Family Vacation Day 20

Not quite sure what it was about last night, but I didn't sleep so well. Might have been the wind gusts from the Santa Ana event. I know that at 4.30 am I saw that lights were on in the living room. I thought that's really early for Daniel to be up. But honestly I didn't care, just turned over and slept till about 8 am. By that time my family had already started to prepare breakfast. I just started coffee. At that time our neighbor Brad stopped by to drop off the heavy duty weed whacker, since the brush clearance deadline is approaching quickly and Kenny wanted to get in some time doing yard work. A little after 8.30 Bernd and I left to drop off their rental car at Enterprise in Valencia. We got there around 9 am, dropped off the car and everything went off without a hitch. By the time we got back Kenny was getting ready to start weeding...turns out that we didn't have any wire for the weed whacker, so he had to go to Lowe's to pick some up. Meanwhile Bernd checked some things with the airline and Mom talked to Dad via Skype to make sure that everyone is on the same page when it comes to picking Mom up in Vienna on Monday. Once Kenny got back it was time to put Daniel down for a nap. Then Kenny went outside and started with the yard work.

About 2 hours later Daniel got back up again and my Mom, Sis, Bernd and my 2 nephews had some of yesterdays left overs for lunch. I really didn't feel like having left overs. For heavens sake it's Saturday...definitely time for some junk food! I then drove out to Santa Clarita, about 20 min. away, to pick up some Taco Bell for Kenny and I. While I was trying to leave Daisy tried to chase after my truck, so I had to put her back into the house. I got back about 40 minutes later and Kenny and I sat down to have a rather late lunch. After that Kenny got ready to do a 'Knight of the Guild' recording in North Hollywood.

I checked to details of having my family picked up by taxi on the web, but couldn't find out the details about the kids seat. So there was no other way than calling them. Turns out that I have to provide kids safety seat and kids booster seat myself and I have to pick them up at their HQ after the had delivered my family to the airport. Since we didn't have a booster seat that wasn't really an option. So I went with the original plan: driving them ourselves to the airport. After that 'adventure' I spent some time with my Sis, Leonhard and Daniel...and my 2 nephews got a little to around in my big pickup truck. Both of them had fun, but Daniel especially was having a blast playing around with the steering wheel and checking out each and every button and know in the truck cab.

After that Bern and I went into Agua Dulce to pick up Pizza for dinner. We had a yummy dinner and Daniel went to bed by 8 pm. Leonhard got to play several rounds on our Wii. By 10.30 pm everyone had gone to bed. I finished watching the news and 1 episode of 'Sex and the City' and then I went to bed as well and that concludes the last day of my family's vacation.

Family Vacation Day 19

Today my Sis, Bernd and my 2 nephews are supposed to come back from their California Round Trip. By the time I got up there was still no news an that. After breakfast I had originally planned to take my Mom to 'Central Park'. Before noon we still had a medium Santa Ana event going on. Fairly strong wind gusts and kinda on the cool side, so I decided that we just stay at the house and that would give me time to get some more yard work done. I pulled weeds for about 1 1/2 hours. The strong wind gusts helped to keep the temperature down and that helped. Around 12.30 I decided to take a break...was hot, sweaty and slightly itchy from the weeds. When I checked my phone I found out that Bernd had called and had left a voice mail, letting me know that they would be back by 4 pm.

After I had time to cool down a little I started with lunch. Made something fairly easy. Roasted some Peppers and Cucumber and then just put in the rest of the left over from the Veggie Penne and that made for a delicious lunch.

After Mom had taken her afternoon nap I got a phone call from my Sis confirming that I had gotten the voice mail. They also were stuck in the I-5 in LA, but were already past the junction with the 101 to possibly get around the traffic jam...and I wasn't going to send him on criss-cross trip through LA. After that phone call I left for Sweet Water Farms to pick up some bread, since we had run out of it. I got back and about 20 min. later my Sis, Bernd and my 2 nephews arrived. Way earlier than I actually expected, considering the friday afternoon traffic jam in LA.

I guess the best way to describe their arrival would be with a MASH analogy: "The peaceful quietness was suddenly interrupted by herd of screaming kids". Took me a little while to get used to that again. Daisy was actually the one who appeared to have the least problem with that. Around 6 pm I started to prepare dinner. I made a Carbonara Style Paste Sauce for Bernd, Kenny and I. For my Mom, Sis and my 2 nephews I roasted mixed veggies and broccoli and than added Tomato Sauce. While both sauces were simmering on the stove I started the Penne and prepared the Garlic Toast. Had to use garlic powder though, since I had run out of garlic spread. By 7.30 pm dinner was finished. It was quite yummy. Just in time since Daniel was getting a little grumpy and needed to go to back urgently.

