The Kleiber Family Timeline

Category: General Day to Day

General Events

  • Abbotts Magic Get Together 2011

    We all headed out to Colon MI for the annual Abbotts Get Together which features some of the most recognized names in magic. This year was a little different with a blind folded car drive through the city streets, a car show, and a craft show going on during the event. James enjoyed the blindfolded car drive and Mary enjoyed the car show while Dad liked the dealers room where the latest magic is for sale.

    Each year since 1934 Magicians have migrated to this tiny town to see the latest magic and to perform for a midwest audience. They actually have two popular sayings to describe this event, one is “Vegas comes to Mayberry” and the other is the “Magic Capitol of the World”. The whole magic thing is due to the Abbott magic company which has been putting this event on for over seventy years. Some of the top names in magic such as Blackstone (both Sr. and Jr.), Lance Burton, Jeff McBride, Mac King, Jeff Hobson, and many more have performed here.

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  • Late Spring Snow Fall 2011

    When you live in Michigan which is surrounded by the great lakes you can get snow almost anytime except summer. This is one of the reasons you can’t really do much gardening in April and according to the farmers almanac, you are not out of the woods regarding snow until Memorial Day (and I remember some close calls regarding snow even on Memorial Day).

    James took a break from his Easter activities and shoveled the snow which was nice, especially on Easter weekend. This little blast kind of took us by surprise and the snow just does not work with the Easter decorations.

    However the people in the neighborhood who still have Christmas decorations are saying a big and collective “told you so” to the rest of us.

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  • A Fun Snow Day 2011

    A blistering cold Michigan Saturday did not stop James from having some winter time fun. He built a snow fort, then had a blast demolishing it. He made snow angels and snow balls, but had difficulty getting the snow to stick for a genuine snowman. He was visited by Swiper (the squirrel that can be seen in the neighbors tree, James named him after Swiper the Fox from the Dora cartoon series because he looks alot like the fox (he’s a big squirrel). It appears that we were the only two human beings outside this day, I don’t know if that’s a statement about us or about the neighborhood but eventually we just said no more being a prisoner of a Michigan winter.

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  • Artist At Work 2010

    James got a pack of construction paper with some bottle money he had saved, and the first project he did was re-create the picture on the front of the package. James showed a lot of patience and work as he got the exact colors and drew the figures. Neither Mary nor myself are very good artist’s but I know both his Grandma and Grandpa Kleiber (could draw a very good popeye) were excellent in drawing so maybe talent skips a generation.

    Mom and Dad thought enough of his effort that we framed the picture for him. Now he has an artist easel and he is making the most out of it. Do we have an artist in the making?

  • James Starts Second Grade 2010

    School days are here again ! James arose a few minutes before 7 AM and got ready for school. Mommy supervised as he dressed in a new pair of shoes, a new shirt, and new shorts and socks. Last year, James and Mommy watched Curious George together while waiting for the bus. This morning, he was too excited to watch.

    At approximately quarter after seven, the bus pulled up and Mommy walked with him to meet the bus for the first time. James, of course, carried his new Toy Story 3 backpack. Barb is the new school bus driver. Pearl is the attendant. James and Pearl are well-acquainted since Pearl was the attendant on the bus that he rode last year. A little boy from our block will be riding the bus with James for the first time this year. Unfortunately, the child attends a different school than James.

    James is once again attending Hoover Elementary in Lincoln Park. Mr. Elia will be James’ teacher for the second year in a row. As always, Dad documents James’ milestones with photographs. Share James’ excitement and nervousness by looking at Dad’s photo gallery.

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  • Bronners Visit 2010

    We decided it would be a nice break to go to Bronners and start our day off from there. Moms birthday is today and we wanted her to have a good time with good eats. We also wanted to replace some of her shirts at the outlet mall which is very close to Bronners so why not Bronners on a birthday.

    Everyone got something and there were lots of Christmas items that we had never seen before. We really like the new icicle lights (not sure if they are new but they are to us) where the light seems to drop down the icicle as if its melting. Mom added some bulbs to her candy tree and James picked up a couple items as well. It was such a nice day its hard to believe summer will soon be over.

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  • Mackinaw Island City 2010

    One of the best main streets in all of the United States. Complete with the famouse fudge shops, haunted houses, magic shops, carriage tours, and tons of souvenir shops. James insisted on another ice cream cone so he could keep up his energy, Mom went browsing for new clothes, and Dad checked out the haunted house and magic shops on main street.

    Something new we found was a Haunted Mackinaw Island Tour, which we did not go on but we put on the schedule for next year. James did very well this day and was rewarded with a couple toys, a megaphone that changes your voice (It reminded me of one his Grandpa had in Michigan), and a mouse game where you “bop” the mouse with a rubber mallet and the computer tells you how well you did.

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  • Mackinaw City 2010

    With only 2 days of rest since the Nashville trip our vacation continued with our annual visit to Mackinaw. On the way up North we stopped off and visited Aunt Criss at her work (which is about the half way point to Mackinaw). James and Aunt Criss had not seen each other in quite some time but got along great and James came away with some candy to help him on his journey North.

    The weather forecast for the next few days called for rain on and off, but we were very lucky because whenever we were inside it seemed to rain, whenever we were outside the weather was fine. Mom found a bunch of good deals on t shirts (Mom no longer fit into her older Mackinaw T shirts so Dad inherited them). As usual we spent a good amount of time at the Mackinaw Crossings which is fast becoming a sort of board walk for tourist with fun houses, movie theaters, and some virtual rides along with about fifty or so souvenir and specialty shops (aka Tourist Traps).

    The last night of our trip the winds were so strong they knocked out the power in the hotel and half the city, the final couple pics were taken in gale like winds.

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  • 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?

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  • 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.

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