After arriving home from our trip to Hilton Head, it was time to plan for our trip to Virginia Beach with Grandma Bozyk.

Allison was enjoying some time off before starting back to school. Scott however spent a week taking an SAT prep course at our local Community College. He will be a Junior in High School this year and it is time to start taking the standardized college assessment tests. The kids did schedule a visit with a few of their friends that they have not seen in a while.  They all spent a fun filled evening playing video games and eating dinner at Dave and Busters.

I was busy packing my mom a suitcase for our trip. On Friday, I packed up the van, dropped off Cookie at our neighbors and picked up Mom B.  We headed to the Eastern shore and Allison's condo at Salisbury University. We had a few items to drop off at her place before she heads back to school, including a new bird feeder that she got for her birthday. The girls have a nice yard and patio deck and Allison enjoys the visits from the Eastern shore birds. Anything to get through the school year!  We decided to have lunch at a new BBQ restaurant that opened near the school. They actually have several small restaurants and a bar that open to an enclosed patio with a Caribbean feel. After a great lunch, we were back on the road and headed south to Virginia Beach. We arrived around dinner time and unpacked our bags. We met up with my brother Dave and his family that drove up from Texas to spend the weekend with us. His wife, Sandra and son Christopher all drove up however, the other two kids, Nick and Sarah, planned on flying up on Saturday as they both had to work. We spent the evening strolling the beach boardwalk with mom on her electric scooter. We stopped into a beach front cafe next to our hotel for dinner, but they were filled with customers. Instead we ordered platters of tacos to go and headed up to our sundeck in the hotel. Tom made reservations in a Hilton Garden Inn that had a sundeck on the 3rd floor overlooking the beach. I figured mom would not be able to walk out on the extensive beach down to the ocean, but would probably enjoy relaxing on a beach chair and watching all the activity.

And it did not disappoint. On Friday night we finished up dinner and enjoyed the band playing outside in the cafe before heading to bed. In the morning, my family was up early and walking the boardwalk. Of course Scott and Allison also stayed busy playing Pokemon Go. After breakfast, we all headed out on the sundeck. Boy was it hot. We brought lots of snacks and drinks and sat back to visit and watch all the activity on the beach. It was amazing to see how quickly the beach fills up with lots of people and sun umbrellas. It was also fun to watch all the boats, parasailers and planes going by, as well as large schools of fish and dolphins. We were even entertained by the fighter jets zooming over the beach from the nearby naval base. Later in the afternoon, we were sadly kicked off our sundeck for a wedding. Instead, half of us took to the beach for a long walk, a quick swim in the hotel pool and the other half found another sundeck to hang out on a different floor. Meanwhile, Dave and Sandra picked up Sarah from the local airport. She managed to get her flight even though she lives in Baton Rouge, Louisiana and most of the area is flooded.  Her brother Nick should have joined her, however he was still stuck in Texas at the airport! He had to spend the night in the airport and missed his connecting flight due to tstorms. He was not able to get out until late Saturday evening. At least he made it just in time to join all of us at a local Seafood and Steak restaurant for dinner. I thought it would be nice for all of us to get together for dinner and to celebrate Mom's 81st birthday a bit early. It was a fun evening, except for the minor car accident that occurred in the parking lot. Tom got stuck in the valet parking area and backed into a large SUV. Minor scratch for them, broken taillight on my van(off getting fixed).

On Sunday we packed up and our family took Mom B to the Virginia Aquarium. We loved seeing the Kimodo Dragon and Sea Turtles. The aquarium is actually two separate buildings, one with aquariums and ocean sea life and fish. The other building housed native Virginia fresh water creatures. Both buildings are connected by walkways through a brackish marsh with lots of fiddler crabs. They also built an elevated ropes course through the trees that Allison was interested in climbing around, however since Scott still had a broken arm and couldn't climb, she thought they could return at another date to take on the challenge. Instead, Tom and the kids caught the IMAX movie-a Tour of the Galapogos Island. After our visit to the aquarium, we headed to our hotel in Williamsburg. That evening our family took Mom B to a Movie Tavern for dinner and to see Kabu and the Two Strings. It was an amazing stop motion film-basically a Japanese Fairy Tale about a young boy on a Ninja quest. We all enjoyed the film and Tom was especially impressed with how much he liked it. While we were at the movie, the rest of our group was getting familiar with the shops and historic section of Williamsburg.

