Turning 9 is Pretty Fine - Week of Aug. 15th

"You have the right to...a Birthday.  Anything you do or say should be fun today.  That's an order!"

Instead of a birth-day, Cam seemed to enjoy a birth-week!  The celebration began and didn't end until Sunday eve.

A trip to Boulder Ridge Wild Animal Park with Michelle started things out right.  Cam is a fan of the giraffes but Michelle is a bit leary of them and kept telling them to "back off" when they kept trying to lick Cam.  Boulder Ridge even upgraded their safari ride by offering a tram which has 2 lifts so our park fan can now ride up front.


With a week of treats, Culver's has had quite a bit of business from the Weatherfords and friends since they offer a short shake "happy hour" each day in the afternoon.  Any flavor shake is just $1 and it's the perfect size.

Jane took a few hours off of work on Thursday to take Cam and Michelle for a swim at the cottage with Oma.  It was a day filled with infinite sunshine and the warm water called us all in.  Cousin Megan joined us on the beach too.  It was a short visit but any amount of sand and Lake Michigan time is totally worth it!

Cam & Sally

On Sunday, we had an early visit from Auntie Amanda, Uncle Mark, Sally and Henry.  The kids played for a couple of hours and our awesome friends headed back to Ann Arbor.  We were so thankful they drove over to see us and celebrate Cam!

For the official birthday celebration, family and friends gathered to enjoy Cam's early dinner request of pizza, breadsticks, ice cream sundae bar and cake for all.  One cake was from the official police tour and the other from our favorite bakery, Rykes.  And both were filled with chocolate cake, filling and chocolate frosting, and tasted delectably delicious!

Mr. Ken, Cam & Amanda
(Ken's granddaughter/Cam nanny)

Cam's buddy and former Sergeant, Ken Kleinheksel brought over his original uniform and badge for Cam to wear for his big day.  What a thrill!  The birthday boy was able to wear an official deputy
police shirt and Mr. Ken brought over some of his police gear to show the kids.  As a special keepsake, Cam now has an autographed copy of Sergeant Ken from his on-duty days.

Liam & Cam

Buddy Liam and Cam both share a desire to be connected with the police department one day. Liam wore his official police tie and badge for the party.  These were two very official-looking boys.

We enjoyed hanging out with family and friends and the time went by much too quickly.  Jane was remiss that she didn't capture a group photo of all the VIP's, but was able to grab a family shot of a few.   We were so thankful for everyone's time on a Sunday evening, homemade cards and gifts!

Baby Ella, Gordy & Cam

Since Cam has become enamored with everything police, he has been asking his parents to tell a new police story for bedtime reading.  It became clear we had to call in reinforcements.  A month ago, we sent out a request to family and friends to send in their police stories.  Jane gathered them all into a shutterfly book you can see in this link below.

Ella, G, Molly,
Ah-Dah, Ann, Cam

Needless to say, even with 40 pages, we will be begging for more stories before Christmas so a volume 2 can be created.  Please, everyone start writing :)

Cam's Police Stories- Shutterfly Book:
https://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=2Acs2LJi2bs3dg&cid=SM-PBAPP

Camology Quotes:

Saturday included some unexpected excitement as tornado sirens sounded throughout the Grand Rapids area.  

At the time of the warning, Chris and Cam were out running errands.  Jane reached them on the cell phone and requested they go into a store until the warning passed.  

Cam thought the entire experience was a great adventure. Upon arrival home, he announced:

"Mom, we are O.K.!  And it was not a drill!"

Surprise Police Department Tour! - Wed. Aug. 17th

Disclaimer: Blog 1 of 2: Two blog entries this week because there is too much to share!

"Life's most persistent and urgent question is, What are you doing for others?" - Martin Luther King Jr.

Through a series of events, we made a connection with the Wyoming Police Department, thanks to our relatives, the Cornell family.  Cam's parents decided it would be an awesome surprise to take their birthday boy to a police station on his special day.  The plan was set up with a Captain at the department...what is that saying?  Go big or go home!

On Wednesday, Aug. 17th at 1:30p, Cam only knew he was heading out in the van for a birthday event, but had no idea what it was.  Michelle filmed this sweet video of our arrival on location.

