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!