Noah's 2nd Birthday Party

As always Noah celebrated his birthday in Hesperia, MI. The meet and greet started on July 1st with a shuttle service (aka golf cart) from your car to the mansion we know as the cottage. We were greeted by a wonderful event board that showed what activites were the day of, the next day, drink of the day and what the meal was that night. The next day was Noah's birthday which was celebrated at Lewis Farm Market. The kids got to feed all kinds of animals, go on a wagon ride, jump on a huge pillow, go down bumpy slides, a boo train ride and they even got pizza and cupcakes. Overall it was a fun time, Noah of course got a birthday cake after dinner followed by numerous wonderful presents.

4th of July Weekend

Well Friday was a fun time, we hung around the cottage and "most" of the adults participated in a flip cup tournament, which was quite funny...it was then followed by some beer bonging. 4th of July was also at the Camp, however we did make it into town to the Herperia Fun Fest, where some of us tried to bob for apples, Elizabeth was the only successful one. Some great family pictures were taken on the lawn at the children's activity place. The kids also got to knock down a pinata where they devored all the candy in 1 day. The firework display that Camp Griffen put on was amazing, it was even talked about by some of the town folks, such as, "did you see the fireworks by the boat dock." I am thinking next year we could be going bigger, luckily no one was hurt this year, especially since we have a few battery operated ones and the finale one had to be buried into the ground for safety before it could be lighted.

Dunne Rides, Beach Day and Horseback riding

Some of the other activities at Camp Griffen 2009 are seen above. The Dunne rides were fun, except a certain family added sound effects of terror the whole time. It was followed by the glorious time of ice cream eating and park play, which was done by all. The kids favorite activiy had to be the horseback riding. Talan and RJ got to lead the pack down the trail which was very exciting to them. A certain someone had to ride in the wagon again this year and will probably have to for the 3rd time next year......ummmmmmm only someone name MIKE is to blame. We had another beach day where Talan and Noah got to go tubing for the first time, I think they did quite well however I would not allow them to go on there own.

Hay Ride, Canoe and Last Day

Here are some pictures of the last few days of Camp Griffen 2009. We enjoyed a nice canoe ride on a hot Thursday afternoon. The day was filled with laughter especially the paddling backwards of the Parrish Griffens. Friday we have a wonderful hay ride at Hertiage farm, where the kids got to feed apples to the elk and buffalo, the best part was we got to eat ice cream before hand. The last day was a beach day where many of the children tried to water ski and a certain baby was trying to drown herself in the waves. Overall it was a wonderful last few days!!

Updated Dinner Schedule

Here is an updated dinner list, when you make the food, take into consideration the number of people, here is an estimate of the number of people potentially, of course not including 4th of July, which will be for about 40 people

Averge numbers for other days excluding the 4th: Adults about 12-14, Kids about 13, Babies 2, which ends up being about 25-28 adults and kids. So please choose meals that will feed a lot of people.

July 1st: Parrish Griffens
July 2nd: Chiefland Griffens (Noah's birthday party) Lunch: Pizza and a cup cake, Dinner: Ham, Mashed Potatos, Corn on the Cob we are also having cake and ice cream after dinner to sing Happy Birthday to Noah
July 3rd: Fort Griffens
July 4th: Breakfast: Begley's
Main Dish: Parrish Griffens
Side Dishes: Chiefland G (Wave the Flag Fruit Salad), Fort G and Patels, Thome's
July 5th: Thomes
July 6th: Joe and Cindy
July 7th: Patel's
July 8th: Fort Griffens
July 9th: Chiefland Griffen's -Kabobs steak and shrimp, brown rice and fruit salad
July 10th: Patels

Fireworks "From Steve"

Greetings…..fellow Camp Griffen members. It is that time of year again where we load up on fireworks in preparation for the big 4th of July show. This year I’ve got a couple good contacts for fireworks. I’m actually meeting one of the guys tonight to see what he can get for us. Normally I wouldn’t push anyone for help with the cost but this year I need it. Our budget is $1,500 - $2,000. If you are interested in making a donation LARGE or small please let me know, operators are standing by. Also…you should know we are offering a special package for our first $500 donor. We are calling it the “Big Bad-Ass Package”. This lucky winner will get VIP seating for the show, drink service during the show, will get to light the first firework kicking off the show (or choose someone) and will also be able to start the finale. In addition, on fireworks day everyone will need to refer to him or her as the “Big Bad-Ass” or the “Guy with the Big Bad Ass Package”…whichever feels more right.

Please don’t feel pressured to mail a check to: 11736 Coral Springs Drive, Fort Wayne, IN 46845 as soon as possible J unless of course your name has a “Dr.” in front of it which stands for “Damn Right you’re going donate”. If by chance you are donating a nice bass boat to the cause you are exempt from making a donation. Naturally we won’t turn you away if you decide you still want to help. There is absolutely no pressure to help…I’m sure the 50% cut in my salary beginning June 1st will work itself out. Please do not worry about me. For those unable to donate this year, please complete the “Blindfold” ordering form listed below. We wouldn’t want you to hurt your cheap ass eyes during the show.

