Stalzer/Obele Family Blog

I am going to switch to english again in this category as we have some non-german and non-spanish speakers reading the blog.

Now, as a father with kids watching National Geographic TV, all the wilderness series and shows, you have to deal at some point with the question “Dad, why don’t we do a vacation trip like this ???” Well, you have to give your kids answers…. and sometimes you have to do something.

A little background about the Stalzer family reveals that every Stalzer male for the past 5 generations was and is a passionate fishermen. I remember as a kid going out with my grandfather just to catch some of the slippery inhabitants of local rivers. (Well later on, I just loved to ride his “Quickly!” motorbike to the fishing grounds, but that is another story)

When we were living in Vermont, my dad went a couple times to a wilderness ressort in Maine at Lake Katahdin.(Link: http://katahdinlakewildernesscamps.com/)

So when the question of the boys came up on “when are we going on a trip like that??”, my dad and I came up with the same answer - “This year – to Maine”

Thanks to the Internet, it was easy to find the lodge and to contact the owner (Her name is Holly – you can reach her at: truenorth@katahdinlakewildernesscamps.com

) who made the reservations and answered a ton of questions on what to bring, what to expect,….

Today in the morning, I made the deposit and we are good to go. A lot of planing is still to do but looking forward to a great holiday is 50% of the vacation – It’s going to be great !!

Like every year we are finally getting ready for our holidays. Saturday still feels as if it is years away…. - I guess once I really start packing I will regret it and would wish there were a couple more days available to finish the job.

Again this year we visit Orlando but this time with Roger & Kati (the boys’ grand parents) and Thomas’ sister Gabi. Felix and Max are super excited. They want to show everything they already know to Roger, Kati and Gabi.

Another guest that will accompany us on this trip is Barbara Bear. Barbara Bear is a teddy bear which belongs to the boys’ school. The children are encouraged to take Barbara Bear or Barnaby Bear with them on trips. The reports they write about their trips are part of the Geography lessons. There is a big map before the headmasters office which shows were in the world the bears currently are and where they have been. Usually there are postcards and pictures from the last trips the bears have made. Felix and Max are very excited to be allowed to take Barbara Bear with them and they are already planning what they want to show to Barbara.

Again this year we will stay in Susan & Alans wonderful vacation villa in Calabay Park. Here is a link to their new website: http://www.floridavillas360.com/. We love that house and the boys have already scheduled Air Hockey matches upon our arrival.

Every morning I check the forecasted weather reports for Orlando. For our arrival the temperature is forecast to be around 24 degrees Celsius - just perfect.

About three months ago, Antonio called my and said: “Thomas, what to do you think about a trip to Spitzbergen. I really want to go.” Unfortunately, I cann’t accompany him, as we are in the “hot phase” in some of our projects right now.

The past weeks, Antonio spent on finding the right survival equipment, like survival suits (the seawater up there is cold as in “really cold” - If he has to ditch, the water would not be survivable without these suits), a liferaft and other emergency stuff.

Also, two weeks ago, at the 50 hour inspection, we added oil with an extended temperature range, made sure, that the heating is working. Antonio also ordered some alcohol for the fuel, so it maintains its viscosity.

All in all, I think they are well prepared. (5 P’s - proper preparation prevents poor performance)

So, tomorrow is the big day. Tomorrow morning, Antonio and two friends will pack the Cessna (actually, they started packing already) and they will leave direction north.

Antonio plans to be enroute for 10 days and will return on the 19th. Their planned route is going to be from Son Bonet (LESB) to Frankfurt/Hahn (EDFH), then on to Kristiansand Kjevik (ENCN) on to Brønnøy (ENBN) and then to Hammerfest (Nordkap) (ENHF) in Norway. From their, they plan to make the crossing over to Svalbard in Spitzbergen. The airport is on Longyearben (ENSB).

I created a route for  Google Earth of the trip. The file may be downloaded here.

The “Fundació Aeronàutica Mallorquina” is also covering the trip.

Good luck and and have a safe and nice trip. We are looking forward for to the photos and the stories of the trip.

In den vergangenen Jahren zog die Spargelsaison klanglos an uns vorbei. Normalerweise erhält man hier in Spanien nicht den weissen Spargel sondern nur grünen Spargel. Der ist kräftiger und hat einen leicht nussigen Geschmack. Wir mögen grünen Spargel sehr, aber mal wieder weisser Spargel wäre auch eine feine Sache.