About 20 min, after Daniel had gone to bed Kenny got back from work and had some of the Penne with Carbonara Sauce as well. Later my nephew Leonhard got to play video games for several hours on our Wii. By 11.30 pm everyone had gone to bed and that ended day 19 of the Family Vacation.

Family Vacation Day 18

Today I had another 'date' with the weeds you might say. After breakfast I went out to do some yard work. As usual Daisy was right at my side. First I had to move about 3 wheel barrel loads of weeds to the dumpster. There I found out that one of our neighbors has again filled that thing up about 2/3 of the way...and I know who the guy is. If I should catch him in the act I will have a rather serious conversation with him, because that's not the way we do things out here.

After the dumped the weeds into the trash bin and compressing it a little to leave enough room for the other neighbors I went back and cleared some of the weeds that had started to grow in the driveway. Those weeds particularly have been going on my nerves. And if the fire marshal should happen to drive by, at least he sees that weed removal is being done. Next I turned my attention to the west facing slope and pulled some more weeds there.

Mom spent some time walking around the house, but soon went back in. She wasn't too keen on today's weather. I wasn't really bothered by it, but I know that there are people out there that don't enough the build-up of a Santa Ana event. It's a hard to describe weather phenomena..Hot but not super hot...strong offshore breezes, but not quite strong winds yet...and a mixture between partially dry air masses. Some people react to it, but I'm not bothered by it at all...guess I've gotten used to it over the years.

After I was hot, sweaty and a little itchy from the weeds I went inside to cool down. Around 2 pm I warmed up some left overs. Mom and I had veggie rice and left over 'Grenadiermarsch'. After that we just relaxed. Later in the afternoon we spent some time chatting. We had an fairly early dinner, as we didn't have to wait for Kenny since he was attending a Quidditch Meeting. Mom and I chose to have left over pizza. After that we relaxed and watched 1 episode 'House Hunters International' and 1 episode 'Selling New York'.

All in all a productive and relaxing day at the same time. Still no word on when my Sis, Bernd and my 2 nephews will be rejoining us.

Family Vacation Day 17

Today I decided to take Mom and Daisy for a hike at Placerita Canyon. We do currently have an offshore flow, but it wasn't supposed to get into the mid 90's before 3 pm. So we left fairly early and arrived at Placerita Canyon a little past 11 am. Placerita Canyon is a big hiking canyon just about 15min. by car from our house. There are several different hiking trails available. I really didn't want to hike up any of the trails on the south facing hill slope, and so I chose the 'Waterfall Trail'. This trail is a little over 3 miles long and pretty much follows a creek. Most of the trail has lots of mature trees, is just fun to hike and climbs very moderately higher and higher. You have to cross the creek several times and with the water levels being that low, it's no problem at all. The most surprising thing was that Daisy just walked through the creek without any issues...and that was one of the things that used to freak her out when she was younger. We made it up about 2/3 of the trail before we took a break.

During the break 2 rangers came down the trail and checked if Daisy was on the leash...and if course she was, since I never go hiking with her off leash. Mom wasn't feeling so hot, as she was having slight issues with her circulatory system and so we opted to turn around

and slowly hike back to the car. We did hike about 2 miles in one direction.

We were hiking slowly back and Mom started to feel better. Not sure if it was the elevation or the heat, but I was happy that she felt better again. While taking another break at the halfway point to the car I noticed that Daisy favored one of her hind legs. I looked at it but couldn't find anything wrong with it and it didn't seem to bother her when she was walking. Most likely she just stepped wrong. On the way back we encountered 5 or 6 very excited dogs and Daisy wasn't a happy camper, since she doesn't do too well with overexcited dogs. By 1.30 pm we had made it back to the car and headed back home. When I checked my phone I realized that my dad had called and so we called him back via Skype. He mostly wanted to know how we were doing. And he brought up certain things about the upcoming relocation. I realized that everyone has lots of questions about relocating Daisy. I explained how that works in general, didn't go into every single detail. I also addressed several additional questions he brought up. That guy just likes to worry about things that are in my opinion no problem at all. Furthermore it occurred to me that those questions only come up when relocating a dog, they would never ever come up if I were to relocate an adopted kid. From where I am standing, that's just bizarre!!

