Month: August 2015
James Returns From Howell Summer Camp 2015
James returned to us today after a week camping in Howell. It was an awesome experience for him as his group leader was his 2015/2016 teacher and also his 2014/2015 teacher was a group leader. James enjoyed the fishing but said it was too noisy to catch anything and the fish stayed away. He also enjoyed the camp fires and smores as well as the zip lining where he told us he was about a 100 feet in the air. His all time favorite however was meeting all the animals at the nature preserve.
So many stories for Mom and Dad that he didn’t really know where to begin. We treated James to a Happy Meal and salad as he was pretty hungry from the bus ride and had not eaten lunch yet.
James is already looking forward to camping next year, two more weeks and he will see most of the people again as he enters 7th grade.
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James Leaves For Howell Summer Camp 2015
This was a big day for James as he headed off for a week of summer camp in Howell MI. We had to be at the school at 7am but unfortunately the bus was late and James did not actually leave until a little after 9am, but we are sure it will be well worth the wait for him as they have all sorts of cool activities planned. James was happy to see all the other kids (all from Middle School and a few from High School) especially the ones in his class like Jonathon and Dillon. This will mark the longest time James has been away from us. Looking back he spent one night with his Aunt Criss at a hotel, and he spent one day with Dad while Mom flew to Nashville, so James has not really been away from his family all that much and I am sure we will miss him this week.
Hopefully he will have many stories to tell us when he returns because he won’t have pictures since they don’t allow cell phones, computers, laptops, iPads, iPods, or anything else electronic at camp. We have to wonder who James will miss most, his family, his cats, or his iPad.
Abbotts 78th Magic Get Together 2015
As our list of annual events really takes hold in late July and early August, we made it to our 8th Magic Get Together in Colon Michigan. This time we split up as Mom stayed at the magic shop and watched a magic show there, while Jame’s and Dad went to the High School and watched another magic show there. James wanted to see the show more than ever this year because Dynamike from Detroit was performing and he is Jame’s favorite magician. James and other kids were invited onstage to see the magic closeup and James really loved that. This stage has seen Blackstone Sr, Blackstone Jr, Lance Burton, Franz Harary, and now it has seen James. After the show we all met up and went to the park, then headed back home with a stop in Jackson where James found a 5000 piece puzzle he wants for his birthday. All in all a great end to a great day.
US 12 Garage Sale 2015
Once again we spent an enchanting day driving down US-12 for their annual Detroit to Chicago Garage Sale. This has actually become a routine for us as we have our favorite places to stop. This year our first stop was the farm and while we did not find much in the way of purchases, it still made for a good time and allowed us to visit the chicken coop and such. Later we stop at a Church that turns itself into a big flea market and found a couple of Halloween items there. By the time we got to Clinton MI (about the half way point in our trip), the cars trunk was getting pretty full and we had only spent about $20. By the time we got to Colon for the Magic Festival the trunk was pretty much full and fortunately we had spent very little. That’s the great think about these garage sales on US 12, everyone can afford it.
VIP Camp Party 2015
The last day of James’ first camp, aka VIP Camp, was today and as usual featured a party and and a meal. Seeing people we might not see again for a year is always a little sad, but there were no frowns today at this fun event. This year instead of hot dogs the folks at VIP ordered pizza. As usual our contribution was some of the pop as everyone brought a dish making it a pot luck of sorts.
James played a few games with his friends then bid them all a fond fair well till next year. Its hard to believe how fast the time is flying for events like this, it just seems like the other day we were talking about August during February snow storms, now it is here and James’ first camp is already over. My how time flies when you are having fun.
James Go Cart Racing 2015
James went to Midway Entertainment (known as putt putt to us older folk) and rode the go carts about 6 times and also did the dodge em cars a couple times. This was a scheduled visit with his VIP camp and most of his friends were there with him having a blast. This was the last field trip for his VIP camp this summer and the camp itself will have its annual last day celebration this Thursday so we should have a bunch of photos from that event.
Midway entertainment certainly has gotten more activities since James’ dad was young. Back then there was a small putt putt, driving range, batting cages, and a couple trampolines. Its been around a long time.