Da können wir uns aber auf Domingos SuperDeli in Inca verlassen. Dort gab es nämlich traumhaft schönen deutschen Spargel. Domingo überzeugte uns noch davon, eine Sauce Hollandaise mitzunehmen und das Festmahl konnte beginnen.

Der Spargel war super saftig und zart - einfach gigantisch!

Today we spent a quiet day at home and had lots of fun.

The weather was - as always - perfect and we decided to stay at home. In the morning we, that means the boys, finished their homework. As a treat and because it was quite hot outside we went into the pool.

First the guys played pirates (the inflatable air mattress was the pirate ship), then they were attacked by a dangerous blue whale and at last there was an incredible water gunfight going on (Max had the pump gun and used it very well). A big thanks to Susan and Allen (the owners of this gorgeous villa) and former visitors for the great toys.

Then we went shopping. This time the guys were excited as we tried to get a ball and a frisbee.

Calabay Park has a nice playground for children and we wanted to spend some time there. Yes - we really walked there (it is only a couple streets from Plumoso Loop) - walking pedestrians are almost extinct.

The boys found the swings right away and played that they were flying off into space.

Then we played something like volleyball and Max tried out the slides.

And soon Thomas could not resist - he had to try it too.

Felix found a huge ant-hill. It took us quite some time to convince the guys to go back to the villa. For dinner we wanted to order pizza from Dominos and while we waited Thomas finished his version of "Closed Circuit" (in German the move is "Nummer Fünf lebt").

As we went through another day it seems as if time is accelerating right now. Only two more days. Monday evening we are on our long way back to Germany. It for sure was a wonderful time.

This morning we decided to take it easy. Thomas and I were up late last night to finish some work and we were glad we did not have to get up early. After everybody got up (of course Felix rose early) we checked the pool temperature - just perfect. This meant that we had to get into the pool.

While the fresh croissants and huge cinnamon rolls baked in the oven we jumped in the pool and had lots of fun. No - Thomas is not drinking a beer, he enjoys his hazelnut coffee in the Jacuzzi.

After the fun in the pool and breakfast the boys had some homework to finish. Then we decided to go to Disney Marketplace and rent a boat.

We got life jackets and after boarding our boat (?? what do you say when you enter a boat ??) skipper Thomas maneuvered us out the the port. Sorry, there was no waterkiing…

The boys could not wait - they also had to try to steer  - this was fun.

I enjoyed the sun and my three skippers did the rest.

After we got back from the lake we walked around in Disney Marketplace and then went home. On the way home we had to stop at the "Cracker Barrel Old Country Store". This is a fun store. Without my two "patient shoppers" I could have spent quite some time there. I will have to go back - they have the perfect gift for my sister Renate (sorry can’t say because she reads the blog too).

When we got home, we had to decide what to do for dinner. The boys did not want to go shopping (… too boring…). So todays options for dinner were Japanese Hibachi style restaurant or Black Angus.

As you can see, we decided to eat steak. This was a dinner which grandma Kati would have really liked. The steaks at Black Angus were terrific.

Now we are full and tired but very happy and grateful that we were able to enjoy another wonderful day together.

After a quiet day yesterday with lots of homework, puzzling, computer work and doing nothing, we decided that we wanted to visit Epcot today.

When we got up in the morning the weather did not look too promising.

After a while it started raining really hard. So we played some Air Hockey and then Max did some more homework while Felix played Pool with Dad.

At around 11 am the  weather looked a lot better so we decided to give Epcot a try. I love Epcot because there are so many things to explore and discover.

First we stopped at Nemo and friends. The first ride "Finding Nemo" was a smooth ride which basically tells the Nemo story.

Then we had to go to the boys all time favorite "Turtle Talk with Crush". This is a super show where Crush the turtle talks with the audience, especially the "Little Dudes". During this show a little boy asked Crush: "Are you a real turtle?" It is made so real that you could easily forget that this is "only" an animated figure.

Then we walked through the huge aquarium at Epcot with sharks, dolphins, and even a huge sea turtle.

Felix and Max were all excited to explore the different sea creatures. According to them we could have stayed in this part of the park for the entire day.

