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

House for Sale - Week of July 18th

This week, Cameron's house was officially listed on the housing market for sale.  Jane called in some extra help to get everything ready. 'Auntie' Ronda and cousin Coco provided some whirlwind assistance.  There was still time for some silliness when Coco had Cam try on her glasses.
A big thanks to Katherine, Ronda and Coco because after the first day of showings, we had an offer!  Cam's home if now in negotiations and we will hopefully close on the deal at the end of July.

Cameron also had to go back to school this week as well as "work" at his Grand Valley State University job helping out the graduate students.  For the first time ever, Cam worked with three boys in his morning session.  The professor heading up the course, Miss Lisa, had a big laugh.  She's well aware that Cameron is a bit flirtatious with the girls.  But in this session, when all of the boys were working with Cam, Miss Lisa came over to give him lots of kisses.  She indicated that Cam actually rolled his eyes at her in 'embarrassment' because he was with the dudes.

Another bonus to the college day- Cam was able to see his good buddy, Liam, who also attends the same school with him.  It was a big treat and the guys really enjoy playing together.  Actually, all of the parents enjoy playing together too!

On Sunday, the family made a quick afternoon trip up to the cottage for a nice long walk on the beach with good friends/adopted cousins, Sarah and Matt Huey.
Cam and his Mobile had a good workout along with cousin Coco and her dogs.
It was fun to hang out with Sarah and Matt...Sarah is planning on a career in speech pathology as she begins filling out applications for grad school (we can't wait for her to work with Cam!) and Matt is headed off to Michigan Tech this fall.  With the Lake Michigan water feeling warmer every week, Cam should be able to go swimming very soon!!

My Walking Buddy - Week of June 11th

     From the wisdom of Dr. Suess: “How did it get so late so soon? It's night before its afternoon. December is here before its June. My goodness how the time has flewn. How did it get so late so soon?”  Yes folks, this is a very tardy blog entry...


Cameron loves to play with the girls across the street, but alas, there are a few boys in the neighborhood as well.  Cam's buddy, Eli, lives just a few houses away and one of his sitters is Katherine's sister (for those of you aren't regular bloggers, Katherine is Cam's nanny) and the boys enjoy their stroller walks together.  They like to imitate each other while strolling and when they meet up with some dog walkers, that's always a bonus.


It was a whirlwind week getting the current house ready to sell and continuing remodeling projects on the new house.  Chris and Jane enjoyed a break from it all in Chicago taking in a Cubs game while Grandma and Grandpa stayed with Cam.  A big thanks to them and all of the extra help we had this week.  

Our Katherine keeps Cameron on his toes and endlessly entertained with activities and play.  We have felt on more than one occasion that we don't know what we'd do without her.
Even though Cam officially outgrew naps some time ago, there are certainly times when a long day just wears a guy out!

A Bat, A Birthday, A Basketball - Week of June 4th

The packing continued this week for the Weatherford household.  Cameron had fun helping put things in boxes and supervising.  Chris thought it would be helpful if he packed up Cam too!

With all of the activity this week, there was bound to be a few surprises.  It turns out if you leave a door open without much supervision while moving things out of your home, an unexpected guest may show up.  As the family cat, Stella, kept peering out Jane's window (or rather up under the blinds) all day Monday, no one could figure out what was so interesting.  After Cam went to bed, Jane lifted the blind up a bit and sat back at her computer.  Not long after, a bat came swooping into the room!  Can you spot the winged wonder?  Cam couldn't stop laughing when Jane told him the story the next morning about his Dad saving his Mom from the creature.

Jane's birthday was on Saturday and 'Auntie' Amanda provided the second surprise of the week by driving into town and spending the day and evening with the family.  Cam made a special card for his Mom and gave her a  basketball hoop and basketball for their new house!  The hoop is already there but definitely needed a replacement. 
Many thanks to all of the extra help and visits we've received and a special accommodation to our wonderful neighbors who provided the greatest sidewalk chalk advertisement at the end of our driveway!

The Packing Begins - Week of May 28th

It's official!  Cameron will be moving into his new house in mid-July.  It's quite a long trek- we can see our new abode from our current backyard.  Since our existing home will be up for sale next week, the packing has already begun...

In the meantime, Cam kept busy with activities other than packing.

Katherine took him to one of our nearby parks on a beautiful sunny day.  Cam loves the swings and besides the slide, is his favorite park activity.

Since he's grown so much this past year, he discovered that if he leaned over, his feet would touch the ground- surprise!

These next few weeks will be very busy ones for the Weatherford family, but we will still keep you up to date...

Cam is very excited to show everyone his new home!!

If I'd known how much packing I'd have to do, I'd have run again.
~Harry S. Truman~