I can't believe another week went by already. Scott and I spent it together as Tom was out in Salt Lake City working on the eternal project. He left Monday morning and did not get back home until 4am Saturday morning. His flight was delayed on Friday afternoon due to some storms across the US and he had a connecting, delayed flight out of Denver where the worst weather was occurring. We have had a few good storms go through MD with some small tornadoes scattered here and there across the state. No damage in our neighborhood thank goodness. And we can use the rain since everything has been drying out.
Scott was busy attending kids classes at our local Community College. He took his first morning class with our neighbor's son and good buddy Sammy. They boys were enrolled in an Engineering and Robotics class and they loved it. The whole week revolved around legos and the different kits they have for making motorized cars, etc that hook up to the computer for their instructions. Both boys are asking the kits(only several hundred dollars says Tom). Scott will have to be awful good to ask Santa for that present at Christmas! Their are actually several different kits:Lego Education, and many others that I cannot remember the names. One of Scott's classmates mother is in charge of the Howard County Lego Robotics club. Scott may have a new hobby. He has already decided he is going to be an engineer. Heaven help us! And in the afternoon, Scott was busy at a Science class entitled: Ooey, Gooey and Stinky too where they made quite a few interesting concoctions and tried some fun and fuzzy experiments. He had a blast last week. Who knew schoolwork could be so fun! And in the evenings, the two boys spent their time making Lego creations when they weren't busy playing the Wii games.
Next week he will be back to the YMCA and back to lots of physical activity(swimming primarily).
Allison has also had a busy week with Grandma and Grandpa. The neighbors took her under their wing and had her out on their boat for some rides around the lake on the tube. They also went swimming off the side of the boat which Allison found exciting since they were out in the deep water and you could dive off with no restrictions and then climb back on the boat on the little side ladder. She also managed to get invited for dinner(fried chicken, fried pickles, fried whatever!). And she had a to go plate for Gma and Gpa. So Gma and Allison repaid the neighbors in the form of a cake. Allison even managed to get them all invited to a pig roast this past weekend and Allison got to drive Gma and Gpa home on the neighbor's golf cart. Sunday was the Portside Art Fair so I will have to get an update. Allison has also been working long distance from the library on her Confirmation retreat presentation with her partner here in Baltimore. Their presentation is due this coming week, so she has had to send all of her ideas via email so her partner can turn it in. What a pain. She has a nice, understanding and experienced partner however so I think they will be alright. They are presenting a section on Love and loving God and Man, so Allison is putting together a Jeopardy game as part of their presentation. It includes famous couples in love, love songs, love quotes from the bible, and some other info she got off the internet. She did take time out to make herself a graffitti, tie dye shirt during the teen class at the library. And she has been running to get into shape for field hockey try outs in two weeks. And she has been doing a lot of reading and staying up late and getting up even later. That won't last-especially when school starts! Next week her afternoons will be filled up with her 4H Sailing class-she is looking forward to it. And next weekend is the Polish Festival in Boyne and the antique auto show and fleamarket. A plethora of activities!
And not to be undone; after Tom awoke from his 5 hour nap we loaded the van and drove down to Williamsburg to visit Busch Gardens and see Foreigner in concert there at the park. We really enjoyed the show. They have an outdoor stage and we sit on the grass enjoying Busch beer and BBQ. We were surprised how much we enjoyed that old music like-Juke Box Hero, Cold as Ice and they even have a new album to release this Sept. The new music sounds pretty good too! Tom even got a touring shirt. Williamsburg was their 3rd stop, but they are planning on going all over the country. They only have one original member of the start up band from 1977, but the replacement band was excellent, including their new lead singer. We did manage to get in a few rides at Busch Gardens also. On Sunday, we had planned to visit the water park, but since Tom could only get us a hotel in Newport News VA, I asked him to drive me down to Virginia Beach(I had never been there before). Tom has taken quite a few trips to Newport News to work at the naval base for Northrop so he was familiar with the area. Once we arrived at the Atlantic Ocean, Scott did not want to leave. So I grabbed him a boogey board and laid out our blankets and beach chairs and we caught some waves and burned our toes on the sand. It got more crowded as the day went by and it seems that the day at the beach was a better choice since it looked like a big rain storm hit the water park early that afternoon. I was just happy to get out in the waves with Scott. The beach is lined with hotels and no place for changing into your suit though! Some time we will have to stay longer in the area since there is so much to do over there-bike riding and rollerblading on the bike path along the beachfront(it reminded me of California beaches), museums, zoos, gardens, state parks(hiking and kayaking), aquariums, the naval base and tours of warships, boat tours, parasailing, deep sea fishing-a whole lot to choose from. But the water was chilly! We got back Sunday night with enough time for Tom to repack his suitcase and head out to Ann Arbor Mich Monday morning to work on a presentation. He will be there all week. So back to Scott and myself.
I was just busy working and trying to get ready to go away this past weekend(which meant cutting the grass and washing the clothes). I also sent Allison a care package complete with Mt Hebron High School tshirt and pj pants. She was excited to get her box!
So when Tom hangs around for a little while I will get him to download some photos for me.
Two more weeks for Allison and then Tom drives up to Mich to pick her up. And School is just around the corner! Yuck! Seitz Family

We made it back from Michigan(most of us anyway). We went to visit Grandma and Grandpa Bozyk on Lake Charlevoix last week, and left Allison behind for the next three weeks to keep Gma and Gpa entertained. On the way there, we stopped by MSU to visit the children's garden, eat ice cream at the dairy and have lunch at El Azteca, besides stocking up on great MSU souvenirs.
