The Kleiber Family Timeline

Category: Michigan

Events in Michigan

  • Soo Locks – Saulte Ste. Marie 2022

    We arrived at Mackinaw a little early, our check in time at the hotel was 3pm so we decided to head further North, about 50 minutes, to Saulte Ste Marie which is the Northern end of Michigan and also the Northern end of I75 (which actually starts in Florida).

    When we arrived at the locks we saw something we had never seen before, a Viking cruise ship going through the locks. We had seen tankers and every other kind of vessel, but never a cruise ship.

    We stopped in at the tourist traps across from the locks (the locks are run by the army corp of engineers and the tourist traps are right across the street). There certainly seemed to be alot of big foot stuff, almost like the official mascot of up north.

    A great time was had by all and why not, this was the first place we went to for our honeymoon 19 years ago! (more…)

  • Power Loss and a Trip to Frankenmuth 2021

    Sunday began much differently than it ended but its these unexpected surprises that sometimes make the best fun. After dropping of some goods at Grandma’s the family returned home and found out a car accident had caused a power failure throughout Dearborn and Dearborn Heights. With no power at home we decided to take a little road trip to Frankenmuth for some last minute Christmas shopping.

    As one would expect, the place was crowded with lines outside of Bronners just to get in and a 2.5 hour wait for chicken dinner, but the family was not deterred as they spent a few hours shopping at the mall and even had a chance encounter with a Christmas hero of Dad… No, not Santa, but the Grinch!

    A great time was had by all as we listened to the Lions win their second game of the year and lots of Christmas music.

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  • Concert At Magic Bag in Ferndale 2021

    Our first family concert since the pandemic was at the Magic Bag in Ferndale where we saw two great Blues/Rock bands live. The first band was GA-20 which is a band from Boston and was simply awesome. The second was J.D. Simo who had a definite Stevie Ray Vaughn, Robin Trower style guitar.

    After the concert, Mary and James got a chance to meet the band members, buy CD’s and T-shirts (which they autographed), and get their pictures taken with the band members. They were all great and a great time was held by all.

    I should mention that this was the first time we had to actually provide proof of vaccination for anything.

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  • 2021 Halloween Party

    Since we had the pandemic last year, it had been two years since we had any guests at our house (outside of plumbers and roofers) but that came to an end October 9th as our 11th Halloween party took place.

    James had college classes this day so he did not show up till 4:30 from Wayne County Community College, but once their he became the “balloon guy” filling up helium balloons for all the kids.
    Once again, the most popular item was the magic mirror (this was our third time using it) and guests got to take home a souvenir picture of themselves.

    Since many of the guests were St. Albert Alumni, we also had St. Albert pics and the new book available in the garage for pickup.

    A great time was had by all and it appears we will be having at least one more Halloween party next year.
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  • James Gets His Drivers License 2021

    It was certainly a long path for James to get his license as the pandemic hit right after his time at Apollo driving school. Once he got a learners permit, he had to drive 50 hours with a parent, with ten of those hours being at night. Once he got that completed he had to wait to take his second schooling which was done virtually, then the final exam which was done in Ann Arbor. Finally he had to go to Detroit to pass his actual driving test which consisted of parking and driving on and off the interstate (I 94 in this case, but he had lots of practice doing this). The pic is James and his Mom leaving with a signed cert that he would take into the Secretary of State the next day (his Birthday) and get his well earned license.

    All in all it was quite an adventure not only for James but for his family.

  • First Halloween Store Opens 2021

    Driving around we found that a Halloween store was open so we took a quick visit to see what was new. Their display this year featured an assembly line that was maintained by the skeletons. It was pretty cool. We bought a couple small items but the store assured us that there would be much more in stock in the near future. We think this might be the earliest one of the Halloween stores opened as it is not even September yet.

    Anyhow it was a fun way to spend a hot summer day. (more…)

  • 32,000 Piece Puzzle Completed

    When the pandemic isolated James from school and other social events, he spent a year working on one of his favorite hobbies, puzzles. James had a 32,000 piece puzzle of New York City and he began putting this together.

    He divided the puzzle into 8 sections and then divided each of those sections into 1 square foot sections which he glued together. He then took the entire package to Swapka field and worked under the pavilion for about two hours putting this puzzle together. Since it was too big for our garage, this was the first time James saw his puzzle completely together.
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  • Wounded Warrior Fund Raiser 2021

    Dad visited some of his friends at a Wounded Warrior fund raiser in Novi. Mike, Tom, and Jim each have special roles in making this charity the success it is. It helps people who have been wounded meet expenses and they do this through fund raisers such as a bean bag tournament. Next month will be a golf tournament fund raiser so these guys are really staying busy working for a great cause.

  • VIP Camp 2021 Party

    After a year off from VIP Camp (due to the pandemic), James got to meet up with his friends and they had a great season.

    As usual, many of the events included swimming, Heritage Park, Movies, and Restaurants. Best of all it was socializing after a year of not socializing. Everyone stayed healthy and all had a great time as the year was very well attended.

    This year event was in the Taylor sports complex but he final party was at the bowling alley.

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  • VIP Camp at the National Guard

    VIP camp came into play this day for the first time in a long time due to the pandemic. The staff was working a booth at the National Guard in Taylor MI. It was called “Meet The National Guard” and was open to the public. Military vehicles were on display and for the first time we were able to try out the Halloween Benefit Books we made up before the Pandemic began. Later a military helicopter made its appearance and landed in the parking lot.

    James helped work the VIP camp booth as his parents dropped him off and picked him up. He has his learners permit but is unable to take his test since Apollo driving school has not opened up since the pandemic closed everything down. (more…)