Trying to get back into the swing of things we went out to Michigan Memorial to put flowers on the graves. Grandma and Grandpa Kleibers grave was almost completely covered by grass so we had to do some quick landscaping just to pull out the vase. On the other side of the park the latest arrival, Aunt Peg, her grave looked fine but her vase did not have a bottom and would not hold water. We took a McDonalds cup and shoved it inside as a temporary fix. I am calling Michigan Memorial on both issues tomorrow.

The construction at the front seems complete and there was a lit flame burning in what can be best described as a pot or large vase (I am sure there is a more formal name for it). The weather was 90 degrees and beautiful. Continue reading “Memorial Day at Michigan Memorial Park 2022” →

It been a few weeks since we took our first pics of the spring, and you can see that the entire look has changed, thanks to a couple timely runs to the green houses and also to Mom and her work with planting the bulbs.

We picked up a couple ornaments on our trip up north, one in Mackinaw and another at Past Tense in Lapeer. They are not in their final positions yet.

Anyway with Memorial day coming tomorrow I think we are all set as far as landscaping goes for the rest of 2022, or at least till Halloween. Continue reading “Late Spring Landscaping 2022” →

This was the first time we went to Past Tense since the pandemic, and had a pretty good time. First thing we noticed in the door was 20% off all garden items so Mom took advantage of this to purchase some spinning items for the yard. Past Tense also has year round Christmas and Halloween decorations so we bought a little of both. Some skulls with peeling skins for Dad, and some Christmas ornaments marked 95% off for James. Mom bought some garden items and after it was over and we were on our way home we made our traditional ice cream stop. Continue reading “Past Tense 2022” →

Memorial Day weekend continued with a trip to Bronners in Frankenmuth. The first thing we noticed when we drove into Frankenmuth was that there was a dog show called “The Dog Bowl” and the city of Frankenmuth was packed with visitors to see this show. However Bronners was not crowded at all and we took advantage of it to enjoy a nice visit to the largest Christmas shop in the land. Perhaps the most exciting new thing we saw was that Dept 56 was putting out a new Munster and Addams Family ceramic houses. We already had the Hawthorne version of the Munsters but we really had nothing on the Addams family so we bought a small Addams family gazebo to go into our ceramic display of haunted houses. Continue reading “Bronners Visit 2022” →

After dropping off the family at Great Lakes Crossing, Dad went about ten miles down the street to Canterbury Village to check out the shops and see if new Halloween or Christmas items were in. Usually Canterbury was quiet but not today, the entire village had dinosaurs in it. These were high tech animatronics and pretty cool. Dad did a quick walk around the village taking these pictures, then went into the store to check on the gifts. Dad then headed back to Great Lakes Crossing to pick up the family.

This is one time for sure that Dad got the better part of the shopping deal. Continue reading “Canterbury Village 2022” →

Its been a few years since we have been to Great Lakes Crossing and James and Mom really wanted to go. James was looking for games at the game store and Mary was looking for deals at the Women stores.

Dad really did not want to go so he dropped the two off at the shopping complex and went to kill an hour at another attraction.

Great Lakes Crossing is the largest indoor outlet mall in Michigan and this day it was a little busy but not really bad, considering it was Memorial Day weekend. A great time was had by one and all at two different locations in Michigan.

Its been about a week since a #3 tornado touched down in Gaylord and the community was very busy putting things back together.

We had spent many nights in Gaylord and enjoy the town very much. Its pretty much a hunting town but there are plenty of stores on the city main street. When we saw videos of the storm we could not believe it as it was just North of the main street where we used to shop.

We wish the Gaylord community all best during this difficult time. Continue reading “Gaylord Tornado Cleanup 2022” →

The long standing haunted house on Mackinaw Island was not open till 11pm for some reason, but we did finally make it there and went through the house. The haunted house is sort of a wax museum with some animatronics and is very traditional and fun.

Dads facebook profile photo for years has been Dad and James at the top of the steps of the haunted house so we decided to take that picture again, about 12 years later.

Our favorite at the haunted house was probably the coffin that opens and a corpse sits up and turns around and looks at you. Nice effect! Continue reading “Haunted House – Mackinaw Island 2022” →

The weather was still cloudy and about 55-65 degrees so it was a very comfortable trip to the island. Once again we took the ferry across, although we did not remember the $35 charge to park. This year we stayed on main street and shopped as we felt it was too “buggy” to go into the woods as there were tons of mayflies flying around.

Stopped at Joann Fudge to get some maple fudge for Mom, plus lots of t shirts for the family at monster tee. We noticed the magic shop was gone, replace by what we think was a jewelry store.

We noticed it was just starting to get busy as this was the Friday of Memorial day. We were happy coming up earlier so we missed most of the tourist who came up for the weekend.
Continue reading “Mackinaw Island 2022” →