Balch Family Blog

I can’t believe I didn’t blog at all the month of September. Yikes! It has been a busy month just as I promised in my last post.

We started the month off with a visit from my Dad and Betty who came to town to visit with our family and my sister and her family. Their last trip out here was during our cruise so I didn’t get to spend much time with them. It was fun to hang out with Joce, Eric and Liam! Liam is getting so big!

Then we made a quick trip up to Pine. It was a tad cooler and the boys really enjoyed exploring while I read on the porch.

Mark discovered he had a hernia so he had several doctors appointments and a small surgery this month. My mom was up her almost weekly for work so we got to spend time with her too. Usually we would take a Zumba class on the night she was here, but occasionally we would go out to eat. I end the month with a trip to Buffalo for my Uncle Hank and Aunt Kristine’s baby shower. I had a blast seeing family while there!

Happy October!

not to mention sports class and science class. Whew! We have gone from a family that didn’t do many extra activities to a jam packed schedule.

I am on the PTO Board this year serving as volunteer coordinator.

Camden joined Cub Scouts and is a wolf. Mark is volunteering as his Den Leader.

Carsten will complete his second year of Cubbies this year and I will be his teacher. Camden has expressed interest in Sparks so he is going to try it out.

Camden has been taking a science class called Mythbusters, and he loves it!

Carsten is in a sports class to get exposed to a wide range of different sports to play. Maybe he will find one he loves!

So if you don’t see us much, you know why!

A week ago Tuesday, Camden’s second grade teacher (Ms. Brown) had to resign from her teaching position. She has some medical issues that need to be taken care of and she moved to NC to be near family. For the past week Camden has had a substitute teacher while they find a replacement. I met Mrs. Brown yesterday. She is hanging out with the class and getting to know them this week and she takes over teaching next week. She is young and sweet and seems very energetic!

Camden started 2nd grade last Monday and Carsten started Preschool. They both had ups and down throughout the week but they both ended the week strong! I can’t believe how big they are now!

Camden

Carsten

The boys before leaving for school.

Camden playing on the playground before school.

Carsten outside his classroom.

Carsten with his teacher, Ms. Jennie.

With the new school year quickly approaching we decided to get FUN into high gear! Last week we went to Bounce U and played with some friends, went swimming at Power Ranch Pool, went to see Marmaduke, and had a play date with Nathan. This weekend we decided to go check out Sea Life Aquarium at AZ Mills Mall. The boys loved it and so did we! Today brought the super fun task of hair cuts. Tomorrow Mark and I are taking the kids to Amazing Jake’s. We will swim at my mom’s hotel later in the week and then the boys start school on Monday. Whew! Nothing like making it count!

Here are a few shots from Sea Life:

This month our family went to Sedona for some much needed relaxation. While our trip was not filled with beach trips and amusement parks we did really enjoy our time as a family.

Saturday July 3rd

We left Saturday morning after dropping Abbie off at the pet resort and saying good bye to Mark’s dad who was leaving for a work trip to India that evening.

The nice thing about going to Sedona is the short car ride up there. After checking in to our resort and renaming our room to the RV, since that was about the size of it, we went to Talquepaque for some shopping and Fourth festivities. After we were done there it was back to the RV where we played a round of mini golf before going to the pool. We enjoyed dinner on the patio that evening.

Sunday July 4th

We had breakfast on the resort and listened to all the different vendors present their fun Sedona activities. After that we suited up and head for the pool. The water was refreshing and wonderful. The boys had a lot of fun with some of the other kids there as well. In the early evening we drove down to Cottonwood to view the fireworks with about 5000 other people. The boys played around, Camden flew his kite and we all people watched. The fireworks were nice and we had a good evening.

Monday July 5th

We decided to take the boys fishing. We got some information from the locals about Dead Horse Ranch. They have a little fishing lagoon there. While we didn’t catch anything we did have fun!

Tuesday July 6th

We had a quiet breakfast on the patio after Mark and I both used the workout room at the resort. It was small facility, but it worked. We all participated in the Mini-golf tournament and while no of us won we all had fun! The rest of the day we completed activities offered at the resort and went for a swim. Later that night we took the boys to see Karate Kid. They both really liked it!

