My Boy at the Lakehouse . . . Finally!

Cameron talks about the Lake House all the time.

When can I go? How much longer? I wish I was there.

Grandpa promised a boy's week as soon as school was out. A couple days after his graduation I said good-bye to him

But his first stop wasn't the Lake House.

He hopped rides on his way to Fond du Lac.

First he caught a ride to Milwaukee with my sister and family. They went to the Children's Museum where he got to lay on a bed of nails and touch a sting ray. He spent the day happily with his cousins.

Then he hitched a ride with my brother-in-laws parents and brother's family the rest of the way to Fond du Lac. Since he spent the day with them, he had no problem jumping into their car . . . from what I hear, he slept most of the way.

He was dropped off at my parents house where he got to ride (actually drive) Grandpa's tractor, go to Culver's with Grandma, and take a bath in their huge garden tub.

Grandpa S had to work on Monday, but as soon as he got out of work he picked Cameron up.

Of course, there was no leaving town before stopping in to see Grandma S. I was actually worried for her that they would be so excited to get to the Lakehouse, they wouldn't have waited around to see her. They finished packing up and said good-bye and off they went.

We all were talking about the fact that there was no way to tell who was more excited . . . Cameron or Grandpa :)

I received a phone call that night that they made it safely and that it was dark out, so they were going to start the fun first thing in the morning.

Then, just after 6am the next morning, we were receiving texts that they were out on the dock, watching the sunrise! The fun had begun :)

Grandpa told him to make a list of all the things he wanted to do that week, so a couple days before the trip I wrote as Cameron listed.

He definitely knew what he wanted and it consisted mainly of Macaroni and Cheese, fishing and no naps : )

Then on the back of the paper he wanted to write a letter to Grandpa himself) which Audrey helped him spell.

It says "Can we read together", but she wrote it all in lower case letters, which he always converts to uppercase letters and mixed up the "d" to a "b".

Looks like he had so much fun!!!

Here are some of my favorites : )

Grandpa said that he was "reading" his Bass magazines and showing him the big lures that they need to be using to catch the BIG fish. Cameron used a big lure and snag it in the weeds and broke his line. But give the boy a few years and he'll have it all figured out. He keeps telling me about his 14 inch Bass!!!

And from the looks of it, Grandpa got him to put his own worm on the hook!

So, from what I hear, there wasn't a lot of napping going on . . . but he was definitely worn out by the end of every night.

I want to thank Grandpa SO MUCH for sharing these photos with me. I can tell by the smile on his face that he had the best of times, I only wish there was a picture of the two of you together.

So I'll have to add some oldies but goodies : )

Cameron has grown up making regular visits to the Lakehouse since only weeks after he was born. The older he gets, the more often he wants to make the trip.

I was a little worried that I was going to lose him to the Lakehouse, but he returned home and as I was tucking him into bed for the night I said, "I'm happy that you are home" and he replied, "It's good to be home mom."

Thank you Grandpa!!!

(I'm sure he talked your ear off all week, I hope it isn't too quiet without him)

Cameron's Big Day!

Today was a big day for Cameron! And a big day for momma too . . .

He graduated from Pre-school . . . (he's in blue, 3rd from the left)

The beginning of the school year was rough. He cried most days that we took him, either on the car ride there or right in the classroom.

It lasted few months. He kept asking if he could go to his old school.

This was his first day of school. He was all smiles until we got into the classroom & froze up.

This is how he came back . . . crabby and never wanting to go back.

But we made him go back and back and back. We developed a few things that helped parting ways easier for him. He found a chair that he was happy in. He'd just sit there while the other kids played about the classroom waiting for their day to begin.

They tried to force him to participate the first couple weeks but it obviously made him more upset. I left a couple times crying. This was so unlike him. I talked to the teacher and asked them to just let him be. I told her he would join in when he was ready.

Eventually he sat in that chair without crying.

Daddy started a double fist bump good-bye, which Cameron had to teach me so I would do it right. And then he'd ask me to watch him through the window in the hallway. He'd sit in that chair and stare at me, I'd stand there for maybe a minute and then wave good-bye to him and he would wave back.

Then we moved into a fist bump, kiss, watch me through the window.

I talking months of this . . . basically the entire first semester.

Finally, he stopped sitting in that chair and would come over to the window and wave.

And then finally, he gave me a kiss and started playing with his friends . . . he'd ask my to look at him through the window, but he'd forget and be playing before I got there.

It was hard on me. It's hard to see your child go through that day after day. But he wouldn't have made it to this day if we hadn't pushed him along.

The video isn't all that exciting, I just want to share it with family. He is in a light blue polo and khakis. Also, the end of the video the kids all pop confetti poppers . . . most kids couldn't figure them out, but Cameron was the first to pop his off : )

This was a High School program, so he had a teacher, Mrs. Tielke, great with the kids.

