The Kleiber Family Timeline

Category: Michigan

Events in Michigan

  • Abbotts Magic Flea Market 2013

    What a great time we have at the Abbott Magic Flea Market which takes place each year around Mothers Day. If you are looking for magic and need to watch your funds, this is the place for you. You can go in with about $10 and walk out with a big bag of various magic. Prices are so low they could not be considered wholesale, but well below wholesale. Most of the magic is used but it is usually in good condition and the owner simply wants to make more room for new magic by selling off the old stuff.

    We have found some great deals for Halloween as well. If you were to buy a guillotine or chopper for Halloween it would cost you a fortune, but here you can find those products cheap, and if you are buying them for Halloween you don’t even care about the magic part which means you can usually get them even cheaper.

    Just a great 4 or 5 hours of fun here, highly recommended for all magic (and Halloween) enthusiasts.

    (more…)

  • Bronners in Spring 2013

    A cool spring day presented the perfect opportunity for a trip to Frankenmuth and a visit to Bronners. James went shopping at Bronners and bought a couple Easter lights that were on sale (after Easter sale).

    James and his family then had a chicken dinner at a pretty crowded Bavarian Inn (We did not expect it to be crowded because it was still pretty cold out, but I think lots of family’s were like us and just said “enough” to winter). For those of you who have never tried Zenders or Bavarian Inn chicken dinners you have to put it on your bucket list. This is a popular tourist attraction on Sundays just for the chicken dinners, several of my friends in Canada make the trek once or twice a year – its that good that people actually go through the hassle of customs to get some of the Frankenmuth Bavarian Chicken dinners

    We then shopped at their outdoor mall where Mary got to visit the cupcake shop that won a reality show contest (cupcake wars). On the way home we got to listen to the Tigers win over the Yankees so it was a good day all around.

    (more…)

  • East Side Marios 2013

    Easter weekend is a great time for good eating, and what better place to go than East Side Marios who have the absolute best soup, burgers, and Italian cuisine around.

    When you have had your fill of Easter eggs and ham, this is the destination for you.

    The setting of the restaurant is New York, specifically what you would find at the corner of Canal Street and Mulberry Street in Lower Manhattan. Ficticious windows of ficticious New Yorkers surround you along with the Brooklyn Bridge and the Statue of Liberty.

    Great place to visit, great atmosphere, great food, and reasonably priced. Although the setting is in New York, and the cuisine is American/Italian, the company is actually owned by a Canadian company so you have a little bit of America, a little bit of Italy, and a little bit of Canada working to give you a very entertaining meal.

    (more…)

  • Christmas at the Magic Capitol 2012

    Once again we attended the Colon Christmas Celebration. James got plenty of treats as pretty much everywhere you went there were cookies, juice, cocoa, and even a chilli contest. Mary got to shop at the antique stores and James got to see Santa and also pet the live reindeer that were outside the library. Inside the library James got to pick out a free book – he chose a Madlib book. Outside the library James got to pet a couple live reindeer!

    The elementary school had a craft show which included some awesome tasting snacks and some homemade Amish bread. A Santa parade went down mainstreet and there were carolers on the corners. A fun time was had by all.

    Below is a demonstration of the virtual Santa that we got from Abbotts, it makes it look like Santa is really in your window.

    (more…)

  • Abbotts 75th Magic Get Together 2012

    James got to help set up some of the booths at the Abbotts Get Together, an event which takes place each August. James has come to this festival since he was 3 and has always enjoyed it, however this is the first time he got to actually help out in the preparations. James helped out the weekend before then got to attend and enjoy the festivities the weekend after (his camp prevented him from attending during the week).

    A bonus surprise was that Jame’s pet doves were used on the Friday night show (tickets were $25 each for a Vegas quality magic show but James got in for free because of the work he did the weekend before).

    James enjoyed pizza in a place that had a girl floating in the window and posters from many of the past Abbott Get Togethers.

    Towards the end of the event, a huge rainbow filled the sky over the magic village of Colon which just thrilled James.

    The 2013 Abbott Get Together dates are Aug 7,8,9,10, this will be their 76th year doing this. We heard that some other magic shop was copying this event and putting it on a week earlier in Colon so make sure if you do attend that it is the Abbott Magic Get Together that you attend and not “the copycat” as James likes to call it.

    We would truly like to thank the staff of Abbott Magic for their hospitality and kindness during this event. We all had a great time.

    (more…)

  • Soo Locks & Soo Museum Tour 2012

    James and Mom got to go on a two hour tour of the Soo Locks. This was James first time going through the locks and also the first time he got to go to Canada (that he remembered, we took him a couple times to Kingsville and Windsor while he was in a stroller). James has been wanting to go to Canada since studying about it at school and online. Going on the boat tour not only did he get to understand the workings of the Soo Locks, but also the boat took him to Canada without the headache of going through customs.

    After the boat tour we went by the other museums and finished off the day shopping in the tourist trap area.

    (more…)

  • Mackinaw City and Bridge 2012

    James had a blast at Mackinaw City, perhaps his favorite is throwing rocks into Lake Huron right underneath the bridge, especially at night. We made sure to make time for his activity and also took him to Mackinaw Crossings earlier in the evening to shop for toys. Other activities he enjoyed were two trips over the Mackinaw bridge, which is the largest suspension bridge in the Western hemisphere (I think, people keep making newer and bigger bridges each year). It spans 5 miles between the lower and upper peninsula’s which is a larger span than the Golden Gate bridge. This time we tried to get some pics crossing the bridge as Mom worked the camera while Dad drove. As in past years, we ended the visit with a trip to Mackinaw Island and a visit to Sea Shell City.

    (more…)

  • Mackinaw Island 2012

    The highlight of our Northern Michigan adventure is always the trip to Mackinaw Island. Arriving at the island on the earliest ferry is our general routine, by 8:30am we are deep in the State park where we visit Skull Cave, the 3 graveyards, and Arch rock. There are many other great spots on the island but these three we always do first, then go and search the island for other adventure.

    After spending the morning in the woods we then move toward the city for lunch. This year there was a tour of the Governors mansion which we attended so now we can say we were inside the Governors mansion, if only for a few minutes. After shopping for a bit James and I went through the haunted house and Mary shopped for T-shirts. On the boat ride home we sat on the upper level and enjoyed the high speed “breeze” created by the boat and the beautiful day.

    (more…)

  • Sea Shell City 2012

    James has been going to Sea Shell City for years now, he loves playing in the pirate boat outside and enjoys the shopping inside. He usually always walks out with something, maybe a hat or maybe a shirt, ironically never a sea shell (they have thousands from all over the world here).

    The story of Sea Shell city is an interesting one. We always lump it in with Mackinaw since its only a few miles from the bridge, but it actually is in Cheboygan. It is right off interstate 75 at exit 326 and is quite visible from the road. Its been here sine 1963, but its the story before 1963 that is interesting.

    Sea Shell City originally opened for business on Old 27 in Gaylord, MI. Since Interstate 75 did not come this far north, It was an excellent location as everyone had to use Old 27 to continue north to Mackinac City, Mackinac Island or to take the ferry across the Straits of Mackinac to get to the Upper Peninsula. When Interstate 75 was completed in 1957, the business decreased severely as there was no need to travel Old 27 to go farther north.

    So you could say the Mackinaw Bridge being built which forced 75 North was almost the undoing of Sea Shell City. Now its probably the main source of visitors for them.

    (more…)

  • Spring Frankenmuth Trip 2012

    James picked up a few Mario brother characters, a hard hat with a light in it that says Frankenmuth on the side, and an Easter bunny from Bronners (yes, he went to the Christmas shop and bought something for Easter). James had lots of fun and the place was strangely quiet for such a pretty day. We had most of the place to ourselves and had no problems getting seated for a chicken dinner at the Bavarian Inn.

    Highlights include James feeding a horse named Gus, flinging about 100 pennies into various fountains, and the many photo ops where you stick your head through a hole (in one James could not reach the boy fairy hole with his head so he stuck his head through the next hole which was the girl fairy). The picture is very funny looking and we all had a little laugh at the fairy pic. You can see that pic and a whole bunch more by clicking the button below.

    (more…)