A Camping We Will Go - Week of July 18th

All packed and ready to roll!

“A great many people, and more all the time, live their entire lives without ever once sleeping out under the stars.” ~ Alan S. Kesselheim

To some, the word "camping" may invoke a variety of descriptive words...bugs, repellent, outdoors, fire, s'mores, relaxing.  Whatever it may mean to you, for Cam, it is a chance to experience living in nature for three whole nights.
Three whole nights...this has been his request since we departed Fisherman's Island last year after staying 2 nights.  He has remembered and reminded his parents every so often over the course of 2016.  Wednesday afternoon after checking our list and squeezing camping supplies and our family into the van, we were finally on our way!

Pulling into the campground!

Upon arrival, we were greeted by Ms. Ann, Katherine & Paul, Christopher & Cassie, Zach and the great outdoors.  We were able to borrow Molly & Gordy's tent this year and what an upgrade- our palatial abode for the duration was roomy and comfortable.  The rustic camping experience lives up to its meaning- plain, simple, rural.  Cooking on the campfire, outhouses and no electricity rule this state park campground.  It is quiet, serene and nestled under a canopy of trees.

Of course, the big bonus of this 2500+ acre area - you're right next to Lake Michigan!  We all took part in sunset viewing and it seems no matter how many you see on the big lake, each one displays its own unique artwork.

With the warm water temperatures, we spent a great deal of our time during the day beach side, soaking up the sun.  We took our baths in the lake and Cam enjoyed a train of inner tubes behind him in the Cam Mobile.  He was filling up his tank at imaginary gas stations and stopping at different ports.  We've also noted how friendly our fellow campers are.  Many commented about Cam's ride and how cool it is!
Using a frisbee, there were endless pie creations being served sand side.

Cam is an early riser and since we didn't want to disturb our fellow campers, he and Jane went on an excursion every morning.  Now, in true confession, Jane may have used her Starbucks app to discover that one of the coveted coffee houses was less than 20 minutes away.

Due to this diversion, Cam and Jane found the Ironton Ferry!  At first, they thought it was so silly that the GPS told them to board a ferry, so they waited until the next day to take Chris along too.  Only four vehicles, and a handful of bikes and people can board to cross the southern part of Lake Charlevoix.  Its operation began in 1876 and it can make up to 100 trips a day!  The trip across is less than 10 minutes and the $3 ticket is totally worth it.

Back at camp, we enjoyed having Oma & Opa with us for dinner one night which was such a treat.  Cam showed them around the campground and somehow food always seems to taste better around a campfire.  Since Oma used to work for The Girl Scouts of America, she felt right at home.

A stay near Charlevoix wouldn't be complete without heading into town for ice cream one evening.

We can't thank Katherine and Ann enough for all of the prep and planning and for helping us start a new tradition of Fishy Island camping. Because of Katherine first taking care of Cam when he was just a little guy, our families are forever a part of each other's lives.  It's easy to see these two will have a special connection for life.

Cam highly recommends you do yourself a favor and sometime soon, be sure to sleep out under the stars!  (The car works too...especially if you're just plain tuckered out!)

Camology Quotes:
It was later in the evening when the decision was made to head into town for ice cream ...
"They should really deliver ice cream to our campsite!"

As we were driving out of camp on our departure day, Cam was asking why we had to leave at a certain time.  We told him other campers were going to stay in the site we were at: 

"I don't want to leave, but we have to follow the rules."

Driving home, we realized it was past lunchtime and we weren't seeing any places to stop in sight.  The GPS has an option to find places to eat nearby. Cam was excited to learn the nearest place was McDonald's.
"Whoever invented this GPS is a genius!"

Time Flies - Week of July 11th

"Time is at once, the most valuable and the most perishable of all our possessions." ~John Randolph

With the upcoming Olympics, Cam participated in a library event that included creating a torch, medal and crown.
He also completed a training event with Michelle at the Cascade Park- she had to run to keep up with his speedy driving on the track when they covered an entire mile!

Amanda & Cam

Cam & Michelle

On Friday, Cam persuaded Amanda and her friend Ann to partake in some friendly police training and pretend police work.  Notice they are both wearing their official badges.


Big celebrations awaited our weekend.  First, Michelle's birthday party hosted at her home with a Mickey Mouse theme was a blast.  The cookout was delicious and everyone had to fill out a name tag with their favorite Disney character. We met all of Michelle's family and Cam even tried out a super cool mask that Michelle's brother had and sported some mouse ears on his head from the birthday girl's days of working at Disney.

From one party to the next, we headed

Cam & the graduate, Hannah

Hannah & baby Cam

to an open house for Hannah who graduated from high school.  Hannah and Cam have a special connection and even though Hannah now lives in Florida, we're so thankful this family from Michigan had a celebration in their home town.  With treats to eat and friends to hang out with, it was a pretty late night for Cam.

After a good night's sleep, though, it was time to extend the festivities at the big lake.  We all made our way to the cottage late morning and were greeted by six foot waves and sunshine, even though the rain had made an appearance on our drive there.  It was a day filled with reminiscing, eating good food and sharing our favorite memories.  We also talked about the need to keep in touch and be sure we all meet together at the cottage at least every few years.
It was Hannah's idea to re-create an old photo we had printed out for her.  On the left side is circa 2009. The kids were good sports about trying to have the same pose/facial expressions and Hannah insisted she put in the pigtails!

Time seems to go by in the blink of an eye.  There are moments when we wish we could press pause, but it's also exciting to see how the future will play out.  We do know these friends will be a part of our lives always.

Hannah as Jane's flower girl

Cam & Hannah

Camology Quotes:
After Chris brought Cam up from the beach ...
"I thought I was going to be seasick!"

