We were back to our busy schedule after Scott's Confirmation. Thanks again to Mark and Linda for traveling here from Indy for his big event.

Hot Air Balloon Festival/Preakness

 Salute to Wounded Warriors(too much wind)

 Water Country USA with Allison and Scott

Scott and I spent the Preakness weekend helping with the Hot Air Balloon festival at our local country club. The Preakness was the second horse race following the Kentucky Derby held here in Baltimore. For the past few years, Scott and I have volunteered to assist with managing the balloons out on the golf course for the festival. We help unroll the balloons and then hold onto them while they are being blown up. Some take off and some stay behind to light up at night. We helped out on Thursday and Friday night before the race. Thursday I dropped SCott off as the balloons were taking off in the evening so I could go pick up my parents. I was able to get mom to the event, just in time to watch the balloons glow. On Friday night it was too windy to put up any balloons. Instead, Scott's boy scout troop participated in a salute to the Wounded Warriors with a flag ceremony. They were supposed to have balloon rides for the soldiers, but they had to wait until Saturday morning. So we got off easy this year.

On the day of the race, Tom and I headed off to Salisbury to help Allison start packing up her dorm room. We took her out to dinner and then headed back so she could get back to studying for finals. We enjoyed listening to the stormy horse race at Pimlico on the radio on the drive back. Looks like the Kentucky Derby winner, American Pharaoh won and will go on to the Belmont stakes in New York to attempt a Triple Crown.

  Last Sunday, Tom and I spent the afternoon at my parents apt. Tom set up a small desk to put a tv on for Dad's apt. Comcast had hooked it up during the week. We also picked up a small cubicle dresser for mom and I helped her reorganize her undergarments in small bins as well as rehang clothes in the extra closet since she has some extra space. Afterwards we took my mom out to dinner. We had to run out though and pick up Scott who was at Orientation for his new job.

Finally, I was able to contact the manager at the Sports Club to get Scott on the schedule. I think they forgot about him. Everything is computerized now and he was not put into the system. So they went and put Scott on the work schedule before he attended orientation. Then they scheduled him for night shifts, but he is not old enough. So after some rearranging, he is back on track. But he won't actually be going in to work for a couple of weeks. The roller rink slows down during the summer, so this is a good time to get started with a new job.

Last week, Allison finished her finals and packed up the last of her stuff and headed home for the summer. Unfortunately, she spent her last few days at school sick with some type of respiratory illness with a fever. It made it difficult to study, take tests or pack up the rest of her dorm room. But she managed to do well and make it home. Now she is busy getting ready to go off to work for the summer as a counselor at Girl SCout camp.

Tom was also off for a quick work week in LA. Sorry he did not have time to stop in and visit Mike B. He has been so busy and has several more trips scheduled in the next few weeks.

We did steal him and the rest of the family over Memorial Day Weekend though for a quick trip down to Busch GArdens in Williamsburg. On Friday night, Tom and Scott first headed over to our local National Veterans Cemetery to place flags at each of the soldiers gravestones with the Boy Scout troop. They have been doing this event for many years now. We left very early on Saturday to arrive when Busch Gardens opened(and to try and beat the traffic). Cookie stayed back at our friends house so we dropped her off on Friday night. I also spent Friday visiting with my parents and working on some business matters with my mom plus running errands. On Saturday we spent the day at the amusement park. We enjoyed eating our way through the park as they opened up their Food and Wine Festival. EAch section of the park has small booths set up with food items from around the world. We even picked up a small painting from a local artist for Allison to add to her beach collection for Salisbury U. We had fun talking to the artist while they hunted down Allison's painting that got lost on its way to package pick up. Turns out the artist, Carol Lee, sold paintings to Jack Hanna, spokesperson for Busch Gardens  and she was starting a line of tshirts with her prints. We were one of the first to see her new shirts. I told her to ask Busch Gardens to sell her paintings in Tampa. She said they were sending a rep. to look at them on Sunday and that she had never been there before. I think she should hire us as her sales rep! Since we hit all the rides and food booths early, we headed out to catch the Tomorrowland movie. The kids did not want to see it, but were pleasantly surprised. We figured it had to be good with George Clooney in it. On Sunday we hit the water park(early). The kids and I enjoyed all the big water rides in the morning, although it was a bit chilly. After lunch and another quick swim, we were headed back home-just when the water park was filling up.

