We Play, We Pick Up - Week of Mar. 5th

Cameron has not had a shortage of playtime lately with buddy Will. And Friday was Cam's lucky day because the boys spent the entire morning together. Ironically, they were both up early on Friday (in their separate homes) convincing their mothers that they may not be as forthright the next time with planned play date information.

The morning agenda including baking some cookies. Grandma and Katherine acted as co-bakers, attempting to convince the boys that the cookies would taste much better after they came out of the oven!

Next item up was train engineering. After the track was built, Cam and Will picked their favorite locomotives to test it out. And after playtime comes pickup. Some kids don't appreciate picking up their toys, but Cam and Will had it down to a system. Will grabbed the track, ran it over to Cam and then Cameron dropped it into the storage box. And rounding out the morning, the boys requested to watch a show. Apparently, it was a nail biter!

One type of play for Cam that doesn't require pickup is hanging out in the hot tub! Of course, that's just as much fun for Cameron's parents as it is for him...

Up, Up, & Away - Week of Feb. 27th

Cameron is most fortunate to have some very special people in his life...two of them are 'Auntie' Jo and buddy Will. Cam's godmother and her son invited the Weatherford family to try out a new adventure with them.
They all met up at the Air Zoo in Kalamazoo. Founded in 1977, the Air Zoo has a rich history of honoring and celebrating air and space flight. http://www.airzoo.org/

Cam and Will's tickets were free and even included a few rides too!
The planes were so big and the boys, as well as their parents, thoroughly enjoyed the different types of flight equipment.

There were four rides available for younger kids. Will convinced Cam to try the "bucket ride" although Cameron thought it went up a bit too high.

There was a kid-sized helicopter and plane the boys were able to sit in. Only the controls moved in these "rides."

Beyond the airplanes was the 'final frontier'- space exploration! Solar system models, interactive demonstrations and even the inside of space shuttle provided other areas to venture into.

The day was a big success as it proves challenging at times to find an activity that both kids and adults of all ages enjoy.

This crew definitely agreed the Air Zoo is 'out of this world!'

Cam, Will and the Waffle - Week of Feb. 20th

"We will be friends until forever, just you wait and see." ~ Winnie the Pooh

President's Day is a day intended to honor all American Presidents, and to possibly have the day off of school.

Since Cameron didn't have school, Jane and Auntie Jo decided it was a perfect excuse for a play date at the mall. The Woodland Mall offers a play area with "over-sized" breakfast items.
Cam and Will thought the big blueberries in the large cereal bowl were funny because they felt squishy. The waffle with butter on top was fun to sit on too.

Auntie Jo, Katherine and Jane had no idea the play area would have so many kids, but quickly figured out that many kids also didn't have school that day. A sweet little girl was a little smitten with Cam, giving him his straw cup to take a drink, saying hi to him multiple times and even placing her own drink in his stroller pocket! Both Cam and Will had lots of laughs that day.
After a delicious lunch at Olga's, there were two boys who were pretty worn out.

Over the weekend, enough snow fell for a snowman to be built across the street. Almost as quickly as the new snow appeared, it began to melt. Maybe spring is around the corner? Someone thinks so, as shown by the modeling of shorts in February.

Perfect Pancakes - Week of Feb. 13th

“Love is just a word until someone comes along and gives it meaning.”

Cameron and Chris both gave Jane some beautiful flowers for Valentine's Day. Cam even gave his nanny, Katherine, a bouquet of flowers.
A delicious family dinner was a great way to celebrate the heartfelt holiday.

It was a busy week and unfortunately, everyone ended up with the sniffles.

The weekend, however, seemed to perk Cam up a bit. Most Saturday mornings consist of two of Cameron's favorites- pancakes and trains! Chris is always devising new locomotive layouts for he and Cam to set up.

No better way to start off the day then with a short stack, or rather, tall stack of pancakes! The tough decision becomes whether to pour homemade strawberry jam or syrup on the breakfast treat.
Luckily for Cam, he is not a picky eater when it comes to anything sweet...a trait acquired from both of his parents!

School Dinner with Dad - Week of Feb. 6th

Chris did such a great job of "hiding" Elmo Monday evening, one last picture had to be posted!

Cameron's school sponsors many events and one of our favorites is a dinner held at school with your child- one night with Dad and one night with Mom. This week was the "Dinner with Dad" evening. Chris and Cam attended the function.

The boys dined on yummy cheese pizza and oranges.
The gym area was also open and Cam enjoyed swinging and playing in the rolling tube.

Additional buddy time was available with Will over the weekend. The Thomas train set was in full steam mode as the boys played with the locomotives and other various toys. Both Cam and Will ate a great dinner, leaving their moms to assume that they were trying to make each other look good.

This week was also filled with great sadness, however.
Cam's sweet Aunt Tracy passed away unexpectedly. She adored her nephew and at every opportunity, gave him kisses and told him how wonderful he was! One of Tracy's favorite quotes: "Whatever you vividly imagine, ardently desire, sincerely believe, and enthusiastically act upon must inevitably come to pass." This was Tracy's wish for Cam. We will all miss her very much...

Where's Elmo? - Week of Jan. 30th

Some you may remember the famous "Where's Waldo?" books and games. The goal of finding Waldo in a sea of people or things required an "I Spy" type of skill.

A similar challenge is held in the Weatherford household every evening.
At bedtime, Cameron has to find where Elmo is hiding.

As you can imagine, we find Elmo hiding everywhere...he's been known to hang out in bathtub, behind curtains, under covers, even up on the ceiling!

One night, Elmo was perched on top of the bathroom door. When Cam went on his search and pushed open the door, who came crashing down?

Cam giggles in anticipation of the Elmo search...while looking in each area he answers yes or no if he sees Elmo. Of course, when he does finally find Elmo, he practically squeals!

The video below doesn't begin to depict how loud and vocal he's been at times...enjoy.

Missing Mom - Week of Jan. 23rd

Jane embarked on a two-day business trip this week to Florida (no need to be jealous- all meetings) leaving Cameron to fill in at her home workstation.
He clearly knows how to use the mouse and keyboard- we just have to work on his email response skills...

Even though Cam missed his Mom, he still had some big laughs with nanny, Katherine. To some this scene may seem frightening, but Cam doesn't mind a big Elmo suddenly appearing behind him.

Jane did return in time to witness the big snowfall. Nearly six inches fell to the ground on Sunday, coating the roads and blanketing the neighborhood.

Cam and his parents trekked through the snow in the afternoon and ventured into the park at the top of their street. The sled was a nice ride for Cameron and pushing and pulling it was a great workout for his parents!

"Though we travel the world over to find the beautiful, we must carry it with us or we find it not."
~Ralph Waldo Emerson

Cam In Motion - Week of Jan. 16th

Motion: The action or process of moving or of changing place or position; movement.
Cameron's mobility is a bit different from others, but he loves to be in motion. A rolling stool provides an activity to spin around and around.
Some kids dread going to the store or running errands. For Cam, it provides an opportunity to sit up tall in a cart while checking out all the items. Cam thought it was quite funny when his Dad had him try on some classy shades.

By far, the best cart ride in town is at Home Depot. In the modified race car, Cam attempts to control both steering wheels while Chris scouts out some required tool. This is a favorite outing for father and son.

Jane prefers taking Cameron to the mall where he can ride on the trucks. Looks like Cam was questioning why this character was so close!

With the weather a bit chillier these days, it seemed appropriate to pull a picture from summertime depicting one of the best ways to exercise motion.

Who doesn't enjoy swinging in the warm breeze?