In Charlevoix, we started the week off with a kayak/canoe ride down the East Jordan river. Tom and Scott ended up in the river in their canoe at the same spot Dan B went in last year. That water sure is cold! And our weather was not terribly warm either. Mostly it stayed around 74 degrees for the high. Monday we headed out to pick cherries and strawberries. Last year I made strawberry jam so this year it was strawberry pies. The kids braved the lake and went for a swim and Monday night we headed into Petoskey for a round of pirate putt putt golf. Tuesday we all (including Gma and Gpa) decided to drive to the Upper Peninsula to visit the Soo Locks in Sault St Marie . Not only did we visit, but we took a boat ride through the canal ourselves on a tour boat. It was quite amazing to see how quickly the canals filled and empty, and how we rose up above the canal, and then dropped about 30 feet alongside the cement walls. There is only about 2 1/2 ft clearance on each side of the canal walls for the big freighters to fit through, so they have to do a good job steering! Weds was a bit rainy so we had movie day-the kids caught Ice Age with Tom and since he already caught Harry Potter with Allison the week before, I went on to see it myself. All 2.5 hours of it! Thursday we decided to spend the day in Charlevoix for the kids activities to celebrate Venetian Festival. We had a picnic on Lake Michigan beach and watched the drawbridge go up and down as the big boats came through. Scott got brave and went swimming in Lk Michigan while Allison and I looked for Petoskey stones. Most of the crowd was busy in the park at the kids activities, but we opted not to pay the $8 for the rides since the lines were so long. Allison would have liked the elephant ride though but she probably would have spent the whole day standing in line! Instead we headed into town for a few carnival rides and games and set up our blanket at the band shell for the evenings concerts. We stopped into dinner at a local restaurant and then caught a few bands before heading home. We also took a tour of the new Charlevoix library which was absolutely beautiful. They rebuilt and remodeled an old school building with a bit of a nautical theme and old mission style. They even have a wonderful small garden and some great statues around the building. While we were busy in Charlevoix, Gma and Gpa were busy entertaining old school friends, Larry and Isabel Smith up for a day visit after dropping off their granddaughter to the Interlochen Music School near Traverse City for a few weeks of camp. We had a quick chance to chat before leaving. We kids used to spend alot of time visiting and playing with their kids since we were all about the same age. Hugh who is my age is remarried to another girl named Kathy for the second time and just adopted a little Korean girl. They all live in San Luis Obispo in CA. The Smiths oldest son is in Oregon and their youngest daughter, Claire is in Pennsylvania. Mrs Smith gave me a quick run down on their 50th Wedding Anniversary Party that they held last year. They renewed their vows in a small church in Franklin with 6 priests attending followed by a reception at a nearby Country Club. Mom and Dad Bozyk attended so I got to see photos of the event that the Smith kids had bound in an album. Mom and Dad also watched the video. They all had a terrific visit and enjoyed mom's spaghetti dinner. Friday we decided to try out Dad's fishing boat for a tour around the lake, however, the boat motor did not cooperate. Instead we packed up and went hiking in Boyne Mt, climbing 460 steps to the top and then following the ultimate frisbee golf trail all the way down. We then headed into Boyne to check out the street fair. Friday night we enjoyed fireworks over Lake Charlevoix from the deck of the house before getting rained out. When we weren't busy doing some type of activity, we were enjoying eating at all the local ice cream shops and stocking up on our favorite salt water taffy. Then we had to sample a Mich. blueberry/peach pie from the local Farmer's Market.
Tom spent much of his time at the house connecting the speaker system to the stereo. He hooked up 24 speakers all through the house(and there are still more to go!). He also attempted to hook up a front door bell, but couldn't figure out the complicated wiring system-too many programs running through the place including internet and cable wiring and a security system, possibly an intercom system. Next year he will have to study the wiring diagram! We also had a few leaks to deal with which the builder fixed-one under the kitchen sink and another that Tom found behind the fridge. He also attempted to repair the old dishwasher in the basement kitchen but it looks to be done in. Then there was the dock that needed to be put in and some furniture moved and the boat motor to be hauled out and put on the boat. Dad B managed to get it going on Saturday morning with a little starter fluid so we all got a ride. The kids were just a bit too cold and it was a bit too breezy on the lake though for a ride in the innertube.
We also enjoyed our entertainment choices which included watching movies on the big walls with our new projector, playing Wii video games on the big projector and watching movies on our old big TV which Dad took up in the Spring. And we introduced Gma and Gpa to the Apples to Apples game which led to many interesting conversations around the kitchen table. Mom and Dad enjoyed it so much, they even played with Larry and Isabel.
All in all we had a great week. I would have liked to have attended the Venetian night boat parade and fireworks on Saturday night, but we couldn't stay that long. I also wish it had been a bit warmer for more swimming, or that we could have gotten more fishing in than just casting off the dock. Tom even picked up a couple of BB guns to let Scott and Allison get in some shooting since the guns are illegal in Howard County. So are their sling shots I hear.
But Allison is staying there for all of us for the next 3 weeks and I am sure she will get in lots of swimming and fishing with Gpa. She is also scheduled to take a 4H sailing class on Lake Charlevoix next week along with a picnic at the end of the week. And there are plenty of Art Fairs and Antique Car shows and Flea Markets going on every weekend. Not to mention the Polish Festival in Boyne and some great programs for teens at the library. And if they get bored, they can always catch a concert in a local park in the evenings, or attend the nature programs at the State Park in Boyne. I am sure that Allison will not get bored.
