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Pool Relaxing on a Busy Weekend 2015
James had a very busy weekend starting on Friday with a trip to see his Doctor (we had to get him out of the pool because he was having so much fun before the appointment). Upon return James went right back to his pool duties. On Saturday we visited New Boston and Lapeer (one a little South of us, one a little North). After visiting a couple shops James then ate at his favorite restaurant, the China Buffet on telegraph road in Taylor. Finally, after letting his food digest James finished off the Saturday with another swim in the pool. Tomorrow we go visit Aunt Peg on another weekend adventure!
VIP Camp Begins 2015
Once again VIP camp has begun and for the last few years this has been one of James’ all time favorite activities. Its sort of like school with only recess and arts and crafts. The kids play all sorts of games and already this week James has a new tie dyed shirt that he made himself, he has dressed up as Batman for a costume party, and he spent an afternoon bