What I Did on My Summer Vacation, Part 1

We started July with a New Jersey day trip for the Coakley twins' birthday party.  We got there late, so almost everyone was gone, but we had an excellent visit regardless.  Two days later, I ventured to the Garden State again, this time to inspect a Scout camp's challenge course.  It was nice to go to a familiar place, even without any familiar faces.  I worked two summers at Brookville Scout Reservation, now called Citta Scout Reservation.  I wandered for a few minutes after completing my job and in return, found a deer tick on my calf the next day.  Maggie graciously removed it.

Our parade spot.

Then, to celebrate Independence Day, the heat arrived in force, but we were ready with red, white, and blue clothing and our shade from our car tarp.  We've established a tradition in attending the local parade, always in the same spot, just before the end of the route, at the last performance zone.  We park a car, set the tarp, relax in camp chairs, and have lunch as the marchers and vehicles go by.  Will got a bit toasty, but we got him wet and kept him cool-ish.

Will's new wet-look hairdo, good for keeping cool while looking hip.

We continued celebrating with three parties on the weekend and an overnight stay at a local bed and breakfast, the Salem Creekside Inn.  We were the only patrons, the owner was very nice, and we had a nice, short vacation from home.

The following weekend we went to the Rube Goldberg Challenge at Peddler's Village.  It was tough to see the machines' demonstrations due to the crowds, but I watched the official Peddler's Village machine in action on-line.  We met a family that operates a camp for special needs children.

But enough about Will just tagging along (though he doesn't have a choice!).  On 24 July, Will began a new chapter in his development with his first speech/feeding evaluation at Theraplay, a private therapy company.  It was a little daunting being there without Maggie, but I think I answered everything acceptably.  We're still waiting for evaluations for physical and occupational therapy, but he'll start feeding therapy in August.  Two days later, I had two meetings at Easter Seals, the first to learn about iPad apps that might be good for Will.  The second was a short training session on cortical visual impairment (CVI) for the staff.  It was presented by Will's feeding therapist's intern and I was invited me to attend.

We finished the month with a visit to Pittsburgh for Will's CVI exam.  We planned the trip to be longer than our previous ones so we could enjoy Pittsburgh for more than just one of our favorite doctor visits (and it was a good one: Will's vision continues to improve and she mentioned that she'd like to use his picture on the cover of her next book!).  We had a nice time and found Boyce Park (named for a founder of the Boy Scouts of America) near our hotel first visiting Carpenter Log House, a local historic cabin, with an Eagle Scout service project outside and a costumed guide inside.  He was very good, friendly, and took us (we were the only visitors) to the upstairs sleeping room that most people don't get to see.  We drove to see other parts of the park (snow sports area, wave pool, model airplane field, water filtration experiment ponds, arboretum) and had hoped for a guided walk at the Nature Center, but the staff was gone for the day.  The drive home was longer than usual since we left the Pennsylvania Turnpike, but it was scenic and we stayed at a hotel next to a Gander Mountain store (outdoor gear) where Maggie found a nice pair of expensive shoes that weren't expensive.

In use until the 1950s.

Water bottle not part of costume!