Sleeping In - Week of June 8th

“Better to get up late and be wide awake then, than to get up early and be asleep all day.” ~Matthew Henry

Perhaps the most obvious change in school ending for Cam is the newfound freedom of sleeping in...every...day and not just on the weekends!

George Gershwin wrote the lyrics, "Summertime and living is easy..." which definitely resonates with our son.

Monday evening, Cameron and his dad surprised Jane with an early birthday celebration! She finished work to find the two guys plating dinner followed by cake and presents 🥳

Chris left the next morning for his annual fishing trip to Canada.  Jane had the day off of work on her actual birthday so she and Cam headed north to pick up Oma.  Cam's grandma planned to stay with us until Saturday.  It was a day of more surprises with a delivery of Edible Arrangements from Auntie Karen!  That evening, Auntie Jo arrived for another celebration and dined with us sharing Jane's chosen dinner of sushi. 

Meanwhile, Cam's dad was catching a bounty of fish for us in the province of Ontario.  To reach the destination, they boarded a sea plane for a 35-minute flight. Even though the weather wasn't the greatest, the fishing was stellar.  The cell service at the remote location wasn't ideal but Chris checked in with us daily.  

Cameron and his grandma played games, strolled the neighborhood and shared lots of laughter during the week.  Saturday's lunch was early for our crew because we had a special event to attend.  Cousin Calla's spring dance recital was being held at a local high school near the cottage.  We arrived with 15 minutes to spare thanks to Cam's always on-time departure.  The dancing was fun to see with lots of different songs and arrangements.  Immediately following the end of the recital, we all headed back to the cottage for outdoor relaxation with family and friends. Calla showed us one of the smallest turtles we'd ever seen.  Coco and her dad put together a most delicious meal with the best brats and burgers from a local meat market.  Jane's favorite, the blueberry brat, was grilled to perfection.  Coco had special birthday candles to add to the mini cupcakes as an extra added touch for dessert.  Our cousins are simply the best!

It was a quiet Sunday morning.  Cam and his mom settled Oma back into her place Saturday evening, thanking her for such a fun week!  

Shortly before lunch, Jane had a little surprise planned for Cam...he actually guessed who was coming into our home before his mom could even get the words out.  Miss Amanda and her new baby, Quincy had arrived for their first visit since sweet Quincy was born.  We had such a nice time catching up and shared lunch together.  

Amanda provided Cam care for the longest consecutive duration of time, right up until she had her first child.  As Cam noted after mother and daughter, left..."Miss Amanda is already a great mom, Mom!"

Camology Quotes:

It seems to be a rule of thumb in our household (and most likely many others) that unusual events tend to occur when one parent is out of town.  Such was the case on Thursday when we experienced the rare tornado warning in our area.  Shockingly, Cam did not wake up when the sirens were going off.  Jane kept a close eye on the radar and the threat passed quickly.  However, the morning news covered the event quite extensively...to which Cam declared:

"Mom! You need to wake me up when these things happen- I am really surprised I did not hear anything!"

All About Community - Week of June 1st

"Volunteering is at the very core of being a human. No one has made it through life without someone else’s help.” ~Heather French Henry

Giving back is a bit of a family mantra for the Weatherford fam.  Our community has provided so much for us ever since Cameron was born.  

Renew Mobility is a local non-profit that enhances independence by providing access to mobility equipment.  Jane has been on the board of directors for more than five years.  Renew has provided multiple wheelchairs for Cam over the years.  The equipment is provided at no charge and the only request is a donation for the non-profit and return of the item when you're finished.  On Monday, a few board members and the Program Director of Renew met at Culver's.  Our team worked for 3 hours for our non-profit to receive 10% of the total proceeds for that timeframe.  Cam chipped in as well!

Thursday was the final day of the school year.  Cam's bus driver, Miss Taylor, quickly moved into our top 3 list of all-time favorite navigators for school!

West Michigan Miracle League (WMML) has been a part of our community for almost 15 years. For the final spring game, our Cam fans did not disappoint.  Miss Barbara, Cam and Brody's grade school teacher, has always attended a game every season since the two guys were in her kindergarten class!  Patti and Steve our dear friends and longtime neighbors made the trek as well to support Cam and watch him receive his final game medal.  The Home Depot team volunteered and offered everyone hot dogs and chips following the games.  A fellow player, Daniel, is pictured with Cameron.  They drive the same type of chair and both have baclofen pumps.  As an added bonus, they're friends too!

The weather couldn't have been better for baseball.  After some downtime in the afternoon, we were excited about our dinner plans.  Cam loves seeing adults who drive power wheelchairs and have independence.  Our friends Matt and Jill both drive their own vans.  Jill has a service dog, Tarzan.

We grilled burgers and hot dogs and everyone contributed to our meal. Jill made a homemade strawberry pie and caprese salad.  Matt brought homemade brownies.  After dinner, we played such a fun game called Everybody Knows!  It's a trivia card time and we played guys against girls.  The guys barely won 😉Such a super fun evening!

Babe Ruth is quoted as saying, "The way a team plays determines its success."  Our team play this week provided shared success.

Bob Feller once said, "Every day is a new opportunity...That's the way baseball is."  We couldn't agree more.  Make it a great day everyone!

Camology Quotes:

At dinner one evening we were talking about foreign languages. Cam mentioned that he took Spanish in school.  Chris disagreed and adamantly told him that was not the case.  To which Cam quickly responded: 

"Uno, dos, tres, cuatro, cinco, seis, siete..."