Sibling Camp 2011

We had 3 very excited kids for siblings camp this summer! Rebecca was so excited she tried to pack herself inside of a suitcase to stow away!! She kept asking if she got "to stay at camp", over and over.


On the way there we stopped for lunch at a rest stop that had a fun tree to climb in. I took the opportunity while my monkeys were climbing to take some pictures of them. It amazing how hard it is to get 4 kids to smile and look at the camera all at the same time!



At camp we did our customary picking of the beds out before going to play at the carnival. Getting to be one of the 1st to pick your bed is always exciting and of course gives you more choice. Both Corrine and Ammon choose a top bunk this year which didn't surprise us at all.
Corrine is in North Star this year and Ammon is in Wildwood, and their cabins face each other. This is the last year that they will both be in the 3rd circle, because next year Corrine will be 9 and in the 2nd circle!!



After picking out their beds and meeting their counselors we headed to the carnival. The 3 bigger kids were very into games and winning tickets for prizes. Rebecca tried the bounce house but didn't really like it. When she got out Dad had a cotton candy that she promptly claimed as her own. She LOVED it and was a pink sticky mess before too long!! After all the kids won their prizes, we headed back up to the cabins to drop Corrine & Ammon off. It's always hard to say good bye to them, but each year it does get alittle easier.



This years camp theme was transportation. On Monday the had race cars come to camp, and the kids got to explore those. The Boone Scenic railroad goes right through the middle of camp. On Weds the train made a special stop at camp to pick the kids up for their own private ride.



Each week at camp the staff take pictures and post them on their blog. It's always fun to look at the pictures each day and try to spot the kids. We spotted Corrine this week at her Princess Party. She doesn't look very thrilled in the picture, but when we asked her about the party she said she had a good time, except that she had to wear a dress and she didn't want to!


This year Corrine was very confident heading into camp. Ammon felt more prepared for being away from us. Both of them during the week had 1 or 2 times of homesickness, but they were able to get past them quickly.

Camp Heart Connection holds such a special place in all our hearts. The kids look forward to and talk about camp all year long. It gives them a chance to meet new friends who have gone through similar experiences with a sibling and cancer. They get to have fun and to have a place to share their feelings and to be the center of attention. We love to hear the stories all year long from their week at camp.

American Cancer Society Gala

Our family was asked a few weeks ago to speak at the American Cancer Society's Linn Gala. This was such an honor to be asked out of all the families associated with The Children's Cancer Connection to represent their group at this gala. For the last few weeks I was going over and thinking about what we would talk about. As the day grew closer my anxiety grew. I'd be talking in front of 400 people at a very formal dinner.
Tonight was the Gala. We only brought Simeon and Corrine with us, because we knew it would be a very formal event and would be a long night. Corrine got a new pinkish/purplish sparkly dress and Simeon wore his new suit, that we order the week before we knew we were speaking here.


We were asked to talk about our experiences at The Heart Connection Camp, and why this camp is so important to us. It was decided that I would be the family spokeswoman. Simeon did talk about "shooting a gun at camp and how mom would NEVER let him do that at home!" I was surprised how comfortable I was once I started talking. This camp is so close to our hearts. The kids LOVE going to camp, so talking about it was so easy for me.
The 1st auction item (which was just after we spoke) was camperships to The Heart Connection camps. Each campership was $300. They had a goal of selling 130 camperships, because when they hit this goal, then an oncologist was going to donate 25 camperships. They started auctioning the camperships off and about 100 went fairly quickly, then things stalled. Simeon went up and asked that people please support the kids and help them go to camp. That did it! The last camperships were bought and the oncologist donated 25, bring the total to 155 camperships at a total of $46,000. Half of this money goes to camp and half goes to college scholarships.
When someone bought a campership they received a red balloon. Someone handed Simeon a balloon, and Corrine got a little jealous. A lady helping handing out the balloons saw this and told Corrine she'd get her a balloon too.
The auction was over and all the camperships were bought. Then all of the sudden a HUGE group of balloons came to our table. It was 25 balloons for the doctor who bought the 25 camperships, but instead of going to him, they were given to Corrine!!


When we sat down we started talking with the people at the table. A while later the man next to me was talking with an organizer of the event and they thanked him for helping out and buying the 25 camperships. I had no idea the person I had been sitting next to and talking to was the incredibly generous doctor who was helping so many kids go to camp. They had put us next to each other on purpose so we could meet each other. I was humbled by his humbleness. He didn't want people to know what he had donated. He just wanted to help the kids. After the auction was over Simeon was so sweet and went up and thanked him.
Pat McGraff (who owns a couple of car dealerships in Cedar Rapids) bought 15 camperships. After the auction we went over and thanked him for purchasing so many camperships. He was so nice and really wanted to help.
Simeon and Corrine got to draw the raffle prize winners. Simeon drew for the TV and year massage, and Corrine drew for the $1,00 visa gift card. Then later on they had a raffle for a diamond. They tried to sell 100 raffle tickets for the diamond, but only 40 sold. They had all the people who bought a raffle ticket come up. They picked a box and had to open them all at the same time. After all the people came up, there were still 10 boxes left on the table uncollected. Because of the uncollected boxes all the names were put into a bowl and Corrine got to pick the winner of the diamond. She made a ladies night!!


It was such a neat night of meeting so many generous people who wanted to help kids and adults with cancer and their families. We were trying to leave and it took over half hour to get out the door because we kept getting stopped and talked to. By the time we left in was 11:00pm and both the kids were tired.


Corrine was trying so hard to convince us to let her bring home all 25 balloons. In the end they both were able to bring home 2 balloons.