Hey Cameron! Smells Like Summer 2012 Edition

WELCOME to Hey Cameron! Smells Like Summer 2012 Edition. I’m not going to waste 12mins of your time trying to explain why I haven’t updated my blog in a couple of months; cuz, that would be like having pancakes without maple syrup and bacon. Just NOT good at all! Instead, I will say “Hey! How you doin’?” to the lovely ladies, and “wassup!” to the guys. If it’s alright with you, I’d also like to give a loud and joyful Dobrodošli to my brothers and sisters in Croatia! For those who don’t speak Croatian, that’s dough-bro-DOUGH-shlee. Or, you can just say WELCOME Croatia! (and the rest of the world).

Last time we conversed, I was just about to start my 4th YMCA Soccer Season. I recall mentioning that my teams for the past 3 seasons had all been GREEN – Fall 2010 (Green Giants), Spring 2011 (Green Dragons), Fall 2011 (Green Sparks). As I mentioned previously, I was really hoping that we would be red or blue. Nope. I had to go and joke that I’d even be alright with “construction worker orange”. What color do you think we got? That’s right… Construction worker ORANGE. You can see us coming from a mile away! Bright like the sun. Oh well, it was better than getting green again. Doesn’t really matter what color I’m in, because I’m blazin’ fast and look good in ALL colors. Not bragging. Just a fact.

Our coach was Coach Amy, and our team was called The Fire Balls. We were AWESOME! And I’m not just saying that because I was on the team. We just were. I think we lost one game; but, that was because it was on a Thursday at 5:30pm in the Texas heat after a full day of school. Who does that? Who schedules a game at that time for 4yr olds? In fact, I heard a parent or two mention that it should be margarita happy hour time instead of soccer game time. Yeah, I wasn’t at my best that day; but, we still dominated the rest of our SATURDAY games.

Speaking of Texas heat… After T-Ball last year, I’m staying out of the heat and going indoors this summer. Jordan Caleb and I are taking swim lessons at Nitro Swim in Cedar Park, TX. We start the week after we get back from San Diego, California. It’s going to be awesome! Right now, I sink like a rock in a swimming pool; but, not if somebody is there to catch me and take me around the pool. We just had Memorial Day Weekend here in Texas. I think they have it in California, Jamaica, Michigan, New York, Washington D.C., Arkansas, Alabama, Oklahoma, Kansas, Missouri, Alaska, Colorado, Utah, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Georgia, Hawaii, Sweden, Peru, Canada and… I think that’s it.

We went over to one of Daddy’s friend’s house – Jeff & Ellen. Well, they’re my friends now! I had a BLAST jumping in and out of the pool. Jeff would catch me as I jumped in, and then he tried to teach me how to swim. Jordan… he was scared out of his mind. He wouldn’t come in the pool, which is a real problem. Because, if you are going to take swim lessons, then Mommy says you HAVE to get in the pool. Eventually, he got in. Then we couldn’t stop him from jumping in the pool. He jumped in and out so many times that they were going to call the police and fire dept to stop him from jumping in; but, then Jeff said that the hot dogs and tater tots were ready, so Jordan was hungry and didn’t jump in anymore.

I like food. It’s really good. Always stops me from feeling hungry. If you know me by now, you already know that pancakes and bacon are my absolute favorite foods. I’m also quite fond of flavored shaved ice. Mmmmm… Yummy in the tummy! Daddy created something with me and Jordan called “Breakfast Club”. Kinda like “Fight Club”; but, we don’t fight… or make soap. We eat. Pancakes. Bacon. Breakfast Club is every Saturday morning, and 9 out of 10 times, it’s at 620 Cafe on Hwy 620 in Round Rock, TX. We’re actually quite famous.

Typically, “Breakfast Club” is reserved for “The Cooke Boys”; but, we LOVE to have special guest appearances. Sometimes, Mommy joins us, Grandad Cooke, Grandma Cooke, Aunt Portia (when she’s in town), Chad, Katie & Maui Meg came with us when they stayed for Daddy’s birthday weekend, our friend Melissa stopped by a few weeks ago, and even our friend Howard joined us this past weekend before he became a Daddy to a baby girl on Tuesday, May 29th, 2012. So, from the “Breakfast Club” and crew at Hey Cameron! blog… WELCOME TO THE WORLD Reese Rogers!

What else is going on? Hmmm… we built a deck on the back of the house. Well… not WE as in me, Jordan, Mommy and Daddy, because that would just be disastrous! Our friend Bobby Lanier built it. Then we got it stained by Felix the Painter. I don’t know his last name. We just call him Felix the Painter. Cuz he paints. He painted pretty much every room in our house. My room, Jordan’s room, the playroom, media room, kitchen, study, mommy and daddy’s room, the bathrooms… WOW! That’s a LOT of painting! Anyway, after that, Grandad came over and installed a couple of super cool ceiling fans (pun intended) and strung up Christmas lights around the edge of the deck so we can see at night. The finishing touch was adding furniture. A couple of chairs, a fire pit, and a dining table with 6 chairs so we can eat outside when the weather is nice. I really like it! Unfortunately, I made the mistake of telling Mommy, “You know what would make this deck REALLY nice? A TV outside!”. Mommy didn’t really say anything; but, I’ve seen that look before. I didn’t stick around to see what was gonna happen after that. I was born in the morning; but, not THIS morning! I was outta there!

 

I feel like I’m forgetting something BIG. Oh yeah! Mommy went to Atlanta, Georgia on business a few weeks ago, which can mean only one thing… KIDWATCH 2012! That’s right! It was back! And Jordan, Spookie, and I couldn’t have been happier. Daddy on the other hand… he looked frantic and confused about 97.246% of the time. He thinks I don’t know how to work a computer or read what he writes on Facebook. Duh! I’ve been writing a blog for over FOUR years! HELLO!!!! Ha! Ha! Ha! Here are some of his posts he put on Facebook. Ridiculous.

KIDWATCH 2012 – DAY 1… Doesn’t matter how cute they are… When you wake up knowing somebody’s watching you sleep, it’s flat out creepy. Now… Add Jordan (2.5yrs) singing “The wheels on the bus go round ‘n’ round…” and you quickly realize you’re the main character in a Stephen King novel. Granted… They still need food, so for now I’m considered an asset. At least that’s what the 4.5yr old (Cameron) said to the cat (Spookie).

KIDWATCH 2012 – Day 1 Dinner. Well… Apparently the “smart allic” gene is hereditary. ME: “Cameron… What do you want at Chik-fil-A?” Dude says “CHICKEN”. Then looks at me like I’m the dumbest person on Earth. Ok folks! eBay bidding starts at $12 + $399 S&H (FREE local delivery) — at Chick-fil-A / Cedar Park.

KIDWATCH 2012 – Day 1 – Jordan rolled in lookin’ like a Nick Nolte mug shot when i picked him up from school today. Either he fought a bobcat… or got caught in the middle of a paintball war. Needless to say… Bath well earned son!

KIDWATCH 2012 – Day 2. The morning started off well until… “The Incident”. As I’m taking a picture of “The Traitor” (previously known as Cameron) he yells out “Go Longhorns!”. Being his Father and a fair Aggie… I gave him a 3 second head start. Right now… I think he’s halfway to Waco, TX.

KIDWATCH 2012 – Day 2. What the heck is going on up in here!!! Thinking I would get redemption from the 2.5yr old, I ask him to say “Gig ‘Em Aggies” and he throws up Texas TECH guns??? By the time I got to 1… 2… he was on a neighbors skateboard to Wisconsin.

KIDWATCH 2012 – Day 2 Dinner. For some bizarre reason, the boys had balloons when I picked them up. Balloons remind me of clowns… And we all know what I think of clowns. Despite their treason this morning, jalapeño ranch cures all. Frozen Margarita might help too!

KIDWATCH 2012 – Day 3 – El Grande Finale! Well… “The Alliance” is broken. Jordan (2.5yrs) woke me up saying… “Daddy! Daddy! Spookie poop on the floor!” about 10x. Obviously, Spookie tried to defend himself; but, since I don’t speak CAT it just sounded like “Meow mare mi mow meow!”. Then Cameron (4.5yrs) says… “That’s not poop! It’s a hair ball! Ewwww… That’s disgusting! Who wants pancakes?”. This ain’t the Holiday Inn Express son!

KIDWATCH 2012 is “Officially” over. It’s been real y’all! Naturally, I couldn’t end KIDWATCH w/out a fireworks show, so I told the Cooke Boys “Mommy and I need to take you shopping for boots, a hard hat, and some overalls… Cuz tomorrow you start your jobs at the mine”. Contrary to popular belief… Cameron was MORE excited than the day I told them they’d be working at Target.

OK, I’m taking over my blog again. Last blog, I awarded not ONE… not TWO… but THREE awards to the same person. Mommy cleaned house by taking the “…Are You Kidding Me?”, “Family Member of the Month”, and “Cameron’s Shameless Free Advertising” awards for the 1st time EVER! It was monumental and a very proud moment for the Hey Cameron! blog. This time around… Not so much. Out of pity, because it was Daddy’s birthday on May 3rd, I am awarding Daddy (aka Jason Cooke) with the“Family Member of the Month” award.

While we’re at it… Daddy also gets the “…Are You Kidding Me?” award for the Hey Cameron! Smells Like Summer 2012 Edition. Please Cameron. Tell us WHY? Ok, I will. Because he says he turned 42, when clearly he looks at least 44. “…Are You Kidding Me?” 42? So riddle me this… how is it that Mommy is 29 and okay accepting her age; but, you feel the need to drop a few years off to make yourself “appear younger”? I say OWN it! When people ask me “How old are you Cameron?” I say four and a half. NOT 4. Not 5. I say my true age… 4.5yrs old. Even Jordan knows he’s TWO! Granted, he looks bigger than everyone in his class… even though he’s actually one of the youngest. Check out Jordan’s class picture. I don’t know why they didn’t put him on the back row. Something tells me they asked him… and he said… “Nooooooooo!”. Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Jordan’s funny! He thinks he can do whatever he wants.

Let’s get back to Daddy again. FORTY TWO? 42? “…Are You Kidding Me?”. If anything, despite the lying about ages, I was just really happy that some of our friends came to stay with us at our house in Austin. Thanks to Maui Meg from N. Carolina, Chad from Amarillo, and Katie from Ft. Worth. Anyway, here are some pictures from Daddy’s “Cinco de Mayo 42nd Annual Extravaganzapalooza” birthday weekend.

As much grief as I give Daddy, he’s good for some things. He has a LOT of connections and friends to get us into stuff for free. Since we last blogged, I’ve been to the Cedar Park Center THREE TIMES! 1st time to see the Texas Stars AHL Hockey. Mommy got us tickets from her friend at work. We sat with our friends Brian & Melissa. They have season tickets. The 2nd time Melissa gave us tickets for the Texas Stars last hockey game of the season. It was really special because one of the players gave me an official Texas Stars hockey puck. Yeah, I slept with it for about 4 or 5 days. The 3rd time I went to Cedar Park Center, Daddy’s friend Darren got us into a suite to see Disney on Ice – Toy Story 3. All three times were AWESOME!

Which reminds me… I asked Daddy the other day a simple question. “Why are cows ALWAYS eating?”. Daddy says: “Because they’re hungry. Don’t you eat when you’re hungry?”. I was like “Yeah… But, not ALL the time! Why don’t they go play with the other cows?”. Daddy said “__________________”. In other words… he said NOTHING! Because he doesn’t know. Keep in mind, this is the same brother that is scared of clowns; but, had the audacity to ask me “Cameron… What’s the deal with you and kangaroos?”. Like he was Mike Wallace on 60 Minutes. He recorded it so you can finally understand the mystery of why I’m afraid of kangaroos. We still don’t know why he’s scared of clowns. And I don’t wanna know.

OK, enough about Daddy. During the time we have been away, we had Mother’s Day. I sang a nice song for Mommy. Jordan… well… he disrupted the scene as always.

While Mommy was away during KIDWATCH 2012, I sang another song for Mommy called “Do You Care for Others”. As I was getting into my song and got to the “…And the PASSION” portion of the song, Jordan RUINED it by saying, “I’m a pig! Oink! Oink! Oink!”. Made me forget my words. Oh well… still enjoyable.

Oh yeah… almost forgot. Mommy and Daddy celebrated their Wedding Anniversary! Which is pretty funny to me, because it seems like EVERY year they are celebrating this wedding anniversary thing. I believe they’re up to SIX YEARS now! Why don’t you just be honest and say… “Hey Cameron and Jordan, we’d really like to go out to eat WITHOUT YOU”. Geez! Anyway, here is a picture of them on their wedding day – May 15, 2006 in Nassau, Bahamas. I also put up a picture that Daddy took of Mommy at their fancy Perry’s Steakhouse dinner together (without me and Jordan).

During my last blog, I debuted a new segment called “Cooke Family Road Trips”. It is about Cooke Family Road Trips. It’s kinda like when you go to Broadway in New York to see “CATS”. It better be a play about CATS! Nobody wants to see clowns and kangaroos. Especially bad combination for me and Daddy. I remember one time, Daddy told me that when he was dating Mommy, he knew he really loved her a LOT because he sat through a movie with her called “The Upside of Anger”. After 120mins, which is like 2 hours, he said “I still don’t know what the ‘Upside of Anger’ is!”. Not here my friends. Not this day! Not under MY watch! “Cooke Family Road Trips” is taking it’s show on the road to San Diego this weekend. Doug & Loretta Campbell will be joining us from Ventura, CA. They’re REALLY cool, so should be fun hanging out with them all weekend. We’ll be going to PETCO Stadium to see a San Diego Padres baseball game on Saturday; Mommy’s marathon on Sunday; San Diego Zoo and Wildlife Park on Monday; Then the grandaddy of them all… SHAMU, sharks and SeaWorld on Tuesday!