I switched my work week so we could take Monday off. Tom took Scott and Allison and headed to Busch Gardens. We were not sure if Scott could go on any rides with his cast, but he was able to catch a few of the small rides and one coaster. They even talked Allison into trying it! Meanwhile, I took the rest of the crew back to Colonial Williamsburg so we could tour some of the buildings, including the Governor's Mansion. Mom drove around on her scooter. We managed to get through the Mansion and a few shops before stopping into a tavern for a traditional drink and light lunch. Then Dave and Nick took Sarah to the airport. Meanwhile, Mom, Sandra and I went off for some more sightseeing, but it was getting very hot and Mom had reached her limit. So Dave headed back from the airport and picked us up and Tom and the kids joined us back at the hotel. Dave and family spent the night and then headed back to Texas on Tuesday morning.

We drove back up to Baltimore with a quick stop into CiCi's pizza and pasta and a tour through a Halloween shop before dropping mom off at her apt. Hard to believe the year is flying by so quickly and school will be starting next week for both kids!

Catching up with our summer travels.  We headed home on  a Saturday from Hilton Head and arrived in the evening. Fortunately we did not have any damage to our house from the strong rain storm the week before that devastated Old Town Ellicott City. I watched a few videos on Utube of the actual flooding from people trapped in the buildings and restaurants during the storm. It was pretty unbelievable to see cars washing down the road in a torrent, including cars with people still inside as spectators video taped from the second floor of one of our favorite restaurants. They were unable to help, but one group formed a human chain and pulled a woman to safety from her car. The aftermath of the storm left the road in shambles, along with most of the store fronts. Cars and trees crashed into the fronts of the shops, especially those with large windows. Our community was quick to lend a hand in the renovations of the town by collecting funds for EC Strong, donating cleaning supplies and volunteering in the clean up. Kids in our neighborhood held lemonade sales to donate money to the cause. Other businesses hired currently out of work waiters/waitresses and bartenders.  They are busy selling tshirts. The whole town is currently closed down and multiple vehicles are still stuck along the river that flows through the south end. 150 cars were washed down the street. Unfortunately, our close neighbors that experienced excessive flooding in this neighborhood  have not had as much attention.

We continue to fight   a high density housing development planned in the undeveloped section of our neighborhood. We are especially concerned that more building will lead to even more flooding. The more they remove trees and pave open fields, the better chance for increased flooding downstream. A small stream runs right through our large neighborhood and apparently the culverts and drainage ditches cannot handle the overflow. There is a section of wetlands through the neighborhood that helps, but often the areas will overflow with excess tree branches and leaves that clog and block the water flow. Allison and I attended another town meeting the following weekend on Saturday afternoon. Looks like our neighborhood plans to hire a group to represent our cause to the county to limit the amount of building in the area.

We also spent that Saturday morning as a family visiting with Tom's intern and her family members. Tom and I previously enjoyed a traditional Pakistani dinner at their historic house. Nashi invited us all over for dinner again, but we were in Hilton Head at the time. So instead she asked us to brunch this past weekend with the kids. Nashi's sisters are all incredibly friendly and made Allison and Scott feel right at home. We enjoyed cooked chickpeas and pita bread for breakfast, along with a form of Pakistani cinnamon rolls, watermelon and yogurt. And we got to eat with our fingers! Tom also made American cinnamon rolls, but I think we all enjoyed the Pakistani version more! Nashi enjoyed sharing recommendations on how Scott and Allison could attempt to secure scholarships or internships from Northrop since she had just gone through the process herself. And the kids finished off our visit with a tour of the house and the big climb up the narrow steps to the roof in the 1800 historic home.