After that Mom and relaxed for a little over an hour. Then we had a quite late lunch. We had the left overs from the Broccoli Cream Soup. After that we just hung out and chatted a little. I then checked on Daisy's hind leg again, and she is perfectly fine. For dinner Kenny picked up Pizza. We had a Bell Pepper, Olive & Mushroom Pizza for Mom, and a Pizza with Pepperoni & Sausage for Kenny and I. Very yummy!!

All in all a great day and mom loved the hike at Placerita Canyon.

Family Vacation Day 16

Originally I had planned to take Mom either to 'Central Park' or to Placerita Canyon. But for some reason we got sidetracked and by the time we were done with breakfast and the dishes were done as well it was around noon. Because of the strong offshore flow the temperature was in the mid 80's and since it was already noon we decided to stay home. Around 1 pm I started to prepare lunch. We were having a yummy Broccoli Cream Soup. In the afternoon mom and I spent time talking about family, relatives and hiking trips. Not quite sure what prompted it, but at a certain point family history came up as well.

Since Kenny was supposed to get home late from the set of the 'Guild' I decided to make a fairly easy and quick to prepare dinner. We had Roasted Veggies with Kidney Beans and Whole Wheat Pasta. It was very yummy.

All in all a very relaxing day!!

Family Vacation Day 15

Today I had to run some errands in the San Fernando Valley. My mom opted to join me. I figured it might as well bring Daisy and all 3 of us could hang out at Lake Balboa. So we left around 11 am I picked up my meds and then we headed over to Lake Balboa. Mom Daisy and I spent about 1 hour or so walking around the lake. Mom and Daisy really enjoyed their time. After that we headed back to the house and I prepared a mixed salad with roasted Tofu for lunch.

After that mom took her afternoon nap. A little after 4 pm we had to do some work in the kitchen. Then we sat down and chatted a little about the the upcoming move, about all the prep work that has to go into the move and how many single aspects of the move are all interconnected with each other. By the time we were done chatting, it was time to get dinner started. I prepared tenderloin pork with rice for Kenny and I. For mom I had planned rice with mixed veggies. By the time Kenny got home from work, dinner was almost ready and all 3 of us enjoyed a well cooked meal together.

Doctor Who is Back!!!

Today Kenny and I finally sat down and watched the return of our favorite Doctor. Matt Smith returns as the all mighty timelord for this sixth season. Matt Smith joined Doctor Who last season and from the first moment he was on screen he was The Doctor instantly. So I was really looking forward to the return of Who. We hadn't seen a new episode since Christmas and before that it was months and months.
They're doing something different this year and splitting the season into two... 7 episodes for the first part that will run from April to June and then the remaining 6 episode starting sometime in the fall to finish off season 6. Also different this year is BBC America is airing the episodes on the same day they are released in the UK (previously it's been weeks or months later). BBC America is also not cutting them to fit in the US schedule so will get the full episode the same day as the UK...
This premiere was part one of what I assume will be a two parter. First let me say that I LOVED the premiere.. may not have understood everything.. yet.. but it didn't distract me from the wonderful writing and acting. What is great about Who is you know you'll get a payoff at some point. It may not be in the next episode or the one after that but the writing is so great that before the season ends all your questions will be answered.. and I love that about Who. Lot's of stuff happened in this first episode and of course it ends on a cliffhanger which makes me even more excited to see part two next week. Lot's of questions were asked and some secrets revealed.
If the first episode is any indication.. this seasons going to rock just like last season.

Family Vacation Day 14

Today was one of those typical 'just relax' Sundays. While Kenny spent hours and hours in front of the computer working on several podcasts, I spent chatting with mom. We mostly talked about family, relatives and my job related plans when I'll be returning to Austria this August.

After lunch mom took a nap and Kenny and I managed to get some TV time. More and more stuff is being recorded on the DVR and we're falling further and further behind. We also managed to see the premiere episode of this seasons Doctor Who. If you want to know more about that check out the Blog Post 'Doctor Who is Back'.

Later I spent time with mom chatting mostly about dogs in general, Daisy and about hiking. For dinner I decided that we were going to have some of the left overs. Mom and I had the rest of the Butternut Squash Casserole, while Kenny opted to have just a sandwich.

All in all it was a very relaxing Sunday.