And we can stay in touch even easier now with Mom and Dad B since Tom set up our old laptop computer so they have email access at the Lake. Unfortunately, their main computer was fried in WB, so Tom brought it home to see if he can rebuild it. But feel free to email-they will receive your messages up at the lake now.
So we are back home and Tom will head to Mich in 3 weeks to pick up Allison. Meanwhile, Tom is in Salt Lake City this week, Scott is at camp at Howard Community College and I am back to work.
Feel free to drop in on Allison and Gma and Gpa at the Lake Charlevoix house if you have time! Like the kids say, It just isn't summer until you visit the lake house!

(Oops-guess I did not send this one out-I keep waiting to catch Tom so he can put in some photos). It certainly was quiet around here with Allison gone to GS camp. Tom and I caught the Public Enemy movie with Johnny Depp Friday afternoon before Allison came home. Tom was disappointed that they didn't spend more time getting to let us know more about the characters. Allison arrived home on Friday evening very tired and dirty. But she had a wonderful time at Assateague. Her and her friend Jenna went crabbing and caught a crab, they caught creatures in a net in the bay, they went on a birding hike early in the morning through the dunes, swam in the ocean, played mini golf at Ocean City, but most of all they were just in awe of all the wild ponies roaming freely around their camp and the island. I was sure Allison would have loved to have packed a foal in her backpack and brought it home with her. So she definitely wants us to go back. Even the bugs weren't too bad she says but her legs look pretty eaten up by mosquitoes. She is busy recuperating this afternoon. Not only from a long week of communing with nature, but also from her camping sleepover birthday party that we had last night with 8 of her friends from school. Of course , noone actually slept. We set up a tent in the backyard for the girls, but since we had threats of Tstorms we decided to move them into the basement to "sleep". But the camping theme went off well-they went on an alphabet scavenger hunt through the neighborhood, looking for items that began with every letter of the alphabet. They are very creative(so are our neighbors apparently) and they all did very well, each earning their very own marshmallow roasting stick. Allison and I bought a big fire pit and Scott collected wood from our neighbor so we could have a bonfire in the driveway and roast marshmallows. After eating hot dogs and hamburgers, they each made s'mores(to go along with the s'more cupcakes that Allison made). We found a great recipe in the Woman's world magazine. The girls also played Grandpa Seitz's bean bag toss game and Allison won(naturally). And to keep the girls occupied, we bought a movie DVD player for outside. The girls all watched RV on a homemade screen that Tom set up in the backyard while munching on popcorn. It was a lot of fun(and surprisingly quiet). They actually put down their cell phones to watch the movie! We just had a brief interruption when I discovered the cat had gotten out of the house and a fox was stalking her in the front yard! I found her when we all heard the fox screeching. It sounds a little like someone is killing your kid. Pika was sitting outside our fence, safe and sound though, (much to Tom's dismay). She quickly returned to the house.
So after making all the girls pancakes and bacon, we sent them off so Allison and I could get a nap! Scott had his own sleepover at the neighbors house and they spent the next day playing. The boys can't get enough of each other. They only get to see each other in the evening since Scott is gone during the day at camp. He really enjoyed another week at the YMCA, this time taking extra swim lessons. He loved all the extra time in the pool, and then a carnival on Friday with sno cones(he was missing out from the 4th of July concert), bounce house, kettle corn and face painting. He'll be back this week with a science theme.
Allison will be heading to her intermediate field hockey camp in hopes of getting better prepared for the fall tryouts at Mt Hebron. I was up to her school this week talking to the counselors about her classes. They have the whole building tore up since they are remodeling. It should be done by the time Allison graduates. The school district fought for a whole new building, but the county decided to save some money and just remodel. What a mess. The high school was originally built as a jr high building and is over 40 yrs old. Over the years they just added on and it looks like a mish mash of building styles and dead end hallways. They still have chalk boards in the classrooms! But I hear so do the catholic high schools where most of Allison's classmates are going in the fall. Her new school is supposed to get an update, including the technology.
And as if the kids weren't busy enough, I dragged Scott and Allison off to a cub scout fishing tournament on Sat morning. We fished at a local lake in one of our parks. I have taken the kids there before to fish and we caught a whole bunch of sunfish, but that was in the fall. The fish just weren't biting that well(we needed Grandpa Seitz and Mark and Eric's fish guide I think!). But this was strictly shoreline fishing and I think most of the fish have moved off where the water is cooler. Anyhow, Scott still caught 4 small fish and Allison 2 and Scott's Troop took 5th out of 10th place for most amount of fish caught. For those that caught the biggest fish, they had very nice fish trophies and prizes. The grand prize was a half day fishing trip on the Chesapeake Bay! All for 5bucks registration. Not bad. Maybe next year I will have to get a fishing license. I was just too busy this time pulling fish off the line and baiting the kids hooks. Meanwhile, Scott discovered they also had a contest for most amount of trash collected at the lake at the end of the tournament, and he took home 2nd place! He won himself a very nice handyman tool set, and they gave him a second set for picking up the most cigarette butts! That is definitely a contest he enjoys since he usually loves swapping in trash at the Y camp for candy bars at the end of the week.
