Let the Summer Fun Begin! - Week of June 11th

"If you saw a heat wave, would you wave back?" ~Steven Wright
"It was June, and the world smelled of roses. The sunshine was like powdered gold over the grassy hillside." ~Maud Hart Lovelace

Once school is out for summer, the activity list begins to grow...

The first part of the week was dedicated to animals.  Miss Amanda was pet sitting again and Cam had a chance to visit his favorite guinea pig, Priscilla Pigsley.
Jane had to travel overnight to St. Louis for work, but Amanda kept Cameron plenty busy.

At our local library, they offer a different event for kids each week in the summertime.  Farm-on-the-Go was the chosen experience on Tuesday where a variety of farm critters took over the library lawn.  Cam pet a rooster, a bunny, and a goat.

Next up, was the first trip of 2018 to visit Boulder Ridge Wild Animal Park (website).  Amanda, Cam and Emma headed out to the unique zoo to spend the morning feeding the animals and riding the tram.
Watching the giraffes bend their long necks all the way down to kid level is always a surprise to Cam.
And the pigmy goats looked like they would try to gobble up our ten-year-old if he got close enough.  Perhaps the funniest pic of the day was the camel smiling for a selfie next to Miss Amanda!

Friday's adventure was a reserved afternoon time slot at Reeds Lake for the Sailing Clinic with Mary Free Bed.  We were surprised to see Cam's "Halloween 4 the Rest of Us" buddy, Miss April.  She had signed up for sailing as well.  These two met a couple of years ago and have hung out at many different events.
It was a surprisingly calm afternoon and our first course of action was to take a pontoon ride around the lake.  The relaxing ride lasted about 30 minutes and then it was time for our sail.  Captain Mary took Cam, Amanda, Jane and two other passengers on our voyage.  Due to lack of strong winds, though, our venture was short but fun.  A paddle was used to bring us partway back to shore.

One may think this may be enough for one week, but we weren't done yet!
Saturday was the walk for Lori's Voice, an organization geared specifically to help children with special needs.  

Lori's Voice is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization which was founded and established to help young people with disabilities. This organization evolved from Lori Hastings' great love for children and the realization of so many challenges young people face when living with a disability. Living with a disability herself, Lori understands the medical needs that are not covered by insurance. Lori's Voice takes great pride in the fact the the entire organization along with our fundraising activities is completely handled by volunteers. No one at the organization takes a salary.

The best part of the morning was seeing how many people came out to support the event even in the pouring rain!  We met Lori and Dave Hastings years ago at the West Michigan Miracle League.  They attend nearly every game just to lend their support and pass out blankets when it's chilly.  The annual "Walk for the Challenge" at the Berlin Raceway in Marne, Michigan was underway with inclement weather.
 The track is almost half a mile long and paved which makes it perfect for power chairs, wheelchairs, strollers, etc.  The money raised goes toward Lori's Voice and its mission.  Local news was also in attendance to cover the story.  One of the volunteers gave Cam a blue cape made for all of the kids by a supporter of the charity.  And, our son/hero met some other "superheroes" while we were there!  Ms. Lori is definitely a superhero to Cam!

From rainy day to sunshine and warm breezes, we drove north on Sunday.  While Grand Rapids peaked in the high 90's that day, Lake Michigan kept us out of the red as we enjoyed Father's Day on the big lake.

The waves were rolling and Chris had a good workout paddling us south just to keep up with the current.
We shared a delicious dinner with Oma and Opa, thankful to be able to eat outside on the handmade picnic table built by Chris and his son.
On Father's Day and every day, we truly appreciate all of the many talents and gifts Cam's dad possesses, but mostly, we are just simply grateful for the gift of him.

Camology Quotes:
When Jane was heading home from St. Louis, Cam was helping Chris with some of his work tasks at home.  Chris called on speaker to get an update on a ticket he had placed.  Cam was listening and they were on hold for nearly 20 minutes.  There was music and intermittently, the announcement "your call is important to us, please continue to hold."  After hearing this quite a few times, Cam announced to his dad...
"If it's important they should answer the call."