Upon entrance, it seemed as if the entire building knew Cam's name and reason for being there.
We were escorted into a conference room with a Birthday sign on a board at the entry.  Awaiting us was a chocolate birthday cake and cupcakes from Marge's Donut Den along with quite a few deputies.  Captain Kim Koster introduced each officer and detective and explained what they do.  Officer Toonstra and his K-9 partner, Dutch, demonstrated a few tricks.  This dog
also showed off his sweet side by giving Cam some kisses.

Tour Guide-Officer Allen & Cam

Officer Allen then led us on our official tour- first we ventured outside in the back of the building where Cam had a front seat

Ms. Tara & Cam

viewing in the squad car.  The officer explained all of the lights, buttons, radar and computer screen to the young recruit.  It was a surprise to us all to see the small printer for printing tickets (how would Cam's parents know about that?!) right inside the police car as well as a secret gun strategically placed.
Next up was the police motorcycle and even though Cam has grown quite a bit, he looked small in stature on the big bike.

Our tour guide led us through the S.W.A.T. (Special Weapons and Tactics) room and then to the holding cells which Cam deemed quite small.  Officer Allen took us to the 2nd floor where the offices are and we met more personnel, including detectives.  As one of our final stops, we even saw the office of the Chief of Police- wow!

The Briefing Room

Lastly, Captain Koster thought Cam might want to bring some treats to the officers during their briefing, which takes place every afternoon.  Everyone we saw in the building gave Cam a "Happy Birthday!" greeting.
As we were getting ready to leave, Ms. Tara gave us a cd of all of the pictures she had taken during our stay!

To say we were overwhelmed by this experience is just simply an understatement.  We were surrounded by a community of officers who felt like friends by the time we left.

Captain Koster showing 
Cam "the Shield"

Cam was given quite a few special souvenirs.  One of his favorites is a special engraved coin that all officers are given after being inducted into the department.  The words ingrained are: "This is my SHIELD.  I bear it before me into battle.  But it is not mine alone.  It protects my brothers and sisters on my left and right it protects my city. I will never let my brothers or sisters out of its shadow, nor my city out of its shelter. I will proudly carry my shield before me, with honor."

Thanks are not enough for the Wyoming Police Department.  We cannot wait to see you all again!

Camology Quotes:
A repeated conversation that took place at least 10 times the day of Cam's birthday...

"Where am I going for my surprise?"
Do you really want to know?
"Yes, I mean no!  Don't tell me."

Surrounded by Love - Week of Aug. 8th

Always be... Surrounded by love and filled with gratitude.

It feels as if Cam is surrounded by love every week and we are in turn, filled with gratitude.  This week it was Cam's turn to surround his parents with love, literally.  He and Michelle made this homemade sign for Chris & Jane to celebrate their 13th wedding anniversary on August 9th.  The two sign designers looked up online and found that lace was the gift to honor 13 years so the sign was adorned with the delicate material and they picked a bouquet of Queen Anne's Lace from the backyard.  What an awesome surprise for Cam's thankful parents!

New explorations were on Cam's list of things to do.  He visited Indian Trails Campground with Michelle where they toured the area and found the cool colored map of the U.S. painted on the pavement.


The Grand Rapids Public Museum was a fun outing with Michelle and friends.  They found an Olympic display, robotics and even a smelly animal just like one that Cam had seen in his backyard one morning, far away from the house at least!  A picnic lunch with downtown GR in the background was a new experience for the museum visitors too.

 Another day included a repeat visit to Millennium Park's splash-pad on a warm morning requiring some welcome relief.

Amanda and Cam kept the fun going with biscuit-making and a lunch outing.

Saturday marked the annual Cousin Harper's Baseball Game held in Montague, Michigan.  Cousin Harper is an avid ball player and family and friends come each summer to join in the fun.  It was a cloudy day with a bit of a drizzle in the afternoon, just perfect for the game because it wasn't too hot.

Chris and his son built an automatic bat box for Cam to use (modeled after a similar one created by May We Help) and although it may require some fine tuning, it was a hit, actually, for its first outing.  Just as the last inning began, the sun broke through the clouds.  The kids all had one last turn at bat and then rounded all of the bases together.