Then we went around the world; i.e. the "World Showcase". It contains pavilions representing eleven countries.

So we went through a pyramid in Mexico directly to Norway.

The the weather got quite windy and even a few raindrops fell from the sky so we decided to quickly continue our tour around the world without too many stops. To the boys disappointment the outside model railway was currently renovated and could not be seen.

We stopped somewhere near England for two large Lattes and some pastries. The weather did not look much better but at least it did not rain.

To be able to talk more about racing with Wolfgang we had to go on the Test Track. The waiting area is very interesting. There are so many things to observe while you wait. The test drive was great. Although Max was not so sure he would like it, after the ride he was thrilled (and very high on adrenalin).

After the Test Drive you exited into a car exhibition with many great cars (toys for the big boys).

The boys entered every car and tested how you sat in it. Max even tried the driver seat.

Then we tried to get on Mission Space (a simulated space mission) but last minute panic prevented our space flight (Maxi suddenly needed to go to the restroom; Felix and Dad wanted to continue, but Felix decided to stay on earth at the last moment) - well maybe some other time. In a couple of years we probably don’t get them out of scary roller coasters and other fast scary things… :-).

On the way out we saw some interesting floor lighting (it seemed they used fiberglass to produce a sparkling effect on the floor tiles).

The guys worked up quite some appetite and did not seem have the patience to endure shopping and later cooking so we went to Dennys on the way home. We all had Cheeseburgers and Max enjoyed each and every piece of his french fries.

This was an interesting day that we enjoyed very much despite the windy, cool weather.

On February 6, 2008 was my birthday. I turned 5 years old. This was very exiting.

When I woke up and wanted to go downstairs, the was a Happy Birthday banner outside of our bedroom. When I got downstairs there were balloons everywhere.

A short while after I was up Dad joint us. He had promised to help me build the Lego race car. This was quite some work but we did it. I have a great fast race car that can catapult through a turning ring of fire (of course there is no fire, but it looks almost real).

As this was my birthday I could decide what we should do. First I wanted to go into the pool. This was wonderful. Then we had breakfast.

I decided that we should go to Magic Kingdom. I still remembered that there was a roller coaster (Goofys barnstomer) which we were allowed to use (all the really big, scary roller coasters have height restrictions that Felix and I do not meet).

It was a terrific day at Disney. A lot of people wished me a Happy Birthday. They knew this, because I had a big birthday button on my t-shirt.

At home waited a real surprise for all of us. There was a big birthday cake on the living room table with a nice birthday card. Mom told me that this was from Susan and Alan, the owners of this beautiful house.

Thank you very much, Susan and Alan, this was a super surprise. I also love the card it was from Woody, a character of my favorite movie "Toy Story". The cake was delicious.

This was a super birthday, but I was a little bit sad, that my grandma and grandpa and my aunt Gabi und aunt Renate could not be with us.

Today we decided to visit Gatorland. It is a nice park which really has quite some areas to walk. After breakfast we prepared everything; i.e. lots of Gatorade, small water bottles, and, and, and even more…

During that time Felix and Max watched some cartoons. When it was time to get dressed both of them did not want to go. Felix was a little tired (he got up early) and wanted to stay home and do nothing. This was soon forgotten and finally we were on our way… 

When we arrived at Gatorland - it looked closed. There was construction work going on and we thought "oh no…", but a little bit to the side stood a small sign that said "Entrance". The parking lot was almost empty (compared to the giant parking spaces in Disney).

There was a temporary entrance  without any lines (… this was heaven - finally some place that was not so packed!!). When Max saw the picture on the wall he got the idea to pose as if he was holding that big parrot.

Felix immediately caught on and decided to pose as if he was petting an alligator.

It was unbelievable - no large crowds - simply wonderful for a change. Our two wildlife explorers had plenty of opportunities to get close to all kinds of animals.

Well, we did not get too close to Chester the "Big Dog Eater". This guy Chester is quite huge.

Then we passed a display of Florida snakes. Felix and Max very excited and could even name some of them.

I prefer the parrots to the snakes or the many fish.

Then we watched "Gator Jumparoo". This was a funny show with a show host and two "Hillbilly" guys. One guy always talked about his "uncle daddy".

