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Thanksgiving 2018
What an awesome Thanksgiving we had this year, first watching the parade on TV then chowing down on Turkey and Stuffing. We then watched the Lions lose to the Bears in the Detroit Thanksgiving Day game, a tradition which goes back to the thirties! Later we called Uncle Don to wish him happy birthday as his birthday this year happened to fall on Thanksgiving.
The next day we visited Aunt Peg then began decorating for Christmas.
Saturday was the big game with Ohio state and, unfortunately, Ohio state won relatively easily despite the fact that Michigan was favored.
Despite the lousy football, it was a great time for the family.
Trick or Treat 2018
This year was a team effort for handing out candy as James, Mom, and Dad took shifts doing the work. We had the gargantuan spider out front on one side and the skeleton horse and carriage on the other side. Both sides were completely encased in a creepy fence (actually the fence from the back yard sawed in half horizontally and every other board removed) Not only does the fence make the yard look like a creepy graveyard, it also provides some protection of the props from curious visitors.
This year we also eliminated the pumpkin blow molds which made room to create the graveyard. It was a little sad to see the blow molds go but we had used them for the last decade and most if not all were purchased at garage sales. We did save the tombstone blow molds however, since they fit the new theme of a fenced in grave yard.
A pretty decent turn out for trick or treat this year, and the weather was ok which was a pleasant surprise compared to the last 5 years.
James Halloween Party 2018
Once again we hosted James Halloween Party and once again everyone enjoyed themselves at the party. The party started at about 1:30 and ended about 7pm and had a parade a guests coming through during this time. James had plenty of friends show up, some from Lincoln Park, some from VIP Camp, some from Annapolis, and some of our neighbors which made for a great time. We had some new props on display trying to keep things looking fresh and keeping the surprises coming. One of our new items was an animated Michael Myers, something Mom had wanted since she first saw it at Manuels Taco. Also new this year were some evil toys in a box along with an evil rocking chair. All in all a great bunch of fun.
Please note that the video below is a multiple video playlist, to play from the beginning simply click play, to view the list and jump around click the upper left corner of the playlist with the three horizontal lines.
Haunted Garage Sale 2018
Once again we visited the haunted garage sale, this time in a new location – Canton. When we first went it was in Belleville (which is our favorite location because there was plenty of parking) then it moved to an ice rink in Wayne and finally this location. Parking was poor at best but we managed to make it in. James and Mom both found some great deals and the place had a good atmosphere. As usual there were many unusual items and a pretty good selection, however the parking is really starting to be an issue and we hope it improves as we were very lucky to get a spot and were actually about to give up. All in all a fun day as we all had fun!
Labor Day Car Show 2018
While shopping at the Allen Park plaza (where the old VA used to be) we ran across this unique car show that had a huge big screen TV at the center and many unique vehicles. The big screen tv was showing American Graffiti and was pretty visible despite it being daylight outside. Many official vehicles were there from Allen Park such as the police car which James really liked. Our favorite was a creepy car with a coffin in it which seemed ripe for Halloween. All in all a great start to our Labor Day weekend.
VIP Camp – Awesome Park Cleanup Crew
Thank to the awesome helpers who came out to participate in the Park Clean Up Fundraiser. Not only were we able to raise enough money for one field trip with busing next year but Konely and James both walked away with free backpacks supplied by the Lincoln Park Police Department who hosts a Cops Care benefit each year. Once again we had the privileged of participating in their fun event after our clean up! Nothing like free food and backpacks after a little bit of work!
Did you miss out on a chance to help raise funds for VIP? It’s not too late cause next weekend VIP Camp will be hosting a booth at Lincoln Park Days Festival and we would love for some of the families to come help us out at the booth and spread the word about out awesome campers! If you are interested in working our booth for a few hours please contact us for time set up.
Lincoln Park Days Festival 2018
Big festival in Lincoln Park with tons of rides, midways, and even a small petting zoo. James visited to support his VIP camp and bought some lottery tickets at the VIP Camp booth. James participated in the Police frisbee throw and won a frisbee, he also got a free water bottle at one of the booths so he was very happy about that. Later we visited the petting zoo and were totally impressed by two turtles that they had there (there were other animals but the turtles were pretty cool). On the way home we stopped at Sears, then picked up lunch at Wendy’s, all in all a very fun time.
First Halloween Store Open For 2018
This year our first Spirit Halloween store that was opened and reasonably stocked was in Canton MI. The fact that its mid August did not deter the family as we made a quick visit and Mom bought a T shirt (she had a 20% off coupon she got in email). James really liked the blue fog (we took several pictures of it) and says he wants that for his Birthday, not sure how practical that is but the important thing was we all had a little Halloween fun at a very early stage of the year.
Pocono Speed Way 2018
After Dads class in New York, we all began the long trek home from our weekend excursion but little did we know we were to walk into a big surprise. About 3 miles of I80 is the Pocono Speedway and we thought we would stop in and check out the souvenirs. What a big surprise we got when asked if we wanted a tour of the raceway. When asked how much the tour cost we were told it was free. We went on the tour which took about an hour and boy was it ever great. The tour guide even gave us a ride around the track which we videotaped, and showed us everything about the race track including its self contained power source using a gigantic array of solar cells which powers everything at the race track. The Pocono Speedway is the last privately owned race track in the Nascar circuit which is why the tour was free, the owners want people to be happy and come back…and we will!
Liberty Park 2018
Our journey to the Statue of Liberty both begins and ends at Liberty Park where an old train station is used for tickets to the boats that take you to Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty. We had a long walk to get here as the place was very busy and we figure we parked about a mile away. We caught the 3:30 ferry from here (after going through security) and returned around 6pm. On exiting we visited the 911 memorial which has two parallel walls with the names of all those souls lost that horrible day. When looking directly at the memorial it creates an illusion of hose the NY skyline must have looked from that location before 911. At the front are twisted metal from the fallen towers on display which really brings the reality of the tragedy home.