This particular weekend was incredibly hot, so we spent most of our time inside. I did try to get the lawn cut early Sunday morning, and almost collapsed from heat exhaustion. It had been in the low 100s and not much rain lately. When I could get back outside to cut the grass, a huge tstorm popped up and we lost power. Right in the middle of the Olympics. We have really been enjoying catching up with all the US athletes, especially our own Maryland Gold Winners, Michael Phelps and Katie Ledecky. The news stated that if Maryland was a country, it would have the most Gold medals in all the world because of those two athletes! They stopped in the middle of the Washington Nationals Baseball game in DC to watch Katie swim as well as a shout out during the Ravens pre Season Football game to Michael Phelps. Both of their events were televised on the jumbo screens at the games. Tom and Scott just happened to be enjoying the Ravens pre Season game on Thursday night at the stadium as one of Tom's co workers gave him tickets. Scott had never been to a professional football game and enjoyed the new experience. And our Ravens beat the Carolina Panthers(although it was mostly the 2nd and 3rd string players on the field). I also dragged Scott along to a baseball game earlier in the day as we joined my mom for Sr Day at the Bowie Baysox minor league baseball game. We attended last year and we really had a great time again with mom playing Bingo, sampling the buffet meal and of course, watching the game from the luxury of the air conditioned skybox. And our team won! Scott was happy to have a free week to heal up from his recent ear infection.

I had to work on Friday since I switched my day off to join Mom on her outing. I was glad to hear that she has been busy attending various outings at her apt complex including weekly lunch outings as well as a special trip to the local firehouse. She continues to attend weekly activities at the Sr Center. And they are busy remodeling all the public places in her building-soon they will have new paint/wallpaper, furniture and paintings. They even paved a portion of the front entrance to add extra tables and seating to enjoy the comings and goings of visitors and residents while getting some fresh air(when it stops being so hot or stormy). We are looking forward to taking Mom down to Virginia beach in the coming week for a mini vacation.

Allison was excited to wrap up the last week of her internship. She brought in flowers and cookies to the Maryland Chemical Company staff as a Thank you for their time and attention. She was asked to complete a presentation on her experience there before finishing her week. She also had to present book reports on two business novels she read over our trip to Hilton Head. On Friday the staff took Allison out to lunch. I think the internship was an incredible learning experience for Allison, although she really did miss returning to summer girl scout camp as a counselor. She celebrated the end of her summer internship with a visit to SkyZone with Tyler. Scott was disappointed that he could not go with them since he still has a cast on his arm. Allison and Tyler went to open gym with lots of jumping on the trampolines. They wanted to stay for Dodge ball, but after 1.5 hrs of jumping they were worn out! Guess that is why it is an Olympic sport. Instead they headed over to Tyler's house to make pizza and play poker with his family before Allison headed home(in another Tstorm). She had thought about attending Otakon-the Anime Convention in town for the last time, but was disappointed that they did not have as many guest speakers that she enjoys. It moves to DC next year for more space. Over 27,000 people attended. It resembles Halloween in Downtown Baltimore as all the participants dress up as their favorite characters with some really elaborate costumes. Maybe next year. We also talked about attending the County Fair, but it was just too hot. Temps hitting 100 degrees-the cows would turn into hamburgers! I think we will spend more time in the air conditioning for now!

Last week the entire Seitz Family  met up in Hilton Head, SC for a vacation at the beach. Dad Seitz rented a house for the whole family-the same place we stayed at 5 years ago. That's right-our turtle is 5 yrs old! We picked him up at a local souvenir shop last time we were there. We all had such a wonderful time during our last visit that we decided to do a repeat.

And this vacation was another winner. We all arrived on Saturday afternoon for check in. Our family left Friday night after Allison got home from her internship. She was able to make arrangements to have some time off by making up for the hours during the week, as well as reading a few books on women in business. She had already written her paper that was due for the internship and turned that in. She really only has to work 10 hrs/wk to fulfill the classwork, and she is working a 30 hr work week. So on Friday, I dropped off Cookie at our friends house, stopped in to say Hello to my mom, drop off her laundry and let her know we were going out of town. We stopped overnight in Fayatteville near Ft Bragg on the way down and arrived late in the afternoon on Saturday after picking up some groceries.

I guess Ellicott City made the weather news on Saturday July 30th

when a strong storm rolled through and dumped 7 inches of rain in 1hr. Old Town Ellicott City apparently was devastated. It sits at the top of a  river and the town dips down towards it, so half of the town was under water. Shops and restaurants ruined, cars washed down the road and crashed into store fronts. Some of the cars floated down into the river with drivers inside! Two people actually died.  And then the road buckled and collapsed. What a mess. In our neighborhood, there were spots with flooding along the roads to the point that some people had to be rescued from their cars along with power outages. Also flooded basements. Looks like our house sits up high enough and avoided the damage according to our neighbor who was watching the cat. But it sounds like a few sink holes are popped up. The neighborhood is already collecting donations to help out the town-cleaning supplies and funding to help anyone who lost their house as their are many people living over the shops, businesses and jobs in downtown EC. That little town sure has a history of big problems but I am certain it will make a comeback. We needed rain in Maryland, but not that much!