Family Vacation Day 13

Today was one of those days where I just couldn't get motivated. Kenny had left in the wee hours of the morning for a 'Guild' shoot in Long Beach and I got up a little past 9. When I was getting up I already had a slight headache and that's never a good sign. As the day went on my headache slowly got progressively worse. It was just enough to be quite annoying, but not bad enough that it would have justified to take something against it.

So Mom and I spent most time at the house chatting, walking around the house and hanging out on the back deck. It was partly sunny and partly overcast with a light breeze and actually a quite mild day. That would have been a good day for yard work or hiking. But with my headache I didn't want to do either of those activities. Later I went to Sweetwater Farms to pick up a can of cream on mushroom, since I had forgotten it when shopping on Wednesday.

After mom had taken her afternoon nap I started with the prep work for butternut squash casserole. I peeled the squash and mom cleaned the inside out. I admit it requires quite some prep work, but that's well worth it since it always tastes incredible. And my mom did love my butternut squash casserole.

Pet Relocation - Go-Ahead

I have been going back and forth between several different pet relocation companies. 2 companies remained as the top companies. Over the past couple of weeks I did some checks on them and work out some of the details that needed to be worked out in order to make a final decision. Currently the date for Daisy's relocation is set for August 17th. I finally gave today one company the go-ahead to get things, regarding Daisy's relocation, started.

This one company fulfilled all my requirements:

Daisy is NOT being shipped as cargo. She is being relocated supervised. She will fly in a compartment that has equal pressure and temperature as the passenger compartment. She will be the last one loaded onto the plane and the first one to get off the plane. She won't be stuck in the travel crate for more than 10 hours. And this will be a door to door service, meaning she will be picked up at our place and delivered to my parents place in Austria. In addition to all that the medical paperwork will be compiled ahead of time, that way she doesn't have to be put through quarantine.

Of course that service isn't cheap...it will be around 4 Grand, but that's money well spent. As soon as I have the detailed travel info for Daisy I can buy my flight ticket. I intend on being at my parents by the time Daisy arrives, that way she will be greeted by a familiar face.

4 month preparation time is more than enough time to compile all the necessary medical paperwork, slowly re-familiarize Daisy through positive reenforcement with the travel crate without having to rush things. That should make for a way less stressful move for Daisy and I.

Family Vacation Day 12

Today was kind of a weird day. I really couldn't motivate myself at all. Most of the day mom and I were hanging out around the house and chatting. The blister on my thumb was still annoying enough that I couldn't motivate myself to do more yard work. For dinner we prepared a mixed salad. While mom was taking her afternoon nap I dealt with the pet relocation paperwork. (More on that see Blog Post 'Pet Relocation - Go-Ahead').

After I was done with that I just chilled out at the house, but I did manage to catch up on most of the 'need to read' emails that had been piling up. For dinner we had some left over 'Grenadiermarsch'. So all in all it was a very laid back day.

Family Vacation Day 11

Today was pretty much all about the weeds. On the one hand the with all the rain that we had this year, the weeds are growing like crazy and the brush clearance deadline (May 1st) is just around the corner. At times it was overcast and then sunny, with a light breeze going and the temperature was rather moderate. That made it a great day for getting yard work done. I spent roughly an hour pulling weeds. I really didn't want mom to pull weeds, as I figured that wouldn't do her back any good. So she spent time walking around and reading.

Later in the afternoon I went back out to pull more weeds. I made quite some progress on the west facing slope. By the time I stopped I realized, that I had a blister on my thumb even with the working gloves. Not quite sure how I managed to do that. But this was a clear indication, that today's weed pulling session had to come to an end.

Later I warmed up some of the left overs for dinner, since Kenny was running late. After dinner mom and I chatted a little before she got ready to go to bed.

Family Vacation Day 10

Today I decided to go back to Vasquez Rocks, since it has been a couple of day since Daisy had been out for a hike. It was slightly overcast and kindaon the cool side, what made for a perfect day to go hiking. My Mom was joining us.I had planned to hike a fairly easy trail on the east side of Vasquez Rocks. We parked on the first parking area and started along Pacific Crest Trail. From here you get a very good look the the main rock of Vasquez Rocks. Again my mom was completely impressed. We were hiking at a quite moderatepace and allowed lots of time to take in the sights and we made it to the picnic area in about 20 minutes. We hung out there for a little, but I figured that we could do a little more hiking the the flat parts of the park.

