Flowers + Family Friends= Fabulous - Week of July 23rd

The first week for Cameron in his new house couldn't have gone better!  His parents thought it may take some adjusting, but Cam truly likes his new place.
Cam and his Dad even picked out some pretty roses for Jane to put on the mantle.
Deer watching has become a family event in the Weatherford abode.  Just look at our view of the backyard!

The weekend was filled with family activity and family friends...
Jane's dear friend, Leslie, from grade school/junior high spent their vacation in Michigan.  Cam played on the beach with Leslie & Dan's girls, Erin and Allison and friend Clare.  Cam had water time, beach time and playtime with the three lovely ladies and Jane fell a bit short capturing photo events...but what great memories!

On Saturday, Cam along with his parents and grandparents spent the evening with close family friends considered to be aunts, uncles, and cousins at Stony Lake. 

Pictured with Cameron is 'Aunt' Sally and her nephew, Anthony, 'cousin' Caroline and Grandma.  It seems that Anthony and Cam thought it would be silly to hide under the tablecloth during dinner.  When Anthony popped up from under the table, Cam couldn't stop laughing!  It was a busy weekend, but being surrounded by awesome people sure does take such little effort and is so much more enjoyable than unpacking!!

A big thanks to the Scannell family (Leslie, Dan and girls) and the Huey family (too numerous to name) for all the sweet gifts for Cameron's upcoming birthday.  It seems that our once a year visits must become more frequent!

Making the Big Move - Week of July 16th

Most folks equate moving with stress.  Moving week for Cameron meant extra activities while packing continued.

Katherine brought Cam to Holland to play in Lake Michigan and hang out on the beach!  Apparently, it was a very busy, fun day as noted by the snoozing Cam on the ride back home.

On the actual day of transferring furniture from the old house to the new house, Grandma and Katherine kept Cam involved in multiple destinations so that the movers could get everything packed up.

First stop was the Children's Museum where it happened to be ice-cream making day.  Since ice cream is one of Cam's favorite treats, imagine his surprise when he discovered you could actually make ice cream in a ziploc bag with ice and other ingredients!  And the report was that it tasted delicious!

Everyone met up at JT's for a yummy lunch followed by homemade frozen yogurt complete with choice of toppings...yes, it seems someone had a form of ice cream twice in one day!!  By the time Grandma and Katherine arrived back home with Cam, most of the furniture was in the new house, including Cams' bedroom.  He was so excited to show everyone his new room!

Although we moved just one street away, we know it will be a bit of an adjustment for our old neighbors.
Thank goodness we all know we'll be friends forever!
 From the wise words of one of America's favorite neighbors, Mr. Rogers:

"It's a beautiful day in this neighborhood, a beautiful day for a neighbor. Would you be mine? Could you be mine? Won't you be my neighbor?"

”Imagine what our real neighborhoods would be like if each of us offered, as a matter of course, just one kind word to another person."

“You know, you don't have to look like everybody else to be acceptable and to feel acceptable.”
“Knowing that we can be loved exactly as we are gives us all the best opportunity for growing into the healthiest of people.”

Beat the Summer Heat - Week of July 9th

Fresh fruit and vegetables are certainly favorites of summer and Michigan offers some of the best!  One of our local weekly trips is to the Ada Farmer's Market every Tuesday.  This week, Cameron had an entourage with Auntie Jo, buddy Will, Jane and Katherine.  Even though it was quite steamy, the boys had a great time and enjoyed a tasty frozen yogurt treat afterwards.

With the heat wave continuing, it was a bit too warm to have a picnic outside, but just the right temp in the air conditioned house.  Cameron hosted his sweet friends:  Anna, Sarah, Megan and Emma as the sisters, along with Cam dined on Lunchables.

This week, we celebrated Chris' birthday along with Cam's cousin, Steffanie's birthday!  Grandma and Grandpa and the rest of the family met up in Muskegon for a delicious dinner and Ryke's cake.

With the outdoors feeling like a sauna at times, it was fun to figure out activities to play inside.  Both Cam and his cat, Stella, enjoy playing in the Elmo tent!

With the sun as bright as it's been, it easy to see that sometimes, you just gotta wear shades!

Fourth of July 2012 - Week of July 2nd

We have discovered that fireworks are not a requirement for a mega fun 4th of July week!
However, it does help to have the following ingredients to make the week fantastic...
A few cousins sprinkled with some special friends, topped off with family and all held together in a big bowl of water, Lake Michigan.

Cameron's cousins, Harper and Maya, are hanging out at their cottage for the rest of summer.  While Cam and Maya relaxed on the hammock, Harper provided live entertainment, pretending to be a ghost and showing off his bat swinging skills.

'Auntie' Amanda and 'Uncle' Mark spent a few perfect weather days at the cottage as well.  They brought their sweet dog, Reese, and she took a liking to hanging out with Cam and being in the water.  Lake Michigan was so warm and refreshing that everyone decided to lounge on their beach chairs in the water!  Since CamMobile is water-tested, Chris took Cam for a cruise in the calm lake.  Another form of water travel took on the form of a piggyback ride.
The week did consist of a little work as well...Cam attended his final summer "work day" with the graduate PT students at GVSU.  Wish everyone's daily grind could be this enjoyable!!!  Hope all of you had a great 4th!

A Cousin's Wedding - Week of June 25th

As the projects continue on the "new" house, our family received our first housewarming welcome!  A beautiful bouquet of flowers from one of our current neighbors delivered to our new abode!

On Friday, Cam attended a wedding reception for cousin Lacy at the cottage!

And a wedding always brings family together.  Cam was so fortunate to spend quality time with lots of his cousins, including Katie, who flew all the way from New Orleans.  Katie and Cameron were pretty silly together the entire time.

Since not every moment of a wedding reception is exciting for kids, Cam's Dad decided to liven things up a bit by "tossing" Cam into the air.  The weekend included plenty of walks on the beach in the CamMobile with Auntie Jo, Grandma, and Cam's parents.  On Sunday morning, a couple of early risers- Cam and his Dad, took off with CamMobile and walked over 6 miles total along the Lake Michigan shoreline!

It was a beautiful weather weekend when our big lake provides the needed air conditioning versus the man-made a.c. in the city.

“Summertime is always the best of what might be.”

  ~Charles Bowden