Meanwhile, we enjoyed our trip down South. It was a bit stormy Saturday night, but Sunday was clear and we all headed to church and the beach afterwards. The house sits just off the path down to the ocean at the North Side of the island so it is quick access. We also have our own pool which is nice for a quick dip or lazy float by the bar.  We took a break during the heat of the day to see the new Star Trek movie which we all really enjoyed. We also enjoyed the movie theatre reclining seats and free popcorn refills.  Sunday evening the whole family gathered to celebrate Thanksgiving! We had an incredible dinner thanks to Susan Potts planning skills. In the evening a few of us decided to take in an evening game of Putt Putt golf.


On Monday half of the family headed out for a deep sea fishing excursion on a large boat. It was primarily a boat ride as we did not catch anything but rocks on the reef below. But a beautiful day to be out on the water. Tom and the rest of the gang decided to visit Savannah, GA. They stopped into Paula Deen's restaurant for lunch and the kids gave everyone a historic walking tour while playing Pokemon Go!

On Tuesday our family enjoyed our bikes as we rode along the beach and then down to a local marina. We stopped off at World of Beer to sample their brews and enjoy a huge German pretzel and finished it off with an ice cream treat at Kilwins!  Allison and Scott were excited to see this Michigan favorite ice cream and fudge shop and enjoy their Superman Ice Cream. Meanwhile, Eric Seitz had to drop his wife Sarah off at the airport. She was busy job hunting back in Indiana for teaching positions and wanted to get started before the new school year began. Unfortunately she was stuck at the airport all day waiting for her flight. It was delayed in Charlotte due to local tstorms. At least she enjoyed extra vacation days as Eric and Sarah arrived in Hilton Head the week before. That evening, Allison, John Potts and I tried an evening kayak trip in the bay. This was John's first kayaking experience. I may have won him over.  We topped the night off with a firework show from the seat of our kayaks. What a wonderful, new experience! The weather was beautiful-cool and no bugs. The guide strapped a few glow sticks on the front of our kayaks to light our way. We just had to watch out for the bigger boats coming in to watch the fireworks in the marina as well. The rest of the family attempted to join us for the firework show, but it was difficult to find parking at the marina, so they went off to see the Ghostbusters movie instead.

On Weds, we planned an evening trip into Savannah to participate in a Ghost Pub Crawl to help Allison celebrate her 21st Bday. We spent the day shopping and beach combing. Late in the afternoon, we headed to Savannah for dinner in our favorite haunted pub, Moon River. We finally got to see the unfinished upstairs level(too haunted to open up to dinner guests) at the start of our tour. We missed the basement tour as it was closed for a private party. We all laughed nervously when the street lights outside the bar started flashing on and off as our guide spoke of the different souls haunting Moon River. Mark S decided to stay and enjoy their new outdoor Beer Garden while we wandered the streets of Savannah to visit 4 other bars. It was very hot and humid, even in the late evening. I was surprised at the number of Irish Bars in Savannah. One bar served over 75 different types of scotch, and the other bar was so tiny our group barely fit inside. Their specialty was whiskey with pickle juice shooters! Yuck! And of course, each place had a few ghosts. (Which we did not see). But we enjoyed the stories, the drinks and the tour. Scott was unable to join us as it was a 21 and over tour. He was actually not feeling well, so he stayed home in bed. Looks like he was catching a cold. Allison also was complaining that her allergies were kicking in down South. Too much something in the air.