BLINDFOLD ORDERING FORM
____ No. of adult blindfolds (Cost: $50/adult)
____ No. of child size blindfolds (Cost: $25/child)

Have a great day & thank you for your support at Camp Griffen!


STEVE GRIFFEN

ELITE FREIGHT SERVICES LLC
FT WAYNE, IN
P: (260) 490-9900 Ext. 10
F: (260) 490-9909

Another New Addition to Camp Griffen

Here is another new addition to Camp Griffen! Granted the Chiefland children will not be able to ride it until they are at least 10, however the girls seem to enjoy it as I am sure the other kids will too.

Shirts are Ordered

Shirts are ordered, they are a sports grey with dark green picture on the front. Because May is there busiest month we won't get the shirts until the 1st week of June, we will mail them out ASAP. It comes to 10.40 a shirt. There are set up fee's for the design, sales tax, the shirt ect.... We ordred a few extra adult shirts and kids shirts just in case other people want some. I will send everyone an email on how much they owe me. I do have a paypal account if lesliegriffen@hotmail.com or you can mail me cash or check to 9971 NW 113th Place Chiefland, FL 32626.

Patels: 62.40
Parrish Griffens: 41.60
Fort Griffens: 52
Joe and Cindy: 52
Chiefland Griffens: 52
Extra Shirts Chiefland Griffens are covering: 62.40

New Member of Camp Griffen

Well guys here is the new member of Camp Griffen. Personally I know I will be using it to get to the shower up the hill....I live for my showers, that is my only peaceful time!!! Luckily Steve will be giving FREE RIDES to anyone who needs it. Yes it may look like it could have been from an episode of PIMP MY RIDE on MTV, but it will serve the Camp well. We love it!!!

Drink of the Day

Revised/updated: DRINKS of the DAY! At last the schedule for drinks… you all asked for it so now ya got it! Please note we are going to Hesperia MI most of the cocktail drink ingredients may not be found in stores there so plan to bring from home… You may change your cocktail but please post it for all of us to know what you will be contributing. Plan for lots of drinking… don’t under do it, extras always welcome, cocktail services will open at 11 am daily and stop officially… well when the next day starts at 11 am.

As of May 10th it was brought to my attention that Steve will be supplying a kegerator with draft beer (we can all pitch in for the kegs) for the CAMP GRIFFEN week.

So the following will serve as the cocktail menu:

July 1st: Parrish Griffens - Malibu Bay Breezes (1 1/2 oz Malibu® coconut rum, 2 oz cranberry juice, 2 oz pineapple juice)

July 2nd: Patels - Fat Hookers ( 1 oz vodka, 1/2 oz peach schnapps, 1/2 oz Malibu® coconut rum, fill with orange juice)

July 3rd: Chiefland Griffens - Absolut Stress recipe 1/2 oz Absolut® vodka1/2 oz Malibu® coconut rum1/2 oz peach schnapps1 oz orange juice1 oz pineapple juice1 oz cranberry juice

July 4th (all contributing): Joe and Cindy - Sex on the Beach (1 1/2 oz vodka, 1/2 oz peach schnapps, 2 oz cranberry juice, 2 oz orange juice), Parrish Griffens - Woo Woo's (1 1/2 oz peach schnapps1 1/2 oz vodka3 1/2 oz cranberry juice) Patels - Polish Professor (1 jigger vodka, 4 oz pineapple juice, 1 oz 7-Up® soda) Chiefland Griffens - Tie me to the Bed Post (1/2 oz Malibu® coconut rum, 1/2 oz Midori® melon liqueur, 1/2 oz sweet and sour mix, 1/2 oz lemon vodka, ice cubes) Fort Griffens - Blue Hawaiian (1 oz light rum, 1 cherry, 2 oz pineapple juice, 1 oz Blue Curacao liqueur, 1 oz cream of coconut, 1 slice pineapple)

July 5th: Fort Griffen’s Long island ice tea (0.25 oz Tanqueray® gin, 0.25 oz Smirnoff® vodka, 0.25 oz Captain Morgan® Silver spiced rum, 0.25 oz Jose Cuervo® Especial gold tequila, 0.25 oz triple sec, 1 oz sweet and sour mix, 6 oz cola, 1 wedge lemon (optional))

July 6th: Parrish Griffen’s Miami Vice frozen cocktails - (5 oz Bacardi® 151 rum, 1 package frozen pina colada mix, 1 package frozen daiquiri mix )Chiefland Griffens will supply the blender

July 7th: Patel’s - Bahama Mama (1 1/2 oz white rum, 2 oz orange juice, 2 oz pineapple juice, 1 oz coconut cream, 1 oz spiced rum, 1 splash grenadine syrup)

July 8th: Chiefland Griffen’s - Alien Urine (1/2 oz Midori® melon liqueur, 1/2 oz peach schnapps, 1 oz coconut rum, 1 part sweet and sour mix, 1 part orange juice)

July 9th: Fort Griffen’s "Frozen Slushies"

July 10th: Parrish Griffens - Margaritas

Remember you can change drink... just post your substitute so that we the schedules are mailed out they are correct.