After you see this you do not lean over the fences any more - very scary.

Then some more "nice" friendly animals.

We also found a playground with slides which the boys had to test immediately before we went exploring.

The signs were not very reassuring.

We had a great time - so many things to discover. It is a nice area with many animals…

… and of course even more gators.

There is an observation tower which allowed us to get a perfect view of the wild life in and around the lake.

Plenty of all kinds of birds and even big turtle.

Wonderful and peaceful.

After our walk through that wonderful exploration trail we decided to ride the train around the premises.

The train is really slow and allows passengers to enjoy the surrounding.

Then we went to a "Up Close Encounters" show.

There were scorpions, snakes, and other creepy, crawly things - thank goodness they did not pick us to help.

Some more walking and of course another round through the playground before we started for the exit.

After exiting the park we drove over to a Target Super store. Felix and Max finally got their sandals and we stocked up on toothpaste (I love Arms&Hammer), hazelnut coffee and many other things. We stopped again at Publix to get food for the hungry explorers (guess what I got).

We needed a quick fruit snack before we enjoyed the pool. But after that we worked up quite some appetite.

This was a wonderful day with excellent weather (sunny, dry with a nice breeze).

Today we decided to stay away from large crowds and even longer waiting lines (the Shuttle launch was just too much). So after we got up in the morning we went for long swim and some time in the Jacuzzi and then had an excellent brunch.

The boys played air hockey, Lego, more air hockey, did some homework while we finally sat down and finished the blog entries of the last days.

In the afternoon we decided to go hunting for dinner. Felix and Max wanted potato skins and - who can guess - I wanted sushi. Thomas had not decided yet - he said he would decide once we were at the store.

At home we could not find sandals for the boys - so we thought Super Walmart (which is not too far away from Calabay Parc) is a good target. I like shopping at Walmart - there is so much stuff to discover and they do have great bargins. For example I found two sweatshirts for Felix and Max, for $ 1 each, a Scrabble (we only have a German game at home and this does not work well for English words), some Early Learner books for the boys, and, and, and,… We got everything except sandals (they only had girls shoes or baby shoes nothing for really cool young men.

We discovered this Walmart now also has a good Sushi selection and decided to buy everything for our dinner here instead of stopping again at Publix.

At home we immediately prepared our dinner. Then I puzzled a bit with the guys while Thomas was playing with his new toy (… he should really write about this…).

At the vacation villa is also a nice collection of movies and we decided to watch Antz together. I have to say that at 9:30 pm when the boys went to bed I wanted to also go to sleep. I survived another hour but after 11pm I could not keep my eyes open any longer.

This was a nice, very relaxing day which we enjoyed very much.

While the guys are playing air hockey I am going to write down some of the adventures we experienced on Maxis birthday.
As usual Felix was the first one who got up. He was very quiet and did some reading homework by himself because Maxi had asked Felix the night before that he would wish as a birthday present that Felix will not wake him up in the morning. Thank you Felix.
Well it would not have been necessary as Maxi got up shortly after Felix. He was all excited because Thomas had promised him that they would build his Lego race car together.

So the three guys had a great time building race cars, taking about fast driving, (women?), and how to make the world a better place…
I enjoyed some quiet time. When I heard that they were finishing their construction I took some pictures.
It is quite impressive what they achieved as the Lego model is quite complex. Max proudly demonstrated how the race car is driving through a loop that is moving and looks like it is on fire.
The next wish Max had was to go into the pool. Everyone liked this. The pool was really nicely warm (this pool cover does work) and we had lots of fun. While we played in the pool, Thomas started the cinnamon rolls and fresh croissants.
Soon the cinnamon and the fresh croissants smelled really great and everyone realized that they were really hungry.

We sang Happy Birthday which hopefully nobody heard and enjoyed a wonderful birthday breakfast. Max could decided to which Disney Park he would want to go and the decided for Magic Kingdom (Felix tried to convince Max that this was a bad idea, but if Max made a decision we cannot normally be persuaded to change it).

So we finally got on the way to experience a great day at Magic Kingdom. The picture on the right is for "thank God we have two boys - there was a very cranky little princess next to us).

At the ticket booth Max got a "Birthday Pin" which he proudly wore and Felix was appointed "Honorary Citizen" of Disney (have a look at http://disneyworld.disney.go.com/wdw/parks/parkLanding?id=MKLandingPage
Then came Thomas favorite - the monorail ride.