So we pretty much followed Pacific Crest Trail along the eastern and then along the southern border of the park. My mom was really impressed with the complete size of the park. Hiking with Daisy in the eastern and southern parts of the park, gives you a way better impression of how big that park actually is. On the halfway point to the 'Central Canyon' I decided that it was time to head north and back towards the car. That way we got to hike a little around the main rock feature of Vasquez Rocks. By the time we got back to the car, we had hiked roughly for about 1 1/2 hours.

On our way back to our place we stopped a Sweetwater Farms to pick up some

groceries for lunch. I had planned to have mixed salad. After mom got up from her afternoon nap we headed out to Stater Brothers in Santa Clarita to do some grocery shopping. Mom was quite impressed with the selection and it made also clear why a pickup truck is nice to have when you live in the boonies. For dinner I prepared 'Grenadiermarsch'...at least sort of, since I have modified the recipe a little. I don't cooke and peel the potatoes...I rather peel the potatoes and prepare them as roasted potatoes in the oven. That way they're a little healthier than frying them in a pan. By the time Kenny got home from work, dinner was almost ready. All 3 of us really enjoyed that dinner.

Dentist Appointment

Today I had my dentist appointment. It has been quite some time since I started with that particular dental work...roughly about 3 month. The appointment was at 11 am. I started to get ready around 9 am. Kenny had to drive my since I was going to be under anesthesia while having 2 crowns put in and having root canal work done on another molar. We left around 9.30 and with no traffic we made it to the dentist 45 min. before the appointment. Gave me some time to catch up on text messages and tweets. We walked into the dental office, where I filled out some paperwork and shortly there after I went in for my appointment.

Putting in the 2 crowns went off without a hitch. The root canal however is an different story, as I would find out later. When I was waking up from the anesthesia I remember distinctly someone saying, that they want to talk to my 'escort'... not a clue who said nor what happened after that. I don't recall anything clearly until we were about 2/3 home. When we got home Daisy was completely excited to see me, but I didn't want to get bothered too much. I tried to get comfy in the recliner, but for some reason that didn't quite work. I figured that since I didn't have an tooth extraction I might as well go and sleep off the rest of the anesthesia in the bed. So off to bed I went and I slept till about 4.30. Those 2 1/2 hours of sleep did me really good and I was fit for the rest of the day.

Around 5 pm Kenny left for the Guild read through. I spent the rest of the evening chatting with mom. By the time Kenny got back it was about 11.30 pm. There he told me that the dentist talked to him about the molar, where they were supposed to do root canal work on. Turns out this molar is too damaged and too far gone to successfully perform root canal work and put a crown on it. The only solution is to have that tooth extracted. Why they didn't extract it right away... well, I have absolutely no clue. That what the dentist suggested is to extract the tooth and replace it with a permanent tooth. First of all that's quite an expensive procedure and I won't be doing it in the States. I will be doing it eventually once I'm back in Austria. The second reason is that the implant procedure takes about 6 month to be completed, and I expect to relocate to Austria within the next 4 month. So to make a long story short... this particular molar will be pulled before I get on a plane, as the last thing I need is a throbbing tooth ache during an transcontinental flight.

Family Vacation Day 8

Today the weather at our place was rather overcast and quite chilly. So Mom and I didn't do much at all. We mostly hung out at the house and chatted for quite some time covering quite a lot of different topics. For lunch I prepared a meal consisting of roasted Tofu with Zucchini and Whole Wheat Rotini. Later in the afternoon we chatted some more. Then it was time to get started with the prep work for dinner. I prepared seasoned chicken strips with rice. Turned out quite good. So all in all it was quite an relaxing day.

Family Vacation Day 7

Today was quite a busy day, as my family was preparing to leave on their 10 day round trip. My mom opted to stay with Kenny and I since she didn't want to do that much driving around. My Sis, Bernd, Leonhard & Daniel have planned to visit Lake Isabella, Mojave National Park, Death Valley, Joshua Tree, San Diego and we expect them back by next Thursday or Friday. They had planned to leave early, but somehow they were running late. By 10.30 they had left.

Shortly thereafter Kenny left as well to spend the afternoon visiting with his dad. Since my mom didn't want to do a 2 hour drive to Kenny's dad and I didn't want her to be all alone for a second day in a row I decided to stay home. It was a fun one on one time with my mom and it has been quite a long time since I had the option to do that.