I needed to get back home since I worked on Memorial Day. Tom and the kids stayed home and cleaned and cooked so we could have our neighbors over for dinner that night. We were catching up with all the goings ons.  School is coming to an end, although our county had to extend until the 19th of June to make up our snow and ice days. Scott is wrapping up the end of his Freshman year. He has signed up to volunteer to run a Robotics Summer camp with his High SChool Robotics team. He actually laid out the entire camp for his group since he has participated in several Lego classes himself. He also enjoyed an end of the year party with his High School video club and was inducted in as the new President of the club starting next year! And we finally hooked up with a Boy Scout merit badge counselor so he can finish his Personal Fitness badge(we had trouble connecting with the last counselor). It takes 3 months to complete the requirements, so this has been agony!

In other school news,  our neighbor's daughter graduated from Towson University in Psychology. She is headed to grad school.

Congratulations goes out to our niece, Sarah Bozyk who graduated from LSU with a degree in Environmental Engineering. Way to go Sarah!

And Happy Birthday to Stacey Seitz who celebrated on the 17th of May!  Congrats also on her big running event that she participated in to raise money for her hospital in Indy.

Hope you all had a wonderful Mother's Day! We had a very busy weekend in Maryland.

Last Saturday, Scott finally completed his Confirmation! We were very happy to have Tom's brother Mark and his wife, Linda travel from Indiana to participate in the ceremony. Mark was Scott's sponsor-a wonderful choice as he is also Scott's Godfather. They arrived on Friday afternoon-and on Mark's birthday! Naturally, we all went out to dinner. I say all-Allison drove home from school on Friday afternoon also. When she got home we went to celebrate Mark's Bday at a local Mexican restaurant. Complete with a birthday sombrero! Afterwards, Mark and Scott had Confirmation rehearsal. It gave me a chance to go out and get a haircut. I tried to run out in the morning, but I was busy meeting with the broker to discuss my parent's business, along with ours. Looks like we could all use some financial help. And weekends have been busy around here with all he proms and soon graduations.

Saturday morning we were all up early for the ceremony. Gma and Gpa Bozyk decided to sit this one out(too early). Mark and Scott had to line up at church around 915 and we arrived shortly after. The service was quite nice with 40 kids in attendance being confirmed. We finished around noon and came home for lunch. Since we had out of town guests, we decided to do some sight seeing. We decided to avoid the outside activities for those with bad allergies and headed  to one of the Smithsonian Air and Space museums near the Dulles airport. We were shocked to see the museum parking was closed due to full capacity. Which probably meant the museum was filled to capacity! Rather than fight the crowds, we decided to stop into Tyson's Corner mall and catch the new Avengers movie which was a lot of fun. In the evening, we all went out to dinner at Maggiones Italian restaurant to celebrate Scott's big day.

Mark and Linda were up early on Mother's Day and headed out on the road back to Indy. Our family enjoyed a Mother's Day brunch with my parents at their place and afterwards took a short walk over to a local custard/ice cream shop for a special treat. Afterwards, Allison headed back to school while I spent time visiting with my parents on Dad's new floor. On Thursday, I had joined my parents for an early Mother's Day dinner on Dad's floor. So double the partying for me and my parents! I also had a shorter work week as I attended a dementia class on Thursday.

We continue to run around with lots of other activities on the back burner. Scott was busy preparing for his upcoming Balloon festival at Boy Scouts-they actually bring a hot air balloon to an empty lot near our house for everyone to practice rolling in and out of the bag and then inflating and deflating. We are looking forward to the upcoming Balloon festival for the Preakness horse race. Scott and I have volunteered as part of the chase team for the past several years.

So again, Thanks so much to Mark and Linda for taking the time out of their busy family schedule and traveling to Maryland to be a huge part of Scott's special day! And Happy Birthday Mark!

And I hope you all enjoyed your Mother's Day weekend!