So now I am off to do laundry-Allison brought home a whole bunch! And I need to do laundry so I can pack for our trip to Michigan next week! We are looking forward to our visit to Charlevoix and the lake house. Allison will be staying there for the 3 weeks afterwards with Grandma and Grandpa Bozyk. She is looking forward to her 4H sailing lessons that she will be taking in August. Tom will then be picking her up since he has to travel to Uof M to teach a class.
Doesn't look like we will be having any family or friends visiting at that time however this year. Well if anyone changes their mind, you know where we will be!
Happy 14th Birthday Allison and Cousin Nicholas Bozyk!

Happy 4th of July! I just got back from Girl Scout camp, dropping off Allison and her friend Jenna. The two are spending the week on a travel camping trip to Assateague Island. The island is just off Virginia Beach near Chincoteague and Ocean City. Assateague is full of wild ponies(ever read Misty of Chincoteague?). The horses are said to have come from Spanish exlporers whose ships capsized with the horses on board. The horses swam to shore and have lived wild on Assateague island as well as up and down the North Carolina shore for hundreds of years. Each summer, the fire dept in Chincoteague swim the wild ponies and foals over to the mainland from the island to auction off the foals(hence the book Misty of Chincoteague). This helps to keep the population from becoming too overwhelming for the environment. And they can monitor the ponies that are left by tagging them. Our family has always talked about camping there on the island at the Nat. Park, so now Allison is going to have chance to scope it our for us. The GS counselors say they plan on taking the girls to the Park Ranger presentations -they will learn all about the marshland and the wildlife, including the ponies. They will even have a chance to go to Ocean City-the beach and boardwalk. The girls will be camping on the beach-a small group of only 6. I am sure they will have a terrific time. I'd like to go there sometime for a dune buggy tour and kayak tour. I just heard the bad thing is that there are lots of bugs, especially biting flies. I hope that the girls are spared.
Last week Allison had a lot of fun learning all about field hockey. Tom enjoyed buying all of her equipment I think. Allison told the instructor that she was interested in trying out for the high school team and they recommended that she continue with the intermediate class to learn more about strategy and game playing. So now Allison is scheduled to attend the intermediate class next week before we go on vacation. I am glad she is enjoying the new sport. She is still doing her karate and piano this summer too.
Scott and his Dad however have decided to take a break on karate. We are having a hard time getting Scott to his lessons-they only meet during the week and the ride is a bit far. The classes are earlier in the day and I cannot get off work to get him to his class-mainly Tom has been flexing his work hours to get him to the classes. And Scott would like to try gymnastic lessons next school year, so we told him we would give it a shot.
Last week he spent his day at the YMCA summer camp and loved it. The camp traveled to the National Zoo in DC which he enjoys, however, he was disappointed they did not get to see more of the animals. This week he will be at the Y again taking extra swim lessons. Scott's favorite time at Y camp is when they go exploring the pond back behind the Y. He loves to catch newts.
He also experienced his first cavity last week. I had to get the kids new dentists because noone at our clinic would fill cavities in kids under 18yrs old! That is just crazy. So I took both kids to a family dentist and it turns out Allison did not necessarily have a cavity, but Scott had two. Both of the cavities are in baby teeth but close to the root, so they decided to drill. Scott had his first experience with novacaine in his mouth and drilling-he thought the drilling tickled! I don't think many kids would laugh during a trip to the dentist! He is actually looking forward to having the second cavity filled! I was just glad to see that the dental hygienists were so nice. The dentist was OK. Not overly friendly. And they are dropping our insurance by the end of the year, so we will be right back in the same place we are now-looking for a new dentist! Or maybe a new dental insurance!
Cookie survived her cone and tshirt combination following spaying last week. I noticed however that she seemed a bit swollen at the surgery site so I asked if the vet could take a look at her. He agreed that she was swollen and said it looks like she is allergic to the sutures! How is it that a hypoallergenic dog has allergies?! Go figure. He took the stitches out right away since it had already been a week and she was healed enough. She certainly was happy to have the cone and tshirt taken off and to get back to running and rough housing with the kids. And I think she has been enjoying her new haircut(that only took 4 hours!). I don't spend that much time at the salon! And it must have taken me an hour last week to fill out all the paperwork on her now-county registration, rabies vaccination, lost pet ID for the microchip implant we got her while she was having surgery. (Why can't we have our kids microchipped in case we lose them?). Cookie was even happy to walk up to our local park on the 4th to visit with all the neighborhood kids and dogs dressed up for the neighborhood 4th of July bike parade.
We actually did most of our celebrating on Friday the 3rd when we went to see our Baltimore Symphony Orchestra concert and fireworks at a local outdoor music theatre. We have gone quite often in the past and they have a very nice fireworks show complete with music. And the guest conductor was a native Detroit boy. He mentioned that he loved the tv series Dallas as the orchestra played the theme song, and that it was a bit unusual for a Detroit boy to have an interest in cowboys. I can only imagine. We usually pack a picnic dinner when we go and often run into someone we know. This year we spotted my GS coleader and her kids and father in law. They had arrived very early and sat way up front so we could not squeeze in next to them. Instead the kids and I visited long enough to share their brownies before heading back to our spot on the lawn. We had to mooch off their dessert because Boston Market had sold out all their desserts with their dinner special. I usually pick up a Boston Market chicken dinner for our picnic during the concert. You can also bring in wine-our favorite part. So no Boston market dessert; I figured I would just buy a little something for the kids at the food booths at the concert. Half way through the concert, we stood in line for ice cream and sno cones. While we were in line, they ran out of ice cream, and before we got to the front of the line, they ran out of ice for the snow cones. Thank goodness there is a recession, or we'd all be fat from all the stuff we buy! Oh wait, we couldn't even buy our dessert! Or maybe it is a dessert conspiracy. Anyhow, the kids did not want kettle corn or cotton candy, hence the reason for mooching off my friend and her fine brownies. I think we got the better end of the deal.
