After James graduated we headed home to use the facilities since we were in the car for nearly 3 hours, but no one was complaining. James laid out his diploma next to Dad’s and it looked like very little had changed in their diploma, even the font was the same.

We headed to Applebee’s which is one of James’ favorite places to eat. James had his picture taken next to the Annapolis sign which was hanging over a table there. We were all very hungry and thirsty as we knew we were going to be sitting in a car for a while and did not want to have to worry about bathroom breaks.

After eating we headed home and James opened up some of the cards he received for graduation. We could not do alot because we had to take James to the senior all night party which would begin in a few hours.

Thanks to everyone who supported James through his career at Annapolis. We regret that we will not be having a graduation party due to the pandemic but hope to see you all very soon. This decision is ours because I did not want anyone to feel uncomfortable at a graduation party setting. Continue reading “A Little After Graduation Celebration” →

The day could not have been better as we headed to Ford Field in Dearborn for James’ graduation ceremony. Ford Field is where Dearborn Homecoming is hosted and is very popular with the kids for sledding, in fact James went there sledding once with Dad a while back and now it would be the site of his graduation.

We lined up at 4 pm and waited till about 5:30 for the speeches to begin. James spent some of this time socializing and taking pictures with his friends. Once the speeches ended it moved pretty quickly, we were the second group or cars called and we followed each other slowly in a car procession. When we got to where we could see the podium, James jumped out and went up to receive his diploma. We were very far away in the car but did manage to get a shot of it by zooming in on the camera. We did pay $10 for a professional picture so we are looking forward to that (note, we received it and it is now the main pic in the article).

Once James returned to the car, we moved forward to get out of the way and saw a sign with his picture on it that we liked. His principle came to the car and gave us the actual diploma and talked to us for a bit. The procession part was fun because his parents got to be part of the ceremony by driving him, rather than being spectators in a hall.

We then drove off into the sunset as James’ High School Career (and his fathers for that matter) was now complete. He will have a couple more events this week and next but scholastically he is done with High School. Congrats to James on this achievement. Continue reading “JAMES GRADUATES HIGH SCHOOL” →

The house is all ready for graduation day as we anxiously await its arrival.

On the inside we have a couple of helium balloon displays (one of which made it through the parade which really amazed us), and on the outside we have almost every banner and sign we could fit on the property.

There were two signs that had James’ name on them, the first we had to pay $15 for and the second one we were given by Annapolis and it has James’ picture on it. James worked on the decorations himself and he removes them each week to allow Dad to mow the lawn.

With that being said, we are now officially decorated and ready to graduate! Continue reading “Ready and Decorated for Graduation” →

While we were visiting Annapolis to watch James receive an award, Dad took advantage of the situation and went on a little tour of his old stomping ground. Dad graduated 42 years ago from the same School that James will shortly graduate from so he knew his way around the place. The auditorium will be torn down this summer which is why there are so many pictures of the auditorium. The pool and the gym look great. We were told that the gym was remodeled a few years back which might explain why it looks so good. The school has really not changed that much since Dad graduated there in 1979 (The school opened in 1966 so its really had much more history after Dad left than before he came there). Continue reading “A Visit To Annapolis High School” →

Earlier in the week there was an honor awards event at Annapolis but they did not allow parents, instead they broadcasted the event on Facebook. This time we were able to attend an award ceremony since only two kids were receiving them. The award is the first Dale Preussner Scholarship and it was awarded to a boy and girl and was in the amount of $1,000 to be put towards his continuing education (which looks like Wayne County Community College).

James actually knew Dale Preussner and when he passed on attended the funeral to pay his respects. James said he was one of his favorites at Annapolis so it was especially nice to receive this scholarship for James. Continue reading “James Receives Dale Preussner Scholarship” →

The whole family worked on this parade. Dad took the day off so he could help Mom with the cleaning of the car, then the decorating begins and the car turned out better than we imagined. James drove in the parade but because he only has a drivers permit it meant that Dad had to accompany him on the trip.

The parade began at Mayfair where the cars lined up in the big parking lot adjacent to the board. The parade then went down Annapolis street where it turned into the old St. Albert parking lot and then went back down Annapolis to the Mayfair. It was a great time.

James enjoyed it very much and especially because he got to drive in it. It was kind of strange telling him to ignore stop signs and such as he was still learning how to drive (he has over 50 hours so he has met the state requirement, the testing facility he wants to go to (Apollo) has not opened since the pandemic so we hope that business survived. Continue reading “Annapolis Seniors Parade 2021” →

Easter weather this year was very mild despite the fact that Easter was a little early this year. The duck family made their annual visit, this time under the watchful eye of “turtle” (yes, we have a cat named turtle). The pandemic is still going on and we are pretty much not allowed much socializing in our home despite that we have all begun our vaccinations.

This year we really enjoyed the bunny blow molds in the window, I think we had them outside last year and we really do not have enough to make an effective outdoor display (and we don’t want to since we go all out for Christmas and Halloween).

Easter was great this year, but this pandemic stuff is getting old pretty fast now.
Continue reading “Easter 2020” →

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. Continue reading “VIP Camp at the National Guard” →

Dad had businessup north at Vanderbilt MI and took the opportunity to visit a friend and drop of some St. Albert aprons and such that he had picked up when St. Alberts was closing (they had a garage sale). Dad’s friend Jim M gave Dad a little tour of the coastline park which had its own clock tower sort of similar to back to the future, except there was not a court house attached to it. The weather was pretty brutal and the roads were not exactly in the best shape since it was the heart of the winter season when Dad made the trip.

Anyhow it had been a while since Dad was anywhere except work and it was nice to see a different city as the pandemic is really putting a hit on travel in Michigan. Continue reading “A Trip to Petoskey Michigan” →