Mark S Birthday Celebration

 Happy Mother's Day

 ArchBishop William Lori/Scott and Mark Seitz Confirmation Day

 Mark, Scott and Linda

 St George-Scott's Patron Saint(of Boy Scouts) aka English knight that killed a dragon to save a princess

 Seitz Family/Confirmation Day

So Dad has been settled into a new apartment on the locked memory unit on the 3rd floor. He has a very nice apt at the end of the hall with a big window looking out onto the front of the facility.

I really like their memory unit. It is a big cozier-smaller gathering places and many of them(sitting areas with tvs, dining areas, work areas with memory spaces scattered throughout. The memory spaces have items that the residents can touch and handle like a wedding display, an infant crib with infant clothes and dolls, a sewing machine, jewelry and jewelry boxes. Just items throughout the unit that help with memories. I have not looked at all of them yet. And there is a very nice outdoor patio with lots of tables and chairs and huge pots for gardening activities. Also hummingbird feeders.

So mom fluctuates back on forth on liking the idea of Dad having his own space and then crying hysterically because he has been taken from her. And she hates everyone in Maryland and she hates Maryland and she gets mad at me and then I am wonderful. She is a roller coaster of emotions. She calls everyday to see if I can get Dad back in the apt with her. Yesterday she called 20 times and left all kinds of messages. I try to explain to her that Dad needs to be there to get more help. And he really does. He has difficulty feeding himself-he needs set up(cut the food, serve the food). He looks so much better. They make sure he shaves everyday, showers, changes his clothes, toilets and changes his Depends. He just really needs more attention than mom was giving him or would allow. Sadly she just does not understand that he needs help. When he was in the apt with her, she would turn away the help and he would get agitated. Same like when they were living in the WB house.

So Mom felt that they should have stayed in Michigan and then she forgets. It is exhausting. Hopefully they will both settle down(although Dad has adjusted quite well to life on the 3rd floor). They just really want him to get used to the new staff and them to him, as well as a new schedule. So they really don't want mom taking him back into the 2nd floor apt. She still does not understand why he no longer has a bed in their apt. She does get lonely and very sad without him there(I think she needs an audience). I am hoping to keep them/her busy enough during the day with him that she does not obsess on him not being there. He is also staying awake more.

So today they were supposed to go swimming, but I could not get them a ride. They will continue to go to the Sr Center here in Ellicott City 1x/wk on Thursdays. The staff told me that mom agreed to attend a service project event at the Ronald Mcdonald house. I was doubtful. I arrived tonight to enjoy a Mother's DAy dinner with them on the memory unit. She had kidnapped DAd and was holed up in the 2nd floor apt(as was told to me by the staff). But by the time I arrived, mom and dad had gone down to the dining room for dinner. I coaxed them upstairs for the 3rd floor dinner. We had a wonderful meal-ham, chicken-mom's favorite even-fried chicken! Mac n cheese, carrots and green beans, salad and cake for dessert along with drinks. I got Dad a beer. Then we sat out on the patio a bit and I left them in front of one of the tvs. I was busy with rearranging Dad's clothes. I had bought him a bunch of new items since he actually gets his clothes changed more frequently, like socks and pjs,

And Tom wants to try and hook up some type of system to get them their own cable tv in Dad's apt so mom can hang out in his room and away from some of the other distracting residents(so they can have their own alone time). We have another tv for them, but you have to get another cable box. Tom is trying to avoid having to pay full price for another hook up.

So here are some photos from tonight and DAd's apt. Our family will also have Mother's Day brunch with them on Sunday. K-

Mother's Day dinner on memory unit. (I took mom to get a perm last weekend).

 They gave DAd a hospital bed in case he needs it and we moved his power recliner chair and dresser.

 Sitting area where we will put another tv and chairs. I already dropped off their wooden rocking chair.

As you are all probably aware, things have been a bit crazy here in Baltimore. It seems that riots like to follow Tom and I around, including the LA riots as well as the Detroit riots(when I was little). We better stop moving!