When Kenny got home I heard some bad news about Kenny's dad. He has some fluid build up in his neck. The doctors did blood work and didn't find anything. The cat scan revealed, that there are 2 masses present. I hope it's not cancer, since he had Hodgkin's back in the 90's. They are doing some biopsies and once the results are in we will know more.

Family Vacation Day 6

First thing on the agenda today was the return of the rental car. Kenny and I had only rented it for 1 week and it had to be back at the rental place by 2 pm. Since we had plans to visit Kenny's Mom and Stepdad we had planned on heading over to the car rental place fairly early. Kenny had stomach issues this morning and so I went with Bernd, my Sis & my 2 nephews over to the rental place. My Mom had opted to stay back at the house with Daisy, since she didn't want to do that much traveling with her back. That way there would be someone at the house to take Daisy out and we wouldn't have to be back at the house after about 10 or 11 hours.

We got to the car rental place and Bernd went ahead to deal with the paperwork. Although he had a online reservation for the car it took way longer than you would expect to. Finally they brought the car and Bernd managed to put in the baby seat that we bought on the previous day. We then met up with Kenny at a local gas station. Kenny had taken some medication to sooth his stomach and for the most part it worked.

We then drove with 2 cars to Kenny's Mom in Newport Beach and got there around 12.30. We had some snacks and started to prep the boat, since Kenny's Stepdad had offered to take my family out on the his boat. Kenny and his Mom opted to stay back on land. So only Chuck, my family and I went out to the ocean. We had some decent wind in the harbor, but as soon as we hit the open ocean there was absolutely no wind at all. After some waiting around we opted to head back, but we did see the seals on one of the buoy. After we entered the harbor we had some wind and were tacking back and forth to get back to Kenny's Mom's place. Shortly before we got there something went wrong with one winch of the front sail...and we couldn't roll up that sail. So Chuck ordered my sis and my 2 nephews under deck and we lowered the main sail and took the boat by motor to the dock. Leonhard wasn't a particularly happy camper about that, but I think he understood the reasons for it. On the dock Chuck, Bernd and I finally managed to roll the front sail back up...at least temporarily. While we were doing that Leonhard helped taking out stuff from the boat.

Kenny had already started BBQ and as soon as we were done with the boat it was time for lunch. We had burgers, hot dogs, beans & strawberries. All very yummy. After lunch we hung out a little, while Leonhard tried to catch some fish from the dock. Around 5.30 we headed back home.

All in all it was a great and fun day!!

Family Vacation Day 5

Today Mom and I took it pretty easy. Since her back is still bothering her we didn't do too much. Mostly we hung out at the house and chatted about any different topics. After lunch my sis, Bernd, Leonhard & Daniel went back to Vasquez Rocks for a second time. They spent several ours there and had a blast.

All in all it was a great day and at least for Mom and I it was a very relaxing day as well!

Family Vacation Day 4

Today I planned to take my family out to Devil's Punch Bowl. After Daniel woke up from his nap we headed out to Devil's Punch Bowl and got there around 2.30 pm. For those of you who aren't familiar with Devils Punch Bowl, it's similar to Vasquez Rocks... just upside down. First we walked a little around on the rim of Devil's Punch Bowl. A Park Ranger approached us and provided us with a map...it's the same map that I could have printed outfrom the WebSite. Not a very good map though (scale is too large), but a map after all. We chose the so called 'Loop Trail' as it goes down into Devil's Punch Bowl all the way to the creek and then leads back to the parking area. This trail is a little over 1 mile long. Turns out that a 1 mile long trail for and adult and for an 1 1/2-yearold are two entirely different things.

Right at the beginning we took a little detour to some great rock formations where my Sis with Daniel, Bernd and Leonhard did some exploring of those rocks, while I stayed with my mom on the easier trails. After about 40 minutes or so we walked back to the main trail and

followed it down all the way to the creek. Here we took a longer break. Leonhard and Daniel got enough time to play along the creek and in the creek as well. I was surprised that he wasn't bothered by the cold water...as this water was mostly from the snowmelt in the mountains above. Since we had a really cold and long winter this year we still could see some snow on the mountain tops above Devil's Punch Bowl and that made for some incredible scenery. After Leonard and Daniel were done playing in the creek we continued on

our way back up to the parking lot. We took quite a number of stops to enjoy the incredible scenery. By the time we got back to the car, close to 6 pm, the Park Rangers got ready to close down the Visitors Center.

