The Kleiber Family Timeline

Category: Shopping

Shopping trips

  • Abbott’s Flea Market 2012

    The family went up to Colon Michigan to participate in a Magic Flea Market and Auction. We go to this almost every year primarily to look for Halloween stuff which shows up from time to time. This year was different because Mary had a Flea Market table. Mary sold some used magic, posters, and books that were supplied to her from the magic shop hosting the event and she had a great time selling and interacting with the visitors, some who came as far away as St Louis to attend this. James and I did manage to find a couple things to buy for Halloween but mostly spent our time outside at the playgrounds. They also had a flower sale going on that day so it was a very busy day in the Magic Capital Colon Michigan.

    After the Flea Market we ate a buffet in Coldwater then went to the antique shops in Allen MI (From the Magic Capital to the Antique Capital). Ironically Mary found a Phantom of the Opera poster framed which we will show you once Halloween rolls around. A fun day for everyone.

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  • Nashville Phillips Toy Mart 2012

    It is so nice to escape the cold weather of Michigan in January and head to the more “calmer” temperature of Nashville. It was so nice out that we stopped at Phillips Toy Mart to pick up some outdoor game that James could play while we were visiting Grandpa and enjoying this moderate temperature (we have to figure that it may be months before James will be able to play outside in Michigan with the possible exception of building snowmen or snow forts).

    James got to climb up and be the conductor for the train while visiting the store. We found several things for him to play with outside (there is a wide open field outside of where Grandpa is staying that is ideal for this) and ended up with a light up frisbee like saucer that we ended up tossing to each other. Grandpa was able to go outside but whether or not he could see the light up frisbee flying through the air I can’t say for sure.

    Thanks for having the right toy at the right time Phillips

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  • Pumpkins for the Halloween Party 2011

    What would a Halloween party be without pumpkings? James and Dad pondered this thought and decided to go out and buy a few pumpkins to carve for the Halloween party. Pumpkins usually last a week or two if they are not carved, but once you carve one they begin to deteriorate rather rapidly and you really only have a few days of being able to use a carved pumpkin (It also depends on the temperature, if they are kept cool they will last much longer, but if left in a warm house they will deteriorate quickly).

    A quick trip to the store got us everything we needed and James was very creative with his carving of the pumpkins. Hopefully they go over good at the upcoming Halloween Party. James thinks so and so does Dad.

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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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  • James 1.80 Financial Setback & Mary’s Ford Fusion

    It’s been a while since posting here, most of Feb was spent shoveling snow. Jame’s school work is still going very well and his speech improves every day. He had a couple of snow days in February.

    Last week Mary, Peg, James, and myself went to Kroger. Each Sunday James returns the bottles and cashes in the money for candy or toys. This week was no exception and James pushed all the bottles into the machine and got his receipt for $1.80 which he put in his pocket and we made our way to the cashier. Unfortunately the lines were way way long and James did not want to wait, so he found his mom and gave her the receipt and James and I walked out toward the car (we usually listen to the radio when Peg/Mary are grocery shopping). As we were walking to the car, James looks up at me, a look of frustration in his face, and says. “$1.80, All Gone”.

    Mary turned in her 10 year old Kia and got a Ford Fusion so my father can stop rolling over in his grave that we bought a Japanese car. The car served its purpose, but was 10 years old with a broken seat and a few other malfunctions. We only have one picture of the new car because it has been buried in snow most of the time in the driveway. Thanks to our neighbor Allen who works for Fords and got us something called a “friend and family” discount.

  • James Shopping Spree 2010

    My sister Peg and I took James to Target so he could spend his Christmas money from Uncle Bill. James went right to the videos and bought a Scooby Doo movie and Scooby Doo puzzle which did not really surprise me, what did surprise me was he went to the food section of the store and spent the rest on snacks that we usually do not have in the house – Doritos, Oreo Cookies, Ice Cream and pizza.

    We have been keeping pretty healthy food in the house such as apples, oranges, pears, rice cakes, etc that we have for snacks, I guess James is putting us on notice that we wants a bit more variety in his diet from the 5 kid food groups -cookies, chips, ice cream, pizza and candy (his Aunt bought him a Valentine Day sucker to complete the entree).

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