Month: August 2010
Dinosaur World Museum Kentucky 2010
Exit 53 on the interstate, between Nashville and Louisville, is one of James Raymonds favorite places on earth.
On the way down to Nashville this year we stopped off at Dinosaur World but only went into the souvenir shop and picked up some dinosaur toys for James. We told him if he was good on the way home we would take him through the park. One of the nights at the hotel we even watched a dinosaur documentary which everyone enjoyed called “The End of the Dinosaurs” (or something similar in name) which detailed how and why the dinosaurs went extinct when a meteor hit the earth.
Well, for the most part James was very good on this trip, especially in the restaurants. Yes, he did pour his bubbles into the fountain at the nursing home and Yes, he did shoot a rocket off down the hall of the nursing home and Yes, Uncle Bills new Lazy Boy chair got a bit of a workout, but for the most part he was very well behaved and a good boy so on the way home James got rewarded by a walk through Dinosaur World.
Nashville Flea Market 2010
The last weekend of every month during the summer is the famous Nashville Flea Market. This year we got there early (Uncle Bill took us to breakfast at the Cracker Barrel and bought each of us a gift) and had a great place to park. James got several toys and the flea market and even some “jerky” snacks (although the $3 soda pop did sting a bit). Mary checked out the antiques with Uncle Bill while James and Dad visited the toy sections of the flea market (and there were many). Thanks to our early arrival we were able to leave the Flea Market just before the afternoon heat (and a few rain drops) came.
Mom got Dad a wallet which was very much needed. Of special note was the gift that James picked out at Cracker Barrel which was a toy dog. The evening before we visited Uncle Bills home and he has 3 dogs which James got to play with, could James be sending us a hint?
Willie Nelson Museum 2010
Within walking distance of our hotel were several tourist sites including the Willie Nelson museum. The museum is divided into two halfs, the front part is a huge sourvenier store which claims itself to be the largest souvenier store in Nashville. We visited many other souvenier places and so far this one does appear to be the largest, although we are by no mean experts and have certainly not seen all the souvenier places.
The back part is the museum and there is a $8 fee to go there. Inside were many articles not only from Willie Nelson but also from Johnny Cash, Elvis, and even an Audie Murphy tribute. The museum was built with many of the items that Willie had to sell to pay his IRS bill, the museum purchased many of those items and returned them to Willie which was a cool thing to do.
One of the creepiest things we saw on any trip was the Patsy Cline exhibit which included a mangled watch which stopped when her airplane crashed (fatal). Many other very interesting exhibits were here to visit and well worth the $8 charge.
Cooters Dukes of Hazzard Museum 2010
What would a trip to Nashville be without a visit to Cooters Garage. Actually its a Dukes of Hazzard museum which is located right next to the Willie Nelson museum. Inside you will find tons of pictures and collectibles from the Dukes of Hazzard television series, but without a doubt was the opportunity to see 4 of the vehicles used in the series, the General Lee, Cooters tow truck, Daisy’s Jeep and of course a Hazzard county police car.
The museum was free, but there is a charge to take your picture inside the car (which is why Mary is outside of the General Lee). Fret not Hazard fans, we did purchase several souveniers to support this fun tourist site.
Visiting Grandpa in Nashville 2010
With time running out on summer it was now or never if we were going to make it to Nashville to visit Grandpa and Uncle Bill. Fortunately we made it thanks to the Michigan law which stops school from starting earlier than Labor day. James got a chance to see his Grandpa and also Uncle Bill and his family. Uncle Bill is rebuilding his home after the flood and it is coming along beautifully. As we visited various places in Nashville you could find buildings and businesses still closed from the devastating flood. In fact the hotel we stayed at near Opryland was discounted because the Opryland mall, one of the major attractions in Nashville, was still closed and not due to open till November.
One good thing that came out of the flood was that Uncle Bill found an archive of old family pictures when going through the flood damage. Mom hopes to scan those pictures in and upload to this site in the near future.