We were also feeling very patriotic that week as I ran off to the BWI airport with my coleader and her daughter and Allison to finally pass out our 250 boxes of Girl Scout cookies that were donated to the servicemen and women returning home. We join an organization called Operation Welcome Home and they organize a welcoming committee for each flight arriving at the airport along with goodie bags-and sometimes GS cookies. My girls spent 2 hours during a meeting making thank you cards and we tied each card to a box with ribbon. Allison and Jeannette were there to lead us all in the pledge of allegiance before the troops got off the plane and made their way through our cheering group. Each soldier received a box from Allison and Jeannette, so if you contributed to our cause, thanks again. The soldiers really appreciate it-and there were a lot of women on this particular flight. Not to mention dogs and cats being brought from overseas! We were just sad that we only had 250 boxes of cookies to pass out since 300 soldiers got off the plane that night. Never fear, we will be busy selling again in September so keep us in mind.
Hope you are all having a great summer!

So no sooner did we get back from Williamsburg, it was time to repack for the kids to attend summer camp. Allison went off to Kids on Campus classes. I had planned on sending her to a high school orientation class, however, the class was cancelled, so I had to resign her up for a few other choices. She took a gaming class-learning how to make games on the computer and an arts class where she took an old book and made a scrapbook/collage out of it with a dragon theme. She really enjoyed that class. At the end the teacher made them all cake since she was a professional cake decorator. That was a nice perk too! I still wish they had the high school orientation class, but she will miss the next session when she is in Michigan with Grandma and Grandpa Bozyk.
Scott had the chance to attend cub scout camp this year since I found him a ride home from a neighbor whose son was also attending. Camp starts at 745am but ends at 3pm and I could never pick him up from work. So this worked out great. Scott loved cub scout camp. It was all about archery and learning to shoot a BB gun(his first time) and he is hooked. They also had a space theme and lots of science activities which he loved-a special guest presenter, making motors as well as cub scout activities like whittling with a pocket knife and woodworking. He wants to go again! And on Thursday evening, we were invited as a family to a cub scout picnic and had the chance to shoot the BB guns or do archery ourselves. Allison and Scott had the chance to shoot while Tom and I reloaded for them. They both did pretty good hitting their targets. Allison has also had plenty of opportunities for archery at GS camp. We stayed for the cub scout campfire and Allison helped Scott's den with a skit before we left.
I also had to run Cookie to the vet for her spay. Now we have a cone dog(cone around her head for 7-10 days so she doesn't chew on her stitches). Allison says we have a corn dog. And I had to fit her with a small tshirt so she would not scratch the skin off her sides. What a mess she is-no steps, no playing, no walks. She is pretty miserable but adapting to a cone. I just don't think our ankles will survive. She loves to run right into us. She goes for her stitches removal next week.
We ended the week with a trip out to Frederick for a Frederick Keys baseball game(Orioles Farm League) and our GS choir got to sing the National Anthem for Scout night. After the game(the Keys won by the way against Winston-Salem), all the kids got to run the bases(that took forever). And they finished the game with a wonderful fireworks display. I enjoyed the game and playing catch with the kids on the side lawns, and the kids loved the bounce house and the carousel and games in Right Field. They also hoped to catch a fly ball(Tom almost did). But Tom does not exactly enjoy baseball games. Especially when they fall on our 22nd Wedding Anniversary. We could have stayed overnight too camping on the outfield with all the scouts, but that wasn't in our game plan. As it was I had to drag the kids away from the neighbor's 3 year olds Birthday party(they weren't too happy either). And Tom wasn't much in the mood for celebrating our anniversary since he has a nasty case of poison ivy. We think he picked it up painting the shed and the deck. At least the shed and deck look terrific. And so does my patio furniture-we switched from green to copper penny colored. And we kept our promise of asking the neighbors over for drinks on the patio once it was all put back together. Unfortunately we were rained out. I was certain all the paint would wash off the shed and deck, but it all held. It has been hard to schedule anything since we have had rain almost every day. It just started slowing down and drying out, but at least my flowers are loving it.
We managed to spend some time at home on Sunday catching up with laundry and yard work. I tried to talk Tom into going to dinner but he was too busy itching. I did get him a gift certificate for Father's Day at a steak restaurant in Baltimore(along with 3 out of 4 Star Trek glasses from Burger King). Grandma Bozyk is in search for Spock(the glass that is). We will enjoy the steak dinner some other time I guess. Allison served mass Sunday morning. We also enjoyed shopping at the church yard sale-I got a box full of goodies for 5 bucks. Last time they had a sale I got a box full of books for $1. Guess I am set for summer reading!
And I think I have had my fill of Michael Jackson songs-first Ed McMahon, then Farah Fawcett and then Michael and to top it off the Infomercial guy died too! What a busy week in Hollywood.
And closer to home, I was disappointed to hear my company pulled out on a deal to purchase land for a retirement community right around the corner from our house. I was hoping to get on board with the new rehab dept when it opened. Guess that won't be happening. Mr Erickson's company is short on cash these days. Looks like he will also be selling his property in Charlotte NC and St Louis Missourri, if not Chicago and Texas. Very sad. So far they still have plenty of work for me here. We'll see what the Obama administration does to the Health field. And Tom has been busy with work too(that's always a good thing!).