Wednesday July 7th

It was a very hot day! We had planned to go to Out of Africa. The boys had a good time but after the tiger splash show we were all hot and tired. We headed back to the resort and went….swimming!

Thursday July 8th

We really wanted to spend some time in the beauty of Sedona and thought Red Rock Crossing would be a perfect place. We hike back in along oak creek for quite a while until we found a place to play. The boys dug in the dirt and played in the water. The scenery was beautiful! We spent the hole morning there and really enjoyed ourselves. We decided to head uptown for lunch and shopping. Camden loved the fudge from the local shop there and he needed a second fix. We noticed a trolley tour that was very affordable for a family of 4 and went all over Sedona. We bought tickets and enjoyed visiting Boyton Canyon and The Chapel of the Holy Cross.

That evening the resort was showing Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakel by the pool, so we headed down after another round of mini-golf.

Friday July 9th

Camden had been wanting to visit a vortex so the Airport Vortex was the choice. We purchased a Red Rock pass and found a spot to park. The Airport Vortex is located between two hills along the road to the airport. The boys decided to hike up one hill, I trotted after them, but they chose to climb a steep way and I chose the easier climb. Once to the top the views were great! I, however, had my fear of heights/anxieties kicking in full gear and headed back down. I was very happy that I made it to the top to share that with the boys and Mark. The rest of the day we spent at the Fish Hatchery and I did a little wine tasting. Then it was back for more swimming. We got LOTS of use out of the pool! We went out to dinner at a very fancy Italian restaurant and enjoyed a very nice meal.

Saturday July 10th

It was finally time to head home. We packed the car and played one more round of mini-golf. On our way out of town we stopped at the outlet stores, but there wasn’t much there. We did pick up a few new shirts for school clothes. The drive home went well, we picked up Abbie and had a swim at Mark’s parents.

Additional pictures can be found in my photo gallery.

Camden celebrated his 7th birthday this weekend and boy did we have fun! Friday afternoon, Nathan came over for a play date which turned into a sleep over. The boys had fun sleeping in the living room!

Saturday morning daddy went to get the boys donuts for breakfast. After some play time we were off to Camden’s big birthday bash at Brunswick Bowling. Camden’s friends joined him and they all had a ton of fun! There was Carsten, Nathan, Colton, Brayden, Allie, Brody, Sinjan, Emilio and Anna.


This is Camden and Allie. (Allie was mentioned in a previous post about the end of first grade.)

Sunday morning Camden built legos with Dad then we went to church. After church we went to lunch with Gran and Granpa at Garcia’s.


We played a Lego board game after lunch then went for a swim! Camden had a really great birthday weekend!!

The boys have been taking swimming lessons and they did great! Camden learned some new strokes including the butterfly. Carsten became more comfortable in the water. He can now submerge his face and swim and come up for air when needed.

Carsten floating on his back.

Camden just coming up for a breath after swimming underwater.

We are driving in the van and the following dialog transpires:
Carsten: “Mommy, why I not have force?”
Me: “Force to do what?”
Carsten: “Force. Why I not have force get motorcycle.”
Thoroughly confused I look back at him and he has his hand tensed with fingers apart about 6 inches above a hot wheel motorcycle. Then the light went off.
Me: “Because the force is not with you my son. You are not a Jedi Knight.”
Carsten: “I want be Jedi.”

Oh my! My sweet Camden is done with first grade. His strength was in reading. He did well in all other subjects, but did struggle a little with writing. I am very proud of him and can’t believe 2nd grade is right around the corner!

Now, about the girlfriend. He has had a friend and classmate the past 2 years that he has been sweet on. The intensity has increased over the last couple of weeks. The cutest thing was Monday. There was a fundraiser for his class at Cold Stone Creamery. He kept asking if he could sit with Allie. We pulled into the parking lot and Camden said, “I hope Allie is here. Can I sit with her?” “Sure!” I said. Then he hit me with…”This will be our 2nd date.” Picking my lower jaw up off the floor I said, “Second date? When was your first?” “Today on the playground.” “What did you do?” I asked. “Oh, just walked around and looked at things.” It was so cute.

That night while running around, Allie and Camden picked out their home, decided they were going to live in San Fransisco and Camden would work as a Mythbuster. My thought…SLOW DOWN….YOU ARE STILL MY BABY!!