On Thursday half of our fishing group decided to try our hand on a small boat. 6 of us headed out in the morning-Dad Seitz, Eric Seitz, myself, Allison and Scott and Susan P. We caught a few small tuna off the reef while trolling, and then headed in to the mouth of the bay for shark fishing. We were very excited to catch about 3 big sharks a piece, but they were not the right kind to eat so we had to throw them back. It was just fun reeling them in, although we stopped pulling the big ones into the boar(about 3ft long). ONe smacked Dad Seitz with his tail and gave him some good bruises on his legs. And they were very bitey! It was a beautiful morning and we all had a wonderful time out on the water with a terrific Captain. They even cleaned our fish and we spotted a few big dolphins near the pier begging for fish scraps. Later that day we planned on returning to Savannah to take Scott on a Haunted Walking Tour, but he was still not feeling well and we were all a bit too tired. We took Allison out to a Tiki Hut on the beach for some umbrella drinks and to do a little beach store shopping. Afterwards, it was an easy evening with dinner out at the Oyster Factory for the whole family, followed by a walk on the beach. Except I stepped into a huge hole up to my knee on the beach in the dark. I do not suggest doing this! I would rather have spotted a sea turtle like Mark! The turtle nests are all over the beach, but no hatchlings yet.

On Friday I spent the morning with Scott at the CVS Urgent care clinic. He had a fever, and he could no longer hear out of his ears. The cold medicine helped, but it looked like he was fighting an ear infection. We arrived early in the morning at the clinic, only to find several other people in front of us with ear infections. We decided to do some shopping before his appointment. Afterwards, we headed out with antibiotics and ear drops. I think I need to take stock in CVS Urgent Care! We then met up with a group to see the new Suicide Squad movie after lunch. Tom was able to download some free movie tickets. I thought the movie was fun and it included some cameos of Batman and the Flash along with all the bad guys. That evening we decided to try something new. A small group of us signed up for a 2.5 hr Jet Ski Boat tour, Craig Cats, in the bay. We had an evening ride, and all of us had an incredible time. The boats are 2 seaters, side by side. We didn't get too wet and we had a blast zipping around the waves and the bay. We spotted a few dolphins and stopped to rest to watch the sunset while sipping on a beer before heading in. What a fantastic new experience. Thank you to my newly skilled driver, Eric Seitz for taking the helm! Although he made me a little nervous around the turns. I was not in the mood to flip over, but they claim it is impossible to turn the boats(just nosedive into the waves). We had a great tour and even some time for free play. And we got to see where they filmed Forrest Gump for the water scenes and Vietnam. After our great boat ride we celebrated the evening with a pizza dinner.

We really enjoy the Seitz Family vacations and Hilton Head was a perfect place to visit. Looking forward to future trips together!

So Allison and I had the whole house to ourselves. It was a girl's week for sure. Tom was in Norfolk working and Scott was at Boy Scout camp. Allison had a very exciting Monday. She accompanied her boss to the Pentagon for a work meeting. The Baltimore Chemical company is trying to secure a government contract. Because the company is local and woman run, it is considered a minority business and has a better chance of getting a contract. Allison went along for  the experience, as well as to introduce herself as an intern at the facility. She had to make a brief speech about herself. Turns out it was just to one of the aides, not the Director that they met with, so less pressure.  The meeting was brief so the group enjoyed a personal tour of the Pentagon as well as lunch. Allison reports the Pentagon looks like a museum-all white marble walls and floors. They remodeled after 911 and added a mall sized food court. The interns report this is an evil place since they have an incredible variety of delicious food items. I guess it was too hard to travel in and out of the Pentagon for lunch, so they brought a tasty lunch to the Pentagon. They also have a famous Hot Dog stand dead center in the Pentagon courtyard known as Cafe Ground Zero. Story goes the enemies/Russians used to think that was where all the top secrets were kept during the cold war-dead center of the Pentagon-and a Hot Dog stand hid the entrance to a secret bunker. In reality, it was the only food stand in the place. She also saw the memorial inside the Pentagon for the 911 event, but they did not have time for an outside tour of the memorial. Allison said they have benches outside. Some point towards the building-in honor of the passengers on the plane and some point outwards-for the staff that died in the building. Allison really enjoyed her tour and Tom was jealous since he has never been on a tour of the Pentagon himself even though he has worked with the military.

So Monday night we were both pretty pooped out. On Tuesday we took it pretty easy as well. I even gave up cooking. I was getting home late each night since I have been extra busy at work with my student. She made it to her midway point in the internship and I had to complete her midterm evaluation, so we both stayed late to get everything done.