So this week Allison is trying out Field Hockey camp(so far she loves it) and Scott is back this summer to the Y camp. He loves it too. That is good for us!

Happy Father's Day! Looks like we plan on a bike ride and swim at Matt and Di's house. We have been spending a lot of time over there lately. We were just there last night picking up Cookie(they were pet sitting while we went to Busch Gardens/Williamsburg) and we celebrated their son Jacob's graduation from High School and his 18th birthday last Sunday. Of course, we had to run off in the evening to sing the National Anthem with the GS choir at Ft McHenry. Does not look like we made National news(not sure anyway) and they skipped the flyover(bummer). But it was a beautiful evening to sit out on the bay and listen to all the inspirational music, watch the parade of flags put on by the Scouts and we enjoy the fireworks afterwards. We actually sang 3 songs ourselves. FYI -Ft McHenry was the location where our country fought off the British during the war of 1812-they tried to take the country back from us after the Revolutionary War. Francis Scott Key was watching the battle and came up with our National Anthem-Oh say can you see, by the dawn's early light, what so proudly we hail at the twilights last gleaming. Whose broad stripes and bright stars through the perilous fight, oer the ramparts we watched were so gallantly streaming. And the rockets red glare, the bombs bursting in air, gave proof through the night that our flag was still there. Oh say does that star spanlged banner yet wave, oer the land of the free and the home of the brave. The british war ships were shooting cannonballs at the fort and we fought them off all night and into the next day. The original flag that flew over the fort that day is on display at the Nat History museum in DC-remember we saw it at Christmas Dave and Sandra and kids? They always hang a replica sized flag over the fort on Flag Day-it is huge. And every flag day they celebrate with music and fireworks. I think it is amazing to visit places in our history rather than just read about it. Which brings us to our recent GS trip to Williamsburg VA. Our girls agreed that a trip down south at the end of their CAdette year would be fun if we included a stay at the Great Wolf Lodge. It is usually incredibly expensive, but we got a discount scout rate so we could afford it and we used our cookie money/fund raising money to pay the cost. The girls had a great time at the hotel-it has an indoor water park and an outside pool. My coleader and I also brought along our boys so they had a fabulous time as well. Our plan was to visit historic Williamsburg-that is the country's first capitol intil it moved to Philly and then DC and it was the capitol of VA until it moved to Richmond. So it is a pretty big city. They have lots of people dressed in period costume with different jobs and all the shops are open and show how they made books, medicines, pastries, wigs, guns, etc. The homes are open for tours, including the Governor's palace-lived in first by the British governors until we overthrew their govt, and then run by the colonial Americans. Thomas Jefferson lived in the palace when he was appointed Governor as well. He also attended the College of William and Mary -the second oldest college in America(Harvard is the first). And we toured the Capitol building-beautiful all brick building where they governed the state and country. Lots of famous Americans hung out in Williamsburg including George Washington, Thomas Payne, Thomas Jefferson and even Benedict Arnold stopped in to talk us citizens into giving in to the British rule. We spent the day touring the city and watched the reenactment plays and earned a GS patch. We also spent a day at Busch Gardens-even they have a GS patch! And we received a patch from our stay at the Great Wolf Lodge. Most of my girls had to leave early since they had a confirmation meeting to attend on Thursday night. I had Allison get her homework done early with her high school partner, so we stayed a few extra days so we could go to the Busch Water Park. Tom joined us for a few days so we could go back to Busch Gardens. We also had tickets to the Ripley's Museum(the kids really enjoyed that). And Scott and Allison were playing an interactive video game/scavenger hunt at the GWolf Lodge, so we went back Sat afternoon so they could slay the dragon and the troll and save the princess. Since it was Father's Day weekend, they had lots of extra activities going on, including a visit from the Star Wars group-lots of storm troopers, and even Darth VAdar himself! Overall a very fun and action packed week for the girls. We may have to go back sometime to work on the other patches in the historical areas including Norfolk and Jamestown.
So now both kids are done with school. Scott finished 3rd grade with As and Bs on his report card. He also had a Bday party to attend last week while Allison and I sang with the GS choir at the nursing home next to the GS headquarters. We finish our year singing to the residents and then receive our star pins for participating in different choir events. We have another event scheduled next week as we are singing the Nat Anthem at the Frederick Keys baseball game. It is a local team, so you can sit out on the grass in the outfield and watch the game while the kids ride the carousel.
Looks like the hockey season is over-Sadly I have to put away our Red Wings flag since Pittsburgh Penguins took the Stanley Cup(that was a sad game). We managed to be the place where the neighbors accumulated to watch the series. We have a neighbor who is a big hockey fan originally from Traverse City, so we all cried in our beer together. But it was not a complete wash out since the Hershey Bears won their series. Tom and Allison even went up to Hershey last week to catch one of the games-right in the middle of severe weather. Hail storm and everything. I think Tom's car has a few dings. They even had an F1 tornado touch down that evening south of Baltimore. We have had more than enough rain out here this spring soon to be summer. Everything is growing like crazy.
Now we are starting summer camps. I have to go pick up Scott's tshirts for Cub Scout camp this week. And we have to get started on his summer homework assignments. He will probably keep up with the karate. Allison is going to squeeze in a few more piano lessons in between going to summer camps and classes. She also had to complete some extra training at church to help out with the Confirmation program in the fall. This week she will be taking classes at Howard County Comm College-a computer game maker class and an art class. I think the computer class will help with her Confirmation presentation. Her volunteer hours also count for High School requirements. Thank goodness.