Of course, trying to gather a group of kids to pose for a picture at the same time is asking quite a bit after a couple of hours of baseball.  Nevertheless, most of the younger cousins are all pictured with a few of the adult cousins who attempted corralling others.  Many thanks to the organizers, of whom there are many, to pull this event off!

We dined as a group at Pekadill's and Cam enjoyed a new ice cream flavor, Michigan Pot Hole.  As you might expect, it is chocolate ice cream with large "pot holes" of dark chocolate rounds embedded in the dairy goodness.

We were thankful Michelle joined us for the afternoon, partaking in baseball, dinner and watching a beautiful Michigan sunset.

On Sunday, the day was spent beach side with Oma.  She and Cam are experts at making sand buildings, sand cupcakes and pizza.

We played for a couple of hours in the water, enjoying the mild temps and gentle waves.  With the Cam Mobile being buoyant, Cam likes to pretend that different swimmers have to arrive to fill up his gas tank.  Meanwhile, back on the beach, Cousin Maya buried us all in the sand, making for fun attempts at escaping, otherwise known as jail breaks.

And speaking of arrests, summer should get a speeding ticket for going way...too...fast!

Camology Quotes:
While Cam and Michelle were busy gathering a surprise bouquet outside, Jane walked out to get in her car and then saw the pair tucked behind a tree.
"Mom, we are doing nothing!" 

Cam had many questions about his parent's wedding anniversary.  Our favorite one by far:
"Is it the law that you kiss all day long on your anniversary?" 

Beaching It - Week of Aug. 1st

"You can shake the sand from your feet, but not your soul..." ~Author Unknown (yet known by all those who are connected to the shoreline)

There is a sign that hangs in our living room: "The Beach is My Happy Place" given to us by our dear, awesome friend known as 'Auntie' Karen.
It reminds us of the place we go to feel at peace, to breathe in fresh air and put our toes in the warm sand and bodies in the unsalted water.
We enjoyed a couple of awesome beach days with Oma, Opa, cousins, aunts and uncles.

Cousin Eric was kind enough to take us for a boat ride Saturday afternoon.  The water was fairly choppy when Jane & Cam took their place at the bow of the boat.  Due to their up front vantage point, a couple of big waves made a huge splash right over the top of them simultaneously causing them to get drenched, surprised and laugh about the entire scene.  Even with the somewhat bumpy ride, feeling the waves guide us through the whitecaps was exhilarating. We're definitely considering a waterproof camera for future outings.

Not only was the beach great for strolling, but the sandbars are so shallow!  It was easy to push the Cam Mobile through the water, especially when its wheels are actually on the sand versus floating as they normally are that far out in the lake.
Many sand muffins, pies and pizzas were made on the shoreline when we weren't all hanging out right in Lake Michigan.
The following day brought calm waters and kayak rides.  When asked if Cam preferred the bumpy ride or the quiet kayaking, like any boy, his response was an exuberant, "the boat ride!"

We thoroughly enjoyed some VIP visitors this week- Ms. Sarah, all the way from Colorado to spend time with her fam at Stony Lake and see us for dinner one evening.  She's a speech language pathologist and was very impressed by Cam's increased vocabulary.  Her boyfriend is a month away from being a police office in training which Cam was super excited to hear about.  Sarah was introduced to Sergeant Cooper (shown on the tv behind Cam) to be certain to let her boyfriend, Josh know all about it.


Cousin Steff gave Cam an early birthday present- a police speed boat to race in the water!   Cam thought it was so cool!  Our entire fam enjoyed a tasty dinner at Old Channel Inn, compliments of Opa and Oma- many thanks!

We had the pleasure of hosting Oma, the world's best grandma (according to Cam and Steff) and premiere applesauce maker.

As summer continues to travel at a record pace, it's hard to believe August is already here.  And with summer comes the realization that there's nothing quite comparable to the sand in your toes, your bed, the car and anywhere else you landed.  It's a small price to pay for a front-seat view of the best sunsets anywhere around!


Camology Quotes:
Cam is very observant and always seems to notice if something, anything is out of place.
Oma thought she may have done something wrong when Cam announced:
"Oma, I need to talk to you." 
What is it Cam? asked Oma, rather nervously.
"You left your slippers in the bathroom!"

*please note- it may not sound funny until you hear Cam's super squeaky giggle-speaking when he thinks something is beyond hilarious!