I have NO idea how Jordan Caleb’s going to make it on an airplane, because dude doesn’t even like to sit still during dinner, let alone on a sealed cabin that flies 30,000ft in the air with a bunch of people he doesn’t know. If it’s anything like the reaction he had when Daddy told us “Boys… your mother and I wanted to let you know that we will no longer be sending you to Montessori School. Today, you start your jobs at Target”. Me? I was excited! I LOVE TARGET!!! Jordan… not so much.

My first clue should have been the fact he had us dressed up in the Target red shirts with the khaki pants. Man, I was really hoping I could work, so I could get like 1 Million Billion and Seventy Dollars! Unfortunately, Daddy was just joking. Not cool. To say the very least… This vacation is gonna be interesting. Nothing special for ya right now (because we haven’t left yet); but, I’ll have a separate blog 100% dedicated to our adventures in San Diego… and it will be SPECTACULAR!

In the meantime, I wanted to do something I don’t do very often… REPEAT the recipient of “Cameron’s Shameless Free Advertising” Award. And here’s why… At the beginning of 2012, Mommy set a goal to complete a FULL marathon (26.2mi) with her running group Team in Training (TNT) as part of a fundraising effort benefiting The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS). Fast forward almost 6 months later, and the time is now HERE! She runs the San Diego Rock ‘n’ Roll Marathon on June 3rd.

Daddy came up with an idea for her to carry a list of people who have battled the dreaded cancer, so she can remember each one of them as she runs her 26.2 miles. I don’t know what is more moving… the fact that so many people responded to her message… or that there are so many names of loved ones, family members, friends, co-workers, who have been affected by this horrible disease.

Nevertheless, for 2012, Team in Training – Austin Chapter is dedicating their season and participation in the San Diego Rock ‘n’ Roll Marathon to a gentleman named Ruben Garza. Although he lost his battle with cancer, Ruben Garza wrote these memorable words as he was diagnosed with cancer for the THIRD TIME! They are words we can (and should) live by:

~THE TRUTH ~

 “Others call it dying. I’ve only ever known to call it living. If you see me, see me, the life. Our time under the sun should not want an umbrella, but instead let’s look up, get dizzy, go blind with life. Our time under the rain should not want an umbrella, but, instead let’s look up, get soaked, and drink up life. The day will not come when my presence will be subtracted from your life going on. It will change, but not be lost. The physical will become intangible, spiritual, faithful. Do your best to become childlike in these moments. It will be real. You will mourn away the physical and embrace the change, the presence will not fail you. Know this in your head and your heart, be faithful to this truth.”

 ~ Ruben Garza ~

Once again, the Hey Cameron! Smells Like Summer 2012 Edition PROUDLY announces the REPEAT recipient for “Cameron’s Shameless Free Advertising” Award…

Team in Training (TNT) and The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS)

I don’t want to end the Hey Cameron! Smells Like Summer 2012 Edition on a sad or serious note; therefore, just in case you want a good laugh before you go… I thought I’d share a quick story with you. When I was a baby, I used to HATE it when Mommy and Daddy would put lotion on me. I would kick and cry, slap and punch. Whatever it took to get them off me! Daddy used to pretend to be a boxing coach and tell me “Come on kid! You’ve gotta keep that jab goin’ kid! Don’t let ’em take ya in the 1st round kid!”. As I got older… I realized he was tricking me so he could put lotion on me. Now that I’m 4.5yrs old, I really like it. So does Jordan. Anyway, Mommy recorded me and Daddy doing “Come on Kid”. ENJOY!

PLEASE LEAVE A COMMENT and let me know how you all are doing. Remember to stay tuned for “San Diego Times – Cooke Family Road Trips” on the next edition! Until we blog again…

Hugs, High Five’s & Kisses,

Cameron & Jordan

May 31, 2012 | Categories: Family | Tags: 620 Cafe, Cedar Park Center, deck, Hey Cameron!, Home Depot, kids, Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, San Diego, San Diego Rock 'n' Roll Marathon, soccer, Team in Training, Texas Stars Hockey, YMCA | Leave a comment