Business or Pleasure - Week of July 12th

"The rule of my life is to make business a pleasure, and pleasure my business."  ~Aaron Burr

The last year brought many changes and one of them was business travel.  Cam's mom hadn't been on a plane since January 2020.  This week she needed to start up air travel once again for a business meeting.

Also beginning on Tuesday was summer school for Cam.  Three days a week the bus is scheduled to pick him at 8:15a and drop him off at 12:30p for the next 4 weeks.  Seeing some of his friends and having classroom time is a bonus for a kid who absolutely loves school.

Auntie Karen arrived for a couple of days to help out and hang out while Jane was gone.  She always brings a smile and Cam loves chatting with her and playing games.  We cannot thank her enough for always offering to be present when we need her most.

Jane arrived home on Thursday and we were all looking forward to family time on the weekend.  Cam is all about traditions and we have definitely gained our share due to him. 

Cam and Jane found this info about traditions online: Tradition is a belief, principle, custom or behavior with symbolic meaning or special significance that people in a particular group or society have continued to follow for a long time, often being handed down from one generation to the next. It’s derived from the Latin verb “trader” meaning to transmit, hand over, give for safekeeping. It’s frequently assumed that traditions have ancient history, but many have been invented on purpose over short spans of time. 

Traditions are important as they help us achieve the “Four B’s”: Being, Belonging, Believing and Benevolence. Being – our sense of inner peace and self-acceptance of our strengths and weaknesses and feeling grounded in our core identity. Belonging – our sense of comfort from being part of a group of people such as a family or team that share our values and provide support, respect and friendship. Believing – our need to believe in a system of moral principles and ethical behavior be that religious or secular. Benevolence – our predisposition to be helpful to others in need, to enhance the lives of others in our group of people or even strangers.

Our now traditional trek to the cottage on Saturday gave us some beach and rafting time.  The Lake Michigan water had warmed up enough for Cam to enjoy a lengthy float in his Cam Mobile.  We also celebrated Steff's birthday (our niece and Cam's cousin)and had our Haroldson cousins over for dinner and cake and ice cream.

Sunday took us to Maple Beach in Holland to see the Jellema cousins at their cottage for an early dinner.  Three siblings and their families had arrived from three different locations- Chicago, Vermont and Germany.  

This was our second year partaking in a shrimp boil with the entire crew!  Along with Uncle Jon and Aunt Betsy, we enjoyed the amazing spread with a spectacular view of our favorite Lake Michigan.  All of the kiddos were fascinated with the drone and it definitely captured some cool pictures of our large crew.  As a memento, Cam was presented with a camo hat adorned with a shellfish to commemorate the occasion.  It is definitely one of our most memorable.  Even though we only see these cousins typically once a year, it always seems like no time has passed when we all get together.  For us, tradition seems to always = love.

Camology Quotes:

Some days we just want quiet time.  Jane wanted to share a news story with Cam and began reading it out loud.  Her son, very politely, provided the following input: "Say it in your own mind.  I do not want to hear it right now, Mom."