We headed back to our place and I started getting the sides ready for dinner. I had planned on having roasted potatoes with the the BBQ. around 8 pm Bernd and I managed to

start up the BBQ and grilled Burgers, Salmon and Tuna. Additionally I warmed up refried beans. It was a very yummy meal.

Family Vacation Day 3

Today was a fairly laid back day. After lunch Bernd, Leonhard and I went to Whole Foods to do some grocery shopping. On our way back we stopped at the local Taco Bell for a not particularly healthy snack. For dinner we had left over Pasta Marinara with salad and grilled Tofu.

Of course someone had to bring up the separation between Kenny and I. While it is true that everyone is entitled to their own opinion, it's not the place of my family to question, judge or even comment on my decisions. Taking a few classes spiked with a little pseudo science and a lot of absolute nonsense doesn't entitle someone to make comments on that particular subject. Especially if they don't have they slightest idea what they're actually talking about. That's all I will say about that particular topic. Otherwise I might say something, that I end up regretting at a later point of time.

Family Vacation Day 2

Today I didn't get a super early wake-up call. The first indication that it was morning was a 'singing' cowdog... as Daisy always gets excited when she hear commotion going on in the

house and wants to be part of it. By that time it was about 7.30 am. I managed to stay in bed for another 2 min. or so. I got up, had my morning coffee and watched my 2 nephews play around the house. I got a chance to chat a little with my mom and catch up on things. After lunch Daniel took his nap. Once he got back up we got ready to head out to Vasquez Rocks.

We parked at the lower parking structure and Daisy got to come along as well. First up was a easy hike and some light rock climbing on the eastern part of Vasquez Rocks. Then we crossed the road and checked out parts of the central part of the park. There Bernd and Leonhard scaled some rocks. They both loved scaling the rocks. We then continued on the hike in the central part of Vasquez Rocks. After about 1 1/2 hours we started to head bac

k to the car. At the car Daniel got to play around a little in the sand and 'climb' on some boulders

.

We then headed back, stopped at Sweetwater Farms to pick up ice cream and headed back to the house. Once we got there I started the prep-work for dinner as we were having Penne with Marinara Sauce. Everyone did enjoy the day at Vasquez and the dinner.

Family Vacation Day 1

Today was a fairly laid back day. Daniel woke up at 5.30 am, but I didn't hear him till about 6.15 am. I tried to go back to sleep, but that didn't work out and so I decided to get up around 7 am. Kenny and Bernd went to Enterprise car rental in Valencia, to put my brother-in-law on the rental additional driver. Bernd got back between 9 and 10 am. At that time Daniel went to sleep and I just hung out with my family and got a chance to chat with them. We had left over Pizza for lunch. Once Daniel was up again we went over to Valencia to Whole Foods to do some grocery shopping. We spent quite some time at Whole Foods and grocery shopping with kids is always quite and adventure. Bought a lot of 'healthy' stuff and should be good with groceries for a several meals. On the way back we stopped at a Ralphs to pick up some junk food. After that we went back home.

While driving back Daniel fell asleep in the car. My sis didn't want to wake him up and stayed with him in the car. With 2 doors open the the thermic afternoon winds picking up it was fine. Every member of my family was still dealing with the aftermath of jet lag and they all decided to turn in and take a nap. In such and situation I would have normally spent in front of my iMac to check on my regular computer stuff, but since we use our office currently as bedroom, that wasn't an option. So I Daisy and I hung out in the Master Bedroom and watched some TV. Apparently Daisy and I must have fallen asleep, because Daisy woke me up when she barked at a driving by UPS Truck. Shortly thereafter I got up and so did my brother-in-law. Roughly about 1/2 hour later my mom got up and a short time later my sis came in with Daniel.

Again we hung out and chatted a little. Daisy was doing exceptionally well with Daniel and Leonhard and even allowed Bernd to pet her. I'm very proud how Daisy is doing. On the one hand she will be turning 14 this year and on the other hand shy and reserved towards strangers. But I guess as long as you're kid you can get away with a lot of things. If it gets too much for her, she just walks away.

later we made a vegetarian dinner. Zucchini with roasted Tofu in Tomato sauce. It was quite delicious. Around 8.30 Kenny got back from work. Since he doesn't like veggies he headed out to have dinner at the local Jack in the Box. I forgot to tell him that there was only vegetarian food and that there wasn't much else at home and I felt quite bad about that.

Kenny got back from dinner about40 min. later. Shortly after that my family turned in and Kenny and I went to watch some of our regular TV.