So Happy Father's Day and Happy First Day of Summer! Happy summer solstice(longest day of the year!). Thank goodness-I need extra time! Kathleen and family

So now we have a new grad ready to start High School at Mt Hebron in the fall. Allison will be attending the public school. I missed getting her up to Field Day this week. I guess they gave the new incoming students an orientation on their sports teams and extra curricular activities.
We had a wonderful ceremony Monday night. I took the day off to take Allison to rehearsal in the morning. We also had lunch with one of her friends and her mom and afterwards I had my hair cut and highlighted. I managed to get a little packing done for our camping trip this past weekend-I had to pull out all the sleeping bags and cooking supplies. I also needed to drop off medical papers to our doctor's office to be filled out for summer camp, and then drop off brownies to school for the reception and wrap Allison's gifts. I bought her a hard cover year book and a silver graduation charm. Tom got her a phone so we can all text each other. She and her friends have been busy sending each other emails all week. Allison and her friend Jenna were the only two left in her class of 60 without cell phones. We just did not see a big need, but I want her to stay connected at the high school level, in case she needs to get a hold of Tom or myself while we are at work. She will be starting school at 730 and getting out at 230pm, and she may have to walk home from school if the bus doesn't stop near our house. I really don't want her walking all alone. But driver's ed is still a few years off-and that is even scarier!
The graduation ceremony was more of a summary of their last 9 years together. They passed out a few more awards as well as the diplomas. Allison was not allowed to play Pomp and Circumstance on the piano-the principal said it wasn't Spiritual music. Oh well. We did enjoy when they called all the kids up in front of the church and gave a summary of each year they were in the school-special events, who their teachers were, what the kids loved doing-all the way from Kindergarten to 8th grade. Allison was called up for Kindergarten and first grade, and then she had to sit out for 2nd grade since we went to Boston, and then they called her back up for 3rd-8th. It was quite a walk through memory lane-especially the discussion about 9/11 and how all the parents came running to pick up the kids. My parents were staying with Allison and Scott at that time since Tom and I were in England. They did not know what to do, but they contacted the school and decided to bring Allison home right away. Most parents did go pick up their children that day. We also missed out on another terrible event-the DC beltway sniper. The kids were not allowed outside the whole year-no recess outside, no afterschool activities, no Halloween parade. We were in Boston when that all happened and were grateful when they caught him before we moved back to Baltimore. Alot has happened in the past 9 years.
Allison did get to do a reading for the ceremony-of course my video camera died at that point, but fortunately Tom had Allisons pocket flip video camera and he recorded it for me. We also had a very nice reception-pasta dinner this year donated by one of the families that own a restaurant. And more than enough dessert-we ran out last year. But no coffee station(I supplied one last year when Allison and I volunteered to work the reception). It was nice to not have to work the party for a change. We had dinner and chatted with all the families while they played a slide show put together by one of the parents. They gave each kid a copy, and a copy of the videotaped Teacher-Student basketball game and a nice clock with a photo of the class. We found Allison a stuffed high school mascot-a little viking in a graduation gown and cap to put at her table place setting. By 9pm we were all pretty pooped and left. Scott still had the week left and half of this week before he is done.
The week went by pretty quickly-Scott still had some homework, but mostly he was done. I had to pick up some teacher gifts for Allison, and Scott decided to give his teacher, Mr Will an upside down tomato planter and a tomato plant(we want to know if it really works). I guess Mr Will is into gardening, so we thought that would be a nice gift rather than a certificate for Starbucks. (Mr Will loved it.) Allison spent the week trying to help me get ready for our camping trip. She had some seashells and hats to decorate as well as working on an assignment for camp. Friday night we took off camping with the Girl Scouts. I had to work Friday since I stayed home on Monday. It rained all last week and it was a bit tricky packing the van in the wet. I also had to fit 5 people in my van along with all their clothes, sleeping bags and pillows, food items and flashlights. Amazingly I got everyone in and we headed out to BroadCreek=the Boy Scout camp just north of us and south of the GS camp. We showed up around 830pm and the check in station was closed. We headed over to our campsite but the platform tents that were supposed to be there were not. So I was driving around a dark camp getting stuck in the mud and completely lost. Finally we parked and went to search for all the girls-this program was for Kindergartners to Sr High School girls. We found everyone outdoors at the dining pavilion and located a campsite. We had to unpack the van at the top of a hill and carry everything down a muddy hill. Of course the tents were full of bugs and slugs and most of the cots were broken. We finally put together a sleeping tent for the girls and myself and my co-leader and got some sleep.