Before the riots started last weekend, Tom, Scott and I were off on a Bike/Hike Boy Scout camping trip. We left last Friday after I spent most of the day out shopping for supplies and packing the van. Scott was nominated to cook for his patrol, so I had to get his supplies while he was in school. Tom was off work after having just returned from a business trip to San Francisco,  so he made sure all our bikes were in working order and loaded them onto our bike rack. After jump starting the van(looks like the external GPS sucked out the battery while the bikes were being loaded), we headed out to Lorton, VA. We stayed in a State campground-Pohick State Park near Mt Vernon(plantation home of George and Martha Washington) on the Potomac River. There is a very nice bike path that runs along the Potomac, from Mt Vernon to the Reagan airport. We stopped for dinner at a local Italian restaurant before reaching camp and setting up the tents.

It was a bit chilly last weekend. We got up early for breakfast and then headed out for the bike ride. Tom and I stopped half way along the trail, about 4 miles into the ride with our van in case any of the boys had trouble. Most of the troop completed the whole loop-16 miles. They ended at the Woodrow Wilson bridge for a lunch break. The bridge was recently remodeled and has a very nice(and huge) park underneath with lots of parking too. Tom and I took off on our bikes and rode up into the town of Alexandria. I had never been there before. It was a bit chilly, and early in the day, so we stopped into Starbucks to warm up before heading back to meet the boys.  The town reminds me of Williamsburg, Charlestown and Savannah all rolled into one. Lots of old, original buildings from the 1700s. I would enjoy going back to try out some of their restaurants and peek in at the stores.

A few boys followed their dad through Alexandria and up to Arlington, so they made a 28 mile ride. We really did not want to try to herd all the little scouts through downtown on a busy Saturday shopping morning. So we all headed back to camp. We tried to stop into Mt Vernon to hike the grounds, but they have changed the entrance by adding a visitor center. You can no longer just walk around the gardens or farmland, but have to pay to get into the whole complex. So we had to skip that and head back to camp.  It was early afternoon. The younger hiking scouts were still off finishing up rank requirements. I decided to take a few boys over to play Putt Putt golf  at the camp site. As soon as we finished, I recommended Scott start dinner since we were expecting rain. As soon as dinner was over, it started pouring and did not stop until early the next morning. So we spent most of our time in the tent(sadly, no campfires). At least we missed the small snowstorm they had back home! Crazy.

In the morning we packed up and headed home. It was a bit of a rough start as the new, younger boys are not as well trained in repacking tents or chuck boxes or backpacks. We set our older boys on them to help them get organized so we could leave! It is like herding chickens!(and of course a few of them got sick). All the more fun. Anyhow, we managed to get home early enough to unload and clean up the camping equipment. Then Scott got busy with his homework.

Allison also enjoyed a weekend of camping with her Frisbee team. The girls left this past Friday for a campground west of DC on the Shenandoah river. They had a lot of fun camping out with a bonfire and playing Ultimate Frisbee with teams from all over the DC area.

I had a few more errands to run last week-I had to take my mom to the dentist for a few fillings. Also, the Assisted Living facility decided to move my father onto the memory unit so they could provide him with more direct care. So this past Friday I was busy helping to move all his belongings into a new apartment, as well as trying to calm my mother down. She is not happy about being separated from my Dad. But Dad needed more attention than my mom could give him. It is going to be an adjustment for all of us.

Meanwhile, things seem to be calming down in our Charm City(not so charming right now). But what a different type of experience. People arrived to clean up the city after a night of fires and looting. Even a construction company outside the state volunteered to rebuild the burned Sr Center. We've actually had more media here in town than actual citizens it would appear. I have never seen so many CNN reporters in our city. Guess it was cheaper than traveling to Nepal to cover the quake. And our riots sparked many demonstrations in cities around the country including New York and DC. Sadly, the riots took their toll on our economy and tourism. Many events were cancelled downtown including high school proms, several events scheduled at our convention center, even a trip to our local mall by Dr Oz. He was scheduled to visit and conduct a live show but it was cancelled last week. And that was not even being held downtown! The most fascinating was when the Orioles played without any baseball fans in the stadium. A first in MLB. At least we have that!

So the city curfew has been lifted and we hope things will improve. Baltimore really is a unique city with lots of potential and lots of support and love from its residents. It has actually come a long way as a blue collar shipping town.

Boy Scout Bike Ride with Scott

 Tom under the Woodrow Wilson bridge

 Scott prepares Breakfast