Then he also had his "High School Friends" as he would say. Occasionally we would hear one of their names while he talked about his school day, but not very often. He would basically refer to them as "a Packer fan" or "a Bear fan".

But he had his favorite, Quinn, and we heard about her all the time. He would proudly say, "My high school friend Quinn, she's a Packer fan too!" He adored her. She gave many of her little admirers hugs good-bye, and I snapped a picture.

This is also Cameron's best friend from school, Paul . . . who we plan on keeping in touch with over the summer : )

The seniors high school students all had a project to put together a scrapbook for an individual student, it is a wonderful gift to remember their school year. The student even gave him a Green Bay Packer sticker, which he proudly pointed out and then said "and she was a Bears fan!"

They also received a t-shirt and sweatshirt with the name of their school on it, and he has already worn both of them this afternoon. Also we have a slide show of their year in the program and picture of all his friends.

Here are some of Cameron's shots.

It was a "growing up" year for my little man. It was a great year even through the struggles. And now summer has officially started for one of my kids :) He's been waiting for months for this day . . . because a long planned trip starts this weekend!

A week at the Lakehouse with Grandpa!!! We are going to start packing tomorrow :)

Happy Birthday K.C.

We had to wait until 8:30pm to have birthday cake with daddy tonight.

Beautiful day outside = long day at work in the bicycle business : )  And today was definitely a play outside all day long kind of day!

But the wait was definitely worth it.

Zoe made a chocolate cake from scratch after she got home from school. Daddy requested a Chocolate Funfetti Cake and he got it  :)

Just wanted to share a couple of things.

The words are pouring out of the boys now. Castiel's favorites "almost", "get out", "go away" and "now!" . . . yes, he is very sassy. It's a good thing he's so cute. My favorite is "ice water" which he requests many times a day. He prefers his ice crushed, not cubed.

Another thing about Castiel is that he examines things. He is my kid that will some day take apart my toaster and attempt to put it back together. He's always pulling stuff apart, trying to shovel stuff together and trying to fit things inside of something else. A common thing I hear from him is "too big".

The only thing, it doesn't sound like "too big", it sounds more like "stupid".

And to anyone that knows Cameron, he will call you on saying a naughty word everytime he hears "stupid". I couldn't tell you how many times Cameron is telling on Castiel for using bad words when he's just trying to cram something into something else but it was just "too big" . . . I find it funny everytime : )

This is what shocked me today. I was on my computer and Emmitt sat down next to me and said "R" and pointed to the "R" key on my keyboard?!? Wow, that really caught me off guard.

We've been working on colors alot and they have most of them down . . . but I have even started letters yet.

My guess, his favorite cartoon, "Super Why". I don't know why the "R" stuck, because none of the other ones did . . . I know, because I tested him. Yes, he knows "X", but that's because "X" marks the spot : )

We stopped at WalMart for a couple of things and he must have pointed out 10 "R's" while we were there. The best part was his proud little smile when I told him that he was right. I guess I'm going to get of the letter flashcards now.

Both boys also learned "thumbs up" from that show. I can't just give them a "good job" anymore, it must include a double thumbs up :)

Today was Cameron's last day of speech until kindergarten. He said goodbye to his teacher who he absolutely adores. She was really sooo good with him. I love teachers like that. When your child has a trully wonderful teacher, you can see in their eyes.   : )

Audrey finished Book 4 of Harry Potter and will be starting Book 5 tomorrow : )

Zoe has been cooking away. She is happy that she has people reading her blog. And I am excited that Reese's Peanut Butter cups won her latest poll . . . because she is making us homemade ones this weekend!!!

That's my little update.

And once again, HAPPY BIRTHDAY to the best daddy in the world!!!

(We have dinner reservations for tomorrow night, my sister volunteered to watch all the kids . . . thank you, thank you, thank you!)

My New Love . . . Instagram : )

Just wanted to share a new Phone App that I discovered by being nosy and checking out some fun photos that I noticed popping up on Facebook.

I'll try any free App :)

I absolutely LOVE this one.

It has turned the camera on my phone into my new favorite toy.

There are many filter choices that change the photo into a little work of art.

It's great for catching quick memories when I didn't have my big camera.

Now it's great for capturing fun portraits, which I never would have tried with my phone before.

It's simple. It's cute. And it captures more memories.

FYI, family with phones that can download apps, you can download this app and follow all of the photos I take (of your grand kids) if you are interested! You can follow friends and family, easy way to pass along pics :)

Capturing moments of sweetness .

And capturing boys being boys . . . and still as adorable as can be.

(yes, they pulled the stuffing out of the sofa cushion . . . zippers are for unzipping . . . right?!?)

Capturing photographs of my children's lives are very important to me, so to all the mom's out there . . . check this one out! You'll love it too : )