We had a really great time. First, we started climb into Robinson’s Treehouse,

then we tried Aladin’s Flying Carpet

Then we went on to the Enchanted Tiki Room. First Felix was not so sure whether he should like it or not (Felix does not like really loud noises), but he soon realized that this was a nice show.

After that we went to Tom Sawyer and Huckelberry Fins island on a raft.

There were lots of things to explore and discover on this island. Felix discovered that the spelling was all wrong and commented that Tom Sawyer would not get any stars from his teacher Ms. Carolyn (if you click on the pictures you can view them in normal size and might be able to read them)

Our next stop was at the Bears Jamboree Show.

Then, of course, we joined the Pirates of the Carribean (it was too dark - we could not make any pictures).
After that, the guys remembered that there was Goofys Barnstormer - a great roller coaster that the smaller ones will also enjoy. On our way over to Goofys Barnstormer we watched the Tomorrowland Indy Speedway and decided to try this later. After the roller coaster ride you could see the adrenalin pumping through the boys system. Felix could not wait to try out driving, so we got in line for the Indy Speedway. Felix and Thomas rode together and I had "Racing Mad Birthday Max" - what an experience.

The steering was strange and at first Max was quite busy trying to stay in the line.

When we got out there was a lot more adrenalin circling through the guys system.
With that much self-confidence we felt it was time to go to infinity and beyond and free the universe of the evil emperor Zorg - yes, we went zapping aliens for BuzzLightyear. Thomas and Max always get an amazing high score - I have no idea how they do it - Max is a lot better than Felix and I.
In the end we went for a last ride in Goofeys Barnstormer.
Back at home waited quite a surprise for us - a delicious birthday cake from Susan and Alan. Thank you so much - this was terrific (and very delicious).

Max wanted to start with the cake right away, but Thomas could convince him that maybe he should first enjoy the steak he wished for and then have the cake as dessert.

Everybody helped and soon we sat down to have Maxis Birthday Dinner - at that time we were quite hungry. Felix and Max made sure to not eat too much. They wanted to have some space left for the birthday cake.

We could hardly move after we were finished. Our feet hurt from walking all day in the park and now also our stomachs felt as if they would explode.
We quickly cleaned up and I started preparing to put things together for the next day - the Spaceshuttle Launch. We had to get up at 5:45 am and leave by car no later than 6:30 am. Our launch package explicitly defined that we must arrive no later than 8 am.
Max enjoyed being the center of attention - we all had a great day.

Today was Maxis 5th birthday. We spend a wonderful time together. Pool, breakfast, Magic Kingdom, excellent dinner - surprise birthday cake (thanks to Susan and Alan), and, and, and…
Now we are all exhausted, Felix and the birthday boy actually fell into bed and were fast asleep when I came back up to their room to pick out some clothes for tomorrow.
We will report about everything we did today in detail tomorrow, hopefully after the Shuttle Launch. Tomorrow we need to get up really, really early as we have to be at Kennedy Space Center at 8 am (for a Launch scheduled at 2:45pm ?!?).

In the late afternoon we went to Disney Marketplace. The boys wanted to try out the back seats of the Jeep.

Behind the driver there are actually two rows of seats and, after having tried the real backseats the boys wanted to try out the very last row.

After we arrived at Disney Marketplace the first stop was at the Lego shop. Max was allowed to pick out something for his birthday and Felix also wanted something small.

After several rounds through the shop we decided to first look at some of the other shops.
On the way to Virgin Records is the Harley Store.

Aunt Gabi would be proud of her two nephews: Max climed - all be himself - on this beautiful Harley.

Then Felix tried it out and also Thomas could not resist.

Max was already trying to familiarize himself with the bike and asked Thomas all sort of questions - how do you go fast, what is that thing for, …

After that the guys found a race car and all three were excited.
We had a special order request from two dear friends in Swizerland (hi Peter and Mike) - we should try and find all dvds we could find from the "Odd Couple". At Virgin Records this is pretty easy. They actually had 5 DVDs - movie and series - Peter and Mike should be in heaven.
After that exhausting hunt, we had two pretty jetlagged guys and decided to stop for a coffee and some lemonade.