Grandma came down on the trip as well and had a chance to visit friends from her previous home for the first time since moving to Michigan back in November 09.
Duda Tot Park 2010
Just because Peg is recuperating and in therapy does not mean that Jame’s Sundays have changed that much. This last Sunday he went to Peg’s to help dad pick up her mail, cane, and some stamps. Then we went to Pegs who gave James a cookie for his trouble (james carried in the cane without hitting anyone, an impressive feat). Afterwards we stopped at a park where James got to play. The park was empty (most are around here probably due to video games and computers) but James and Dad made the best of it. We even had a foot race.
The park was unique because of the dinosaur slide which drew us in. Pretty cool and was the first thing James went to play on.
After the park James went home and made “pretzel alphabet words” which he later ate. If you would like to see pics click on the link below.
Happy Birthday Aunt Criss 2010
James has been signing his cards for the last couple years but this is the first card that he ever made up himself. He carefully chose just the right color (red, his favorite) and wrote a happy birthday letter to his Aunt Criss. James waved it in the air to make sure all the ink was dry then posed for a picture with the card. James really enjoys doing things like this, something that his father was never very good at.
So Happy Birthday to Aunt Criss from James, Mary, and Chuck and hopefully we can stop by on our way back from Macinac (hopefully we make it there, not sure now what Peg’s status will be that week).
It should be noted that James does not like talking to people on the phone, don’t know why, he does not talk to anyone on the phone including his parents. When he was 3 he had a phone in his room and he dialed 911 and hung up. The police called to see if everything was ok and if we needed help. Since then James has not had a phone in his room so maybe this is his protest for taking the phone out, lol.
Madison Park 2010
Aunt Peg was admitted into the hospital for trouble with her leg, but James and I still managed to have some fun at a local park which had 3 different sets of playgrounds for him. The park is at Madison in Dearborn so its not too far away to walk to.
The primary elections were going on but hardly anyone was going into the school to vote. Guess that must be a sign of the times.
One thing that I liked about this park was that it had a musical section at one of the playgrounds where the kids could play different music on different instruments. Strange we were the only ones using the park, perhaps the kids in the area need to take more of a break from video games (including James). James currently is playing Toy Story 3 video game on Wii, but thats another story.
All in all, we both had a really good time at the park and the weather was simply perfect, not too hot and a gentle refreshing breeze to keep you cool.
Magic Capitol Car Show 2010
It was magic week in Colon Michigan and the whole family went to share in the festivities. There was a car show this year and it was a pretty big success considering it was the first one for the city of Colon. Each car had a bucket out front and you were supposed to throw a quarter into your favorite cars bucket. The car with the most quarters wins a prize! There were loads of prizes donated by the various local shops so more than half of the cars shown in these pictures received prizes.
James did his usual romp around the craft fair and local beach, Mary took in the evening magic show which featured some of the worlds best magicians. Dad got to spend some time in the magic shop (which is always a fun experience for me) and also went on the graveyard tour where famous magicians like Blackstone are buried.
Abbott’s Magic Get Together 2010
What a fine time we had in Colon Michigan, the magic capitol of the world. James had a blast swimming at the small beach that they have here, and Mom enjoyed the craft fair while Dad enjoyed the props at the dealers room, many of which were Halloween oriented.
The magic get together is primarily magic shows and magic lectures that go on at various times during the 4 day festival. The highlight of each day is the evening show which features Vegas quality acts. They have had some of the best acts in magic here during their history including Lance Burton, Harry Blackstone, Mark Wilson, and many many more.
The evening shows are held at the high school, the dealers room is in the elementary school, the buskers are throughout the city, the ventriloquists are at the Abbott Magic Shop, and the Gospel magicians are at church. There are various events throughout the city such as car shows and craft shows. The whole town gets involved in this event and it really shows by how many people return here year after year.