On Weds Allison and I decided to enjoy an outdoor concert at the park with Cookie. We packed a dinner picnic and headed off to spend a beautiful evening on the lake listening to Blues. After dinner we took Cookie for a walk. As usual, the kids were all over her. We sent a few photos off to Scott. He had been texting me during the week with wonderful photos of him riding the ATV and the horses. So I was very excited to get a phone call from him on Weds evening. Unfortunately, it was not a happy call. Scott had fallen and was headed to the hospital since he thought he had broken his arm. He was swinging on a rope and it broke and he went down. Hard.

I got a phone call that night from the local hospital and sure enough, Scott had a fractured Right forearm. They put a temporary cast on his arm and I was instructed to pick him up the next day! Great! He survived riding an ATV and horseback riding, but was taken out by a rope swing. I blame the Tarzan movie!

So Thursday morning I took off work and headed up to PA. I was hoping to stop Scott into the ortho MD on our way back, but they could only get us in at 3pm and with a 3.5 hr drive each way, I was not able to make the visit. Instead, I scheduled his appointment for first thing Friday morning. When I got to camp, Scott had already packed up his things(with his one good hand!). He really could not do anything else but eat breakfast and lunch. After packing up the car, we headed home. I was really disappointed for Scott-he was having such a great time at camp. He enjoyed horseback riding and being at the barn. He especially found the free range chickens very funny. He had finished his packet for the badge and only needed 1 more lesson to demonstrate his riding skills. Even though he liked horseback riding, he loved riding on the ATVs even more! He especially had fun driving through the mud puddles. He was surprised how slippery the track was-now he really knows what it is like driving on snow and ice.

So Friday morning we headed over to the hospital and got a much smaller cast. Fortunately his fracture was less severe than the PA hospital had thought. Tom came home Friday afternoon and ordered him a plastic swim sleeve so he can attempt to enjoy our upcoming vacation. We are headed to Hilton Head. Poor guy, he has been having a rough summer. With the cast he won't be able to practice his driving, guitar, roller blade at work, climb, run, cut the grass or

ride roller coasters or basically do anything physical. Except he is happy to report that he can still play video games and Pokemon Go. Gee.

Friday evening I picked up my mom and we both went to the hairdresser. I wanted to get a shorter cut for our vacation and mom needed a wash and set. I then had her over for a grilled steak dinner and strawberry shortcake for dessert with Tom and Scott. Allison decided to continue her girl's week theme with a girls weekend at the beach.

Allison picked up her girl friends for a weekend trip to her condo at school. It is only a 30 min drive to Ocean City from Salisbury, so they wanted to spend the day at the beach. On Friday night they headed out and spent the evening cooking dinner. Saturday morning they were up early and out to the beach and boardwalk for the day. After cooking dinner they went out to see Star Trek. Allison was not too impressed. On Sunday they spent the morning walking around the campus and the local zoo before heading back home. The three girls had a terrific time and they celebrated Allison's birthday all over again.

Meanwhile back at the ranch, I had dropped my van off at the dealership for an overhaul before we head out on the road on vacation. It was in the shop all day and Tom and I picked it up in the evening. We were invited to catch the Star Trek movie with friends, but the timing was off. Instead we met them for dinner at Maggiones and afterwards took Scott to see Ghostbusters. We enjoyed the movie but I still don't think it was as good as the original.

On Sunday I celebrated Parent's Day by taking my mom to the local pool. I have been wanting to take advantage of her neighborhood membership by taking her to one of the 23 community pools. I finally found a fairly small pool with a beach entrance access(easier for her to get in and out since you just walk up and down a ramp). Turns out the pool is fairly close to her place, has great shade and lots of chairs, warm water and they kick the kids out of the pool for about 20 mins every hour. So more room for all of us and less splashing. We both had a great afternoon. I got Mom to do a few leg exercises in the pool. Just wish we could have brought in some floaties. Mom especially enjoyed watching all the kids and even started a game of catch with a young boy who was at the pool with his Grandma. Afterwards we sat out and had a small snack and drink and did some reading while relaxing on the recliner chairs. A glorious afternoon. I then took mom back to her apt, got her changed out of her suit and ordered us pizza. A great ending to a great day. Tom meanwhile spent his day changing the brakes on my van, fixing his bike tire and cutting the grass. I think I got the better deal!