then stopped at a plantation house for a refreshing drink.
3. Next stop was the nutmeg processing plant in Gouyave. Took
an interesting tour.
4. Next stop was Concord Waterfall, http://www.grenadaexplorer.com/Waterfalls.htm.
Took lots of great pictures.
5. Last stop was Fort George, not on the tour but we asked and
we had time! Boys loved the view and the big canons.
Once we got home, it poured with rain for the next two hours at
least. Dinner at Charcoals, http://www.charcoalsgrenada.com/.
Pretty good barbecued chicken.

Friday March 16th – last full day
Rained all night long, and hard!
Celebrated our 10 year wedding anniversary!
Started off early and drove out to the lighthouse point. Not as cool
as “Crabville.”
The drove to Grande Anse Beach. Had a great time until the rains
came. Decided to leave and get lunch. Went to Spiceland and got
a roti.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roti
Met a nice man named Daniel from London, ended up buying both
boys a smoothie.
Went back home and relaxed. Heather slept, boys played, I relaxed
and cleaned up. It rained almost all afternoon.
At 5:00, went and met Mike & Andrea at the vet clinic and got a
tour.
Went to Prickly Bay and got some delicious pizza, yummy ice cream
and listened to an amazing Steele drum band.
http://pricklybaymarina.com/RestaurantBar.aspx