The Kleiber Family Timeline

Category: General Day to Day

General Events

  • Mackinaw City 2007

    Mackinaw City is really getting to be fun with all the shopping areas and fun places to go. There are magic shows in the Mackinaw Crossing shopping complex and also tourist trap stuff like the house of mirrors. A shoppers paradise for sure.

    In the evening they have a laser show in the complex and if you time your stay right, fireworks over the lake on certain weekends. James has fun playing in the many assorted playgrounds all within walking distance of our hotel. He also enjoys walking on the beach but prefers the beach under the bridge since that is where all the rocks are that he likes to throw in the lake.

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  • Huggum Dolls Visit For Christmas 2006

    Right before Christmas the family received a surprise from Mary’s mom, Huggum dolls that she played with as a child were sent to us so naturally we had fun taking pics of the dolls with the rest of the family.

    They were sent to us Fed Ex and arrived safe and sound. This has been a tradition in Mary’s house for many years and the dolls do class up the place if I must say so myself. James was curious about them, wondering if they were playtoys or not, but Mom assured him they were not his to play with but rather family heirlooms to be passed on from generation to generation.

    In these pics you can see some of the fun we had posing the dolls with some of the Christmas decorations. We especially liked the dolls on Jumbo the horse.

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  • Vinyl Siding 2006

    I remember the day a salesperson (known as tinmen and they actually made a movie about them) came into our house and sold my father aluminum siding and awnings. It was a pretty good move, the awnings would keep you dry when going in and out of your house during rain storms, and the aluminum siding protected the wooden areas of the house and garage, protecting them from the elements. However after about 25 years, even the aluminum begins to fade and dirt becomes embedded in the metal so much that it cannot be scrubbed out.

    Sure enough, another tinman came around and sold us some more aluminum siding so we should be good for another 25 years.

    I do like the new drains as they pivot up and down and can even be removed if you like for cleaning.

  • Nashville Aquarium Restaurant 2006

    The Nashville Aquarium Restaurant is one of the largest aquariums in the world, you should see it at feeding time. It truly is an underwater dining adventure.

    We took Mary’s mom here for lunch and James enjoyed seeing all the fish in one of the largest aquariums in the world. The water is constantly filtered and is sparkling clean, kind of makes me feel guilty because the water in our little home aquarium is not that clean. The aquarium is in the center of the restaurant and is circular so you can walk all around it and end up back where you started. The food was good as well, but you have to remember you are paying for the aquarium and that atmosphere of the place.

    This restaurant is located directly across from the Grand Ole Opry, just on the other side of the parking lot.

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  • Telegraph Dream Cruise 2006

    This is a new dream cruise that is just getting started and hopefully will rival the Woodward one. We usually sit in front of the antique store and sometimes bring the Nash. Mary is from a car loving family and knows much more about cars than I do. She takes pictures of the cars, then prints the photos and makes an album out of them. She then sends the album to her Dad (Howard) who is in a nursing home down in Tennessee. Her dad enjoys the pictures and getting a chance to see all the classic cars that he drove in his youth.

    James joined us in watching the festivities. He was at the event last year as well and enjoys seeing the cars drive by and waving at him. Of course he waves back which keeps him very busy.

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  • Canterbury Village 2006

    This is a popular stop for us on the way home from Mackinaw. Its only an hour away from our home so its well within striking distance anytime we want. This was fun for James because its almost all toys and Christmas at Canterbury, all throughout the year. Lots of craft shops as well but primarily the theme is Christmas. While not as big a Bronners, its a little more elegant and has an animated nursery tale that simply fascinated James to no end.

    Plenty of Dept 56 houses here as well including a Halloween display which was sort of the inspiration for the one we made in the basement. If you have a chance be sure to visit Canterbury Village out near the Pontiac area, its great fun especially for the little ones.

    Remember it is a Christmas village and it can get pretty crowded in December, but you can have the place pretty much to yourself in the summer.

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  • Mackinaw City 2006

    Every spring we make a trek up north to the straits of Mackinaw and go to the State Park on the Island. Mackinaw is spelled two different ways and both are correct, sometimes you see it as Mackinac, sometimes as Mackinaw. This is due to being occupied by both the French and British who had different spellings for the name.

    An obvious strategic location along the great lakes, Mackinaw is littered with history including forts, military graves, indian burial grounds, and one of the largest suspension bridges in the world which joins the upper and lower peninsula’s of Michigan.

    We had a special treat this year, on the ferry back from the island we drove under the bridge which is something that usually is not allowed. There was a VIP on board which is why they did it, who the VIP was I have no idea.

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  • Sea Shell City 2006

    I remember as a kid seeing an episode of the old Adam West batman show where the Joker tied up Batman, Robin, and the Jokers girl friend (that’s why hes the joker) and fed them to a giant clam. The cliff hanger was Robin being eaten by the clam with only his foot sticking out of the clams mouth. Batman broke out of the chains and saved everyone and that night they had clam chowder for dinner.

    So naturally when I see a sign for a man eating clam I am going to pull over and take a peek. While the clam was not quite that big, it sure was big enough to swallow James. Sea Shell city has a huge variety of sea faring souvenirs and is a great place to visit on the way up (or down) from Mackinaw. Octopus, starfish, alligators, shark jaws, and many other treasures of the deep are here for the taking (after you pay of course). Other man made items such as sea shell lamps and sea shell bottle holders fill aisle after aisle. A fun place to visit.

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  • Elmo Comes To Dearborn 2006

    As with most young children, Elmo plays a big part in their childhood activities via games, television, or talking dolls. Elmo is a hero for James and James could not wait to see Elmo when he came to the Fairlane mall – and he was not disappointed. After waiting patiently for about a half hour he finally got to see the star, Elmo of Sesame Street.

    The thing I will remember about this is James getting upset when we had to leave and I had to carry him out crying, as I walked past the security guard he said “There goes a true Elmo fan” lol. However all was not lost, just on the other side of Fairlane the Easter bunny was setting up shop and with a little coaxing, James was back to his happy self again and getting his pic taken with the Easter bunny (which I will add to the Easter gallery later).

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  • Thanksgiving Visit to Canterbury Village 2005

    Canterbury Village was on our Thanksgiving plate for today, we needed a few Christmas items that they did not carry at Target or Walmart but did not have time to make the trek to Bronners in Frankenmuth so we decided on going to Canterbury in Lake Orion which is probably about 1/3 of the time it takes us to go to Bronners.

    Canterbury is a Michigan Historical Landmark and some of the original buildings (Wildwood Farms – known back then for raising prize black angus cattle) that were built in 1870 can be found in the back here, usually selling candles or something like that behind the Merry Go Round. The big buildings in the front are much more recent architecture from about 20 years ago in 1993.

    A nice place to spend part of our Thanksgiving weekend and an early preparation for the upcoming Christmas season.

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