Additionally, be on the look out for Camp Griffen - Tournament Schedule!

T-shirt order and questions

I am going to email the lady once I know for sure how many shirts, b/c I want to get a correct estimate on how much, our estimate was for 12 adult and 12 youth, however that doens't include infant and toddler shirts (which some of us could need) and possibly more adult shirts we might need. So if you want a shirt, please email me lesliegriffen@hotmail.com, with your sizes. I will let you know how much once I get a final estimate, b/c the more shirts we order the cheaper it could be so I want to be sure I am not asking for more money then I need. Once I get the estimate, you can just mail me a check. The shirts it says should only take a week to make so we should probably have them within 2 weeks of ordering them, we just want to mail out everyone's "boxes" before July.

Quote Back on Shirts

We did get a quote back on the shirts, it is 270 bucks for 12 adult shirts (xs-xl) and 12 youth shirts (xs-xl). Which ends up being 11.25 a shirt. However they did not put the infant or toddler sizes in the quote so we are going to email them back once we get a define number on what size shirts. Like we said the youth size xs is 2/4, which most of the time in stores it is like a 4/6, so we know the Chiefland Griffen kids will probably need some toddler shirts. However we know there are a few babies out there..ummm 3 to be exact our guess would be a 6m shirt for Grant and Westen and a 12m shirt for Maddie. But as for the rest of your guys and other kids we are clueless, so we suggest if you don't want us to order the wrong size you let us know. Also if more than an XL is needed, let us know because that would increase the price too. Alsowe were thinking about visors too or blankets, not sure if anyone would be interested in getting 1 or the other, like visors for the adults, or 1 blanket per family for those chilled MI nights by the fire, nothing says a fire with a nice CAMP GRIFFEN BLANKET!!!

CAMP GRIFFEN T-SHIRTS

Here is the link to the tenative t-shirt. We are thinking a sports grey with green print for all those MSU fans.

(Shirt will say)
CAMP GRIFFEN
McLAREN LAKE, MI


http://www.churchtrends.com/CTC-81106.html


-Please look at sizes and let me know ASAP, we want to have them ordered by the beginning of May, we are waiting for a price quote. They do have infant shirts available and toddler shirts available too, just look at the website for sizes.

Dinner Schedule

Here is an updated food list, when you make the food, take into consideration the number of people, here is an estimate of the number of people potentially, of course not including 4th of July. Adults about 12, Kids about 13, Babies 2. So excluding the babies a total of 25 people (C. Griffens, P. Griffens, FW Griffens, Patel's, Thomes and the Joe and Cindy)

July 1st: Parrish Griffens
July 2nd: Chiefland Griffens (Noah's birthday party)
July 3rd: Fort Griffens
July 4th: Main Dish: Parrish Griffens
Side Dishes: Chiefland G, Fort G and Patels, Thome's
July 5th: Joe and Cindy
July 6th: Patels
July 7th: Chiefland Griffens
July 8th: Fort Griffens
July 9th: Thome's
July 10th: Patels

Tentative Schedule of Events

July 1st: Meet and Greet
July 2nd: Petting Zoo
http://www.lewisfarmmarket.com/lewis-farm-market-fall-celebration.htm
Birthday Bash
-Lewis market does birthday parties and different packages so we are thinking about having it there you can check out the website for what comes with the party. We just have to have the number of adults and kids.
July 3rd: Beach and Boat Day
Bocce Ball Tournament
Kids Whip Cream Fight
Poker Tournament
July 4th: Hesperia Fun Fest http://www.elitepresentation.com/WRwebdesign/HespChamber/
Flip Cup Tournament
Fireworks Spectacular
July 5th:
Paintball
Kids Movie Day (Babies stay home with dads)
July 6th: Mac Dunne Rides
http://macwoodsdunerides.com/content.php?page=1
Ice Cream
July 7th: Canoe Rides http://home1.gte.net/lkellogg/
Beach Day
July 8th:
John Ball Zoo http://www.johnballzoosociety.org/
Kids Fishing Day
July 9th: Children's Museum http://www.grcm.org/
July 10th: Horseback Riding http://www.rainbowranch-inc.com/
Skeet Shooting


Other Possible Activities:
-Chuck E Cheese
-Night in Grand Haven
-Mac Island
http://www.mightymac.org/island.htm
-MI Adventure- a lot of kids probably couldn't go on things though
http://www.miadventure.com/
-Gym Day-if we can find a place
-Silverlake Putt putt
-Silverlake Pontoon Rental (cost 375 for day), fits 12-14 kids and adults
http://www.silverlakesanddunes.net/wave/

Start Getting Excited

Here are a few pictures to help with your countdown to Camp Griffen 2009