Back at the Logo shop, Max found a great Lego race car and Felix picked out a helicopter.

Then we finally went home for some real shopping (= get Sushi). On the way out Felix and Max had to try out a water game with Stich.

When we left the parking lot we actually saw a Segway - Thomas tried one of those last year in Epcot.
Some shopping and some cooking and we finally could sit down and have some excellent salat. Felix and Max ordered Dad’s famous "Chicken in Peanutbutter sauce with Pasta" and I j
ust wanted SUSHI. Ah, finally - it was delicious!!!

Felix and Max were very tired and wanted to go to bed. Thomas and I were also tired, but we wanted to prepare some deco for Maxis birthday tomorrow. Thanks to Susan and Allan, the owners of this wonderful villa, there was a machine for inflating water toys - which also worked well for balloons.

It was well past midnight when Thomas and I finally went to bed - happy, but quite tired after a wonderful first vacation day.

First thing after arriving, was a thorough expedition throughout the house

A couple minutes later, we all fell into the beds and slept like babies.

Felix our early bird got up at 7:30 am, then Max got up and a bit later we all woke up. While the boys decided to watch some cartoons I started unpacking.
Then we all met for an morning snack with a class of orange juice - thanks to the welcome package that had been provided for us here at the house. Then we decided to open the patio doors and have a look around outside.
Thomas carefully ckecked the pool temperature and, … yes, yes, yes, it was warm. First, we put just our feet in, but it was pretty clear, that sooner or later one of the boys would “accidentally” fall in, so we decided to quickly change into our bathing suits. Thomas removed the pool cover (we need this at home as well it really helps to hold the temperature). It was heaven, the whole family together, warm pool and jacuzzi and vacations… this must be paradise.

 
We spent over an hour in the pool and jacuzzi and had lots of fun. But we also started to feel hungry. Therefor we decided to quickly shower and get ready - not so easy with 4 people, but at 10:30 Uhr we finally started. The boys admired, once again, the huge jeep they had chosen.
Then it was shopping time at Publix - wonderful. I fully agree that it is not a good idea to go shopping with an empty stomach - everything looks great.
But when we sat down over an hour later with fresh ground hazelnut coffee, orange and cranberry juice, baggles with creme cheese, English muffins, pastrami, cheese, jam, peanutbutter, … it was great.
We decided to have a look at our eMails and update the blog - what I am doing right now.

Well another coffee, some more blogging while the boys work in their own office.
They are all excited to discover the wildlife - Felix has been bitten by a lizzard already, Max sees eagles (I think these are some bird of prey).
This afternoon we want to visit Disneys Market Place - tomorrow is Maxis birthday and he can wanted select a birthday present from the Lego store there.
Well, stayed tuned - we will continue to report from our wonderful vacation time.

I just visited the Nasa Site and the countdown is still on. The technicians seem to have found a way to deal with the bent cooling system hose - we sure cross our fingers.
But, not just at Kennedy Space Center is the coundown down to 5 days hh hours mm minutes and ss seconds - we are down at 1 day 1 hours 30 minutes and a couple of seconds before we should have lift-off - kreisch!!!!
The chaos is perfect, while Thomas and I are still stiting in front of our computers happily hacking along, the washing machine works overtime, suitcases and piles of clothes stack up everywhere and the boys are laughing in front of the TV (they watch Ducktales right now - I love that Scottish accent of Mr. McDuck - too bad they don’t have something like that in German).
Yesterday we planned to go to bed early to be well rested for the chaos to come - well, we finally went to bed at 3 am. Domingo, our neighbour came by and we talked, and talked, and talked,…
So, I guess another Latte Macchiato is in order, then the washing load has to be moved to the dryer, I need to get one more suitecase from the basement, I should pack the car seats for the boys, …
But Monday evening I will be able to have Sushi - this is kind of like my mantra that keeps me going.
The Publix supermarked that is close to where we stay has fresh (!!!!) sushi (at least it did last year) and I am very much looking forward to that. Felix is excited about those huge jars of peanutbutter and Max is lookking forward to his Gatorade and freshly made croissants and cinnamonrolls in the morning…
I just asked Thomas - on list favorite list are Hazelnut coffee and fresh croissant in the morning, a cold Corona in the evening after a day in the parks.