Saturday was packed with activity. We got up early to make our own breakfast. Every campsite had a small cabin with a full kitchen, so I hooked up my coffee maker and my electric skillet. Allison requested pancakes and bacon, so we began to make pancakes and noticed I did not pack the spatula. No worries, I would just ask to borrow a fellow GS Leader's spatula as she was busy making pancakes at her tent site. Forget it-she did not want to share! What sisterly love amongst the Girl Scouts. So we made our own. I had my coleader cut out a square from a paper plate and I added a fork for a handle and voila! Survival of the fittest. Necessity is the mother of invention(but I would have shared my spatula). I also heard mumblings that I was cheating with my electric skillet. I did not know it was a contest. After a dramatic breakfast we headed over to our first class. The theme was Oceanography so we had lots of classes and activities based on water. The girls learned about salinity in the ocean, tides and waves, fish and creatures that live in the Chesapeake Bay, they also swam in the pool(freezing cold), fished in the pond(caught nothing), did archery, climbed the rock wall, and rowed a boat around a small lake while Sue and I paddled a canoe. All this before dinner plus they participated in a scavenger hunt for pirate coins all around the camp. We did well until we came across a ravine marked on our map with the only trail closed off due to erosion. We told the girls they would never place coins down in a dangerous area-boy were we wrong. The girls finally discovered another path down the steep cliff and recovered the coins. My favorite part was watching Allison row a canoe backwards across the lake to retrieve coins on the island. They managed to come in 4th out of 8 teams and some of the teams never found all the coins. They filled their entire day with activities, and were starving when dinnertime came around. Except the boy scouts forgot to fill their propane tank in the dining pavilion and we ran out so we had no noodles for our spaghetti. Instead we had salad and meat sauce and a roll. Plus we were scheduled to clean up after dinner, but I had to head out to sign the girls up for their Bridging ceremony. The girls are now Senior Scouts. Sue attempted to clean up the kitchen and dining area with other assigned ladies, except noone was in charge and the cook left a huge mess. They did their best. While I was checking in the girls for the bridging ceremony, I was given a new duty of making the bonfire for the evening ceremony. Not an easy task when it had been raining all week and the scattered wood in the area was pretty wet. But I think I made an awesome fire. We even put Allison to work with her fellow scout friend Jenna to assist with the burning of retired flags(we had two full boxes). The nylon flags are terrible-they melt and stick to the wood like marshmallows. My other girl scout went off to float a little boat made of bark out on a pond with a tea light and a whole lot of other little bark boats. Very pretty at night. We sat at the fire ceremony after the bridging ceremony and sang lots of songs. Then the girls headed out to complete their Exploring Space badge-we sat out on the field and checked out constellations and told their stories as well as looked at planets, stars and the full moon through a bunch of telescopes. Then we were ready for our own campfire and s'mores. Sue my coleader went back to our campsite and built up the small campfire the brownies had made earlier. When I went off to get the marshmallows and fixins for s'mores, I returned to hear Sue in an argument with another GS Leader fighting over the size of the fire. The other mom decided it should not be any bigger, but since we had gathered wood for a fire on our break, we decided to build a small fire for just us. All the little ones were going to bed since it was about 1030. Another great example of sisterly love. I thought they were going to punch each other's lights out! The woman finally apologized for getting so upset-I think she had some issues. We still got our s'mores and passed out around midnight.
On Sunday morning we were asked to put on a morning ceremony where we provided some info on creatures of the Chesapeake Bay along with a book written about Chadwick the Chesapeake Bay Blue Crab(we had the crab!). Allison made some cute cut outs and we read off trivia about our blue crabs(they swim rather than crawl, and they only live about 3 yrs if we don't eat them first). Chesapeake is the indian word for "Great Shellfish Bay" . So the mom in charge of this activity decided to read two books and the whole task lasted 1 .5 hours! Way too long for little girls to sit and pay attention. Afterwards the cardboard boat regatta took place in the pool. We sent the girls to watch while we packed and cleaned. We had to shake all the ants off Allisons sleeping bag that decided to crawl under her for the night. I am glad she had a foam mattress between her and the ants since I think she would have been pretty bit up.
By 1pm we had had enough of camping and took off. I had to drop off girls and clean out my van. It really needs washed since it is coated in mud, but maybe the rain will do it for me!
It was an interesting end to an interesting week. On Friday I had the scare of my life when our Rehab Director brought around a potential manager whom I just so happened to work for at St Agnes when we first moved here to Baltimore. It was the one job where Tom encouraged me to quit-the manager from HE double toothpicks. I almost died when I saw her walk through the door. I immediately mentioned my grave concern in their hiring of old Toni, but they thought I was being dramatic. Fortunately about 4 other staff members had had run ins with her, including physical fights and I believe we all convinced them not to bring her on. In that case, I would be handing in my resignation the same day. Things look pretty bleak in the staffing of our rehab dept. We have been trying to convince a PT to stay and work full time in our out patient dept., but he has seen how poorly we are all treated and the lack of incentives to work at our company lately and he decided he is doing quite nicely with contract work. So he may be gone in a few weeks. Not good for us. Our administrators are managing us into the ground.
But I keep showing up for my patients and the staff that is left-I am not too worried since I get job offers on a daily basis. Thank goodness!
Tom and Scott had a boys weekend while we were camping. First they went to see the new cartoon movie UP. Tom thought it was a bit adult for the kids. They even pitched a tent in the backyard and made brownies, sleeping out under the stars. First they had the neighbors over to watch the Red Wings game-how exciting. Wings are up 3-4 over the Pittsburgh Penguins. Tom couldn't get the house guests to leave though-even without me there to chit chat!
And Tom has been busy redoing our back deck-cleaning and painting, and he is repainting our deck furniture from green to a copper brown. He also put up my new umbrella=a free standing square umbrella with lights that covers the whole deck rather than the umbrella that fits in the table. It all looks very nice. And the bigger square umbrella gives us more shade in the back. We'll have to have the neighbors over for drinks on the new deck.
Glad to hear Stacey Seitz is safe back from South America. Hope she is doing better. We never heard what the medical verdict was. And glad to hear Uncle Jim Seitz is doing well after his car accident.
Time to go wash camping clothes!