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Final Restaurant Meal of 2015
And the winner is … Red Robins.
You just have got to love the burgers and soups at this place (and whoever came up with the idea for stacking onion rings on a vertical stick should be given an award for genius). James usually gets wings or pizza when visiting here as he is not a hamburger fan.
We met our friend Dynamike here and exchanged Christmas gifts. Dynamike is a magician so we got him a few magic tricks to add to his already large repetoire. Dynamike has performed twice at the White House and has been on television too many times to list here.
For New Years Eve we thought the place was a little quiet, one would expect more things to be happening on this day. Maybe people don’t go out as much on New Years eve as they used to, or maybe they just don’t go to restaurants on New Years Eve.
Christmas 2015
Finally it came and James was not disappointed, getting up at 7am to start opening his gifts. James got several coin collections, a new TV, and lots of checks and gifts certificates in the mail (and in person) from family members. Mom got a new coffee maker that works with little pods so she can make her own coffee rather than having to drive to McDonalds. Dad got a new wardrobe for home and work. Mom mad a special type of French toast for Breakfast and by the time 9am came along everyone was pretty much tired out.
This will for sure go down as one of the warmest Christmas season’s as the temperature has been awesome all month. Several high temps were challenged or exceeded this month.
Christmas Eve at Grandmas 2015
James made a visit to Grandma’s house Christmas Eve and had a blast.
Grandma’s place was very well decorated (as always) for the Holidays (both on the inside and outside as shown in the pictures). Grandma is going to make James a scarf and took measurements which made James happy since he cannot find his scarf Grandma made and was upset he lost it (we think he left it at school one day).
James and Grandma exchanged gifts (James bought all his gifts on the same day about a week ago through a trip set up with his school so no one really knew what gifts James had purchased till they were opened) and afterwards James wanted to go to the bank and get some coins for his coin collection. Dad wasn’t sure they were open but we stopped anyhow and the drive thru teller was very helpful to James and getting him some good “state” quarters. Just a real nice (and warm) Christmas eve.
Christmas Eve Eve at Aunt Pegs 2015
Another unseasonably warm day (no one is complaining) and James visited Aunt Peg to exchange gifts with her (James did all his Christmas shopping and wrapping at school so no one knew anything about what gifts he was exchanging). Aunt Pegs place had a real nice Christmas display set up outside (as shown in the pictures). Richard was visiting Peg for the Holidays and James had some pizza while visiting. All in all an excellent time on a warm Christmas Eve Eve.
Kira’s Birthday Party 2015
James helped one of his friends celebrate their 14th birthday today and had a blast. The event was at a hall in Wyandotte and James participated in several of the activities including making decorations and making cookies. Earlier James said Kira liked cats so all his gifts had a cat theme to them and he was right on the money. With the event so close to Christmas (James dad knows much about having a birthday close to Christmas) the party had a Christmas theme to it with a Grinch cake, gifts for the kids, and Christmas songs which made the party that much more special. Happy Birthday Kira and thanks for the invite.
Dads Birthday 2015
For the last few years Dad’s birthday has been celebrated on the day after Halloween, however Dad still gets other gifts and surprises on his birthday and this year was no different as Dad got surprised on his actual birthday. A very busy Holiday season this year and Dad’s birthday also provided the excuse for having chocolate cake and ice cream during the holiday season. Happy Birthday Dad and many many more!!!
Santa’s Magical Forest 2015
Once again James got to meet up with friends from his summer VIP camp and enjoyed the animatronics at Taylors Heritage Park Activity Building. The Magic Forest is every weekend from Nov 28th through December 22nd and admission is only $3 (all proceeds benefit Fish and Loaves Community Food Pantry). Many of the animatronics are from the old Hudson display in downtown Detroit and others were donated by collectors and such. Of course Santa was there which made the visit complete.
Thanksgiving 2015
Great weather for Thanksgiving this year, and a big win for the Lions as they slaughtered the Philadelphia Eagles 45-14. What makes the Lion wins so good this year is that a new Papa John Pizza opened (in the old dairy queen on Telegraph and Colgate) and when you use the code Lions50 (you have to order it online to get the discount) you get your entire purchase half off the next day. So while we certainly ate well on Thursday we also were treated to a feast on Friday thanks to the Lions and Papa Johns. Because the weather was so good we were able to get most the Christmas decorations up without having to get too cold. In the past we have had blizzards and snowfalls but fortunately that wasn’t the case this year. Hopefully this will be the forerunner to a warmer winter than we have had in the past couple years as we have had some brutal winters lately. Regardless, this Thanksgiving we had the windows open, got the decorations up, and a great time was had by all.
First Snowfall of the Season on Big Football Saturday 2015
A great day for football as Michigan beat Penn State (at Penn State) and Michigan State beat Ohio State (at Ohio State). Next week the opponents switch and MSU will play Penn State (at home) and Michigan will play Ohio State (at home). If MSU wins they are the Big Ten East Champs but if they lose the winner of the Michigan/Ohio game will be Champs. Pretty much the whole day it was raining and snowing and the next morning we were left with a pretty nice site with everything having a white outline to it as only Mother Nature can do. The only concern is the weight on some of the power lines but so far the lines have been holding up pretty well. These pics were taken the next morning.
Continue reading “First Snowfall of the Season on Big Football Saturday 2015”
After Halloween Sale 2015
This was a strange year for after Halloween specials because Nov 1st was a Sunday and we really did not know what to expect. For the second year in a row James was with us for the shopping and having more people is always helpful (Mom used to do this all by herself in the past). What we found was not as many great sales – Halloween City and Target only offered 30% off – but you could still find them if you looked (Michaels 80% sale was awesome). Spirit, Walgreens, CVS, and Walmart were all at 50% off so its still the normal percentage discount. Another bit of a surprise was the Christmas Tree Shop and Home Depot were 50% off before Halloween so it could be said Nov 1st no longer has exclusive rights on the Halloween sales. Regardless we did very well and declared Michaels this years winner (CVS was last year with 90% off). Some of the items were not perfect but all are quite fixable, most just needing new batteries or a wire soldered here and there. Once again, today was when Dad got his Christmas gifts which makes this extra special for me.