Cam's new favorite phrase: 
"Hey, how about this idea"  which is immediately followed by...
"Isn't that a great idea?!"

A Birthday for our Country & Chris - Week of July 4th

Cascade Road

What does independence mean to you?  Freedom, celebration and self-governance come to mind.  Most recently, Cam has been asking for privacy to be by himself.  Sometimes, this is when he's content or at

Cam- Parade Participant!

times when he needs a break from everyone and everything...
and don't we all feel that way at times!
 Becoming independent is a part of growing up and although Cam's independence is different from others, his thoughtful way of requesting it shows his parents that he has a good grasp of understanding his own feelings.

On Monday, Cam exercised his independence by participating in the Bike Parade which is always the leading entry in the Cascade Township Independence Day Celebration.  Our son was so determined in his parade duties, he would barely slow down for a photo op.  After the bikers and powerchair participators completed their trek, officers, fire trucks, local business floats and others paraded through.  A sheriff on a police motorcycle stopped to hang out with Cam for a picture.  That evening, we opted to watch some fireworks from the comfort of our front yard!

As if that day wasn't excitement enough, Michelle, who watched the parade with us, had big plans for the remainder of the week.


One of Cam's awesome bus drivers, Ms. Christie had extended an invite to her farm.  The animals took a liking to Cam as he and Michelle hung out with the horses, goats and chickens.

Ms. Christie even made a funny video to send to Cam after their visit.

From horsing around to splashing around, Michelle and Cam made their way to Millennium Park.

The six acre, man-made beach in the Grand Rapids vicinity hosts more than a dozen sprayers, buckets, splashers and other water features in the splashpad area.
On the humid, warm days that are not the norm in Michigan, getting wet in the sunshine seems to be the best activity around.

We celebrated Chris' birthday by taking out the best dad/husband ever to Olive Garden for an Italian dinner.  Cam had framed one of his favorite pictures of the two of them to give him and he was also given a certificate for a new e-reader of his choosing.

We were at Oma and Opa's on Sunday to see our family friends from Joliet, the Hueys, who gave Cam an early birthday present.  Gifts included an awesome bag of law enforcement goodies from the Joliet Police Dept! as well as a camping headlamp.



The remainder of the day was spent in the water and on the beach.  Cam had multiple kayak trips as we paddled out on the calm lake and plenty of "baking" time on the beach, creating different culinary delights out of sand with Oma.

Chris and Aunt Gay share a birthday exactly 50 years apart.  Cam gave Aunt Gay a card and some new sunglasses.

Cam also tried out a new look this week when Michelle draped her hair over Cam's head so he could see what he would look like.
Cam's response: "I look like a girl!"

Camology Quotes:
We enjoyed a cookout with our neighbors at the Flegel home.  Chris asked Cam if he wanted to go downstairs and play pool.  When Cam realized what the "pool" was...
"I thought they had a pool to go swimming downstairs!"

Jane was trying to upload a video to YouTube for viewing elsewhere and was running into issues.  Cam was calmly explaining what the process was..
"First you get the video and send in email to the internet and then get it in YouTube..." (at this point, Mom stops listening and her son definitely notices...)
"Mom- listen to my instructions please!"

S is for Swimming, Schooling, Siestas & Socializing - Week of June 27th

SuperNannies!  Amanda & Michelle :)

Every time someone says any letter is for... as in "C is for Cam" the classic show, Sesame Street comes to mind.  Even though Cam has outgrown his Elmo phase, determining the letters that make up words, putting them together and learning to read is high on our summer agenda.  To that end, our academic boy was anxious to head back to school to attend summer session three mornings a week.


We had our first summer dinner picnic siesta at the Cascade Park where a new playground was dedicated.  Chris volunteered 10 hours of hard labor with our community to assist in the new construction.  The new play area is very accessible with ramps and a rubberized ground.  We see many trips in the future to our local park, a 5 minute car ride from home.

Ms. Laura completed her final swimming lesson with Cam this week at the Mary Free Bed YMCA.  She loves working with him and he's come a long way with back floating, relaxation techniques and working his arms and legs in the pool.

Gearing up for the holiday weekend, Michelle took Cam over to the local library for powerchair/bicycle decorating in preparation for the big parade.  They provided all of the materials and Cam's chair ended up with rocket boosters in the back and lots of red, white and blue!

The summer bus driver, Mr. Chris, gave each of the kids a treat bag as well as an American flag and hat to celebrate Independence Day.  And Cam's dad looks quite festive sporting both!

Mr. Chris & Cam

On Friday evening, Auntie Karen drove in from Chicago to attend a surprise early birthday outing for Chris, which Jane had set up at Dave & Buster's.  The small, adult-only gathering celebrated the coolest guy Jane and Cam know!

Saturday morning, our crew headed north to spend the day on the beach.  Auntie Jo and Will met us there and we all hit the sand with Oma.


It was a sunny day with calm waters and our inflatable kayak was ready for Lake Michigan once again.  Multiple trips were taken in the little boat.  Although the big lake itself wasn't quite warm enough for leisurely swimming, it felt refreshing to cool off by wading.  Or, if you're Chris and Cam, "wading" means the Cam-Mobile rolls into the water at top speed where Chris catches it, or catches it as Cam dunks into the water.  Thankfully, this boy enjoys getting wet, even if it is a bit chilly!


Camology Quotes:
Cam has been actively helping Chris with various building projects in the garage.  One evening, they ran into some issues and were trying to come up with some solutions.
Cam was driving around in his powerchair making a clucking noise.

Dad asked, "Cam, why are you making a clucking noise?"
"I do this when I am trying to think of an idea.  It helps me think!"