All in all it was a good and fairly relaxing Day!

Picking up Family

Today my family arrived and Kenny and I were going to pick them up at LAX. We got up fairly early and Kenny finished some of the cleaning work that was still left over from yesterday. Around 11 am we started to get ready and headed out to LAX. We figured that it would take use roughly 1 1/2 hours to get there. We didn't take into consideration, that it was Sunday and therefore the traffic was very light. We got to LAX in about 1 hour, parked the car went over to the International Terminal. And then we waited. Their flight from Frankfurt (Germany) arrived on time, but this time they had to go through Immigration and Customs and that took them about 1 1/2 hours.

When they were here 3 years ago they had gone through Immigration and Customs during their lay-over at Chicago. That's why they made it off the flight so quickly. But on the other hand it was fun watching people get out and reuniting with their friends and loved ones. The only downside of the International Terminal at LAX is that the AT&T cellphone connection is absolutely crappy.

Finally they made it out of the terminal. I couldn't believe how big Leonhard has gotten and it was the first time that I saw my second nephew Daniel. After a bathroom break we went over to the car, packed everyone up and started to head north to our place. Of course there was quite some traffic between LAX and the Sunset exit of the 405. Other than that traffic was quite light and we made it back to our house in about 1 1/2 hours. We showed off our house and the land we own and like so many people before them my family was impressed with the house and the size of the land.

After that my mom took a nap and didn't wake up till about midnight. The rest of my family had an early dinner. We ordered 2 medium sized Pizza's from the Pizzeria in Agua Dulce. After dinner my family turned in quite early and Kenny and I returned to parts of our regular TV for Sunday.

House Cleaning

After Kenny had finished podcasting we went out to Valencia to pick up the rental car, since my family will be flying in tomorrow from Austria. We had reserved the car the previous day. It amazes me each time how much paperwork is involved, especially considering that we had already done the reservation of the care the previous day. In Harry's perfect world that would be as simple as clicking 'Print'. Guess we're not quite there yet.

After lunch Kenny and I started cleaning to house from top to bottom. It took several hours and turns out that we pretty much ended up doing spring cleaning for the entire house. Now everything looks nice and pretty. I also opted to get my hair cut on that particular day, as I was getting tired of the 'Albert Einstein' look. Once the majority of the house was done we started dealing with the laundry...and by the time the last piece of laundry was dry it was about 2 am. By the time I went to bed my family was south of Iceland...at least according to one of the online flight trackers.

Dog Relocation Prep Work

Today I took the time to talk to 2 Pet-Relocation companies. Trying to work that out via email didn't work out that well.

That what I got out of the first company didn't particularly satisfy me. That so called 'Relocation Specialist' doesn't know much more about relocation than I did. Even during the phone call with the woman I still had the distinct impression that the dog would be treated pretty much as a piece of cargo... and that's just not good enough!! When I asked her for how long the dog was going to be stuck in the travel crate, I got a very interesting answer: "We will try our best that the travel time doesn't exceed 12 hours at a time". But she couldn't guarantee me that. That pretty much mad any further conversation a waste of time.

So I called the 'Relocation Specialist' from the 2nd company. That's the company that I had planned on choosing to begin with. That guy was absolutely knowledgeable. I was truly impressed. I've spent quite some time researching pet-relocation to Austria. But that guy was able to answer all my questions regarding timeframe, paperwork and regulations. He also told me that he wasn't entirely sure if the Austrian Authorities can scan Daisy's 9-digit microchip, but told me that he would talk to the authorities and let me know when he emails the paperwork and timetable to me, within the next few days.

He told me that there are only about 4 or 5 airlines that they work with. (Having done my 'research homework' I knew that those airlines had a very good reputation when it comes to relocating pets.) Each single airline has a designated pet safety program in place. In essence that means that the dog is not being checked as 'cargo'. She is being shipped supervised in a compartment, that has the same temperature and pressure as the passenger cabin. Besides that they make sure that the dog isn't locked in he travel crate for more than 10 hours. During the layover Daisy will have enough time to hang out in the 'Doggie Lounge'. While I was on the phone with him he could tell me exactly how long the layover for a specific travel date would be and the approximate time I can expect Daisy to be delivered to my parents house. That's definitely impressive!! OK, on the downside choosing this company will cost me about 700 to 800 bucks more, but considering that this way the relocation for Daisy will be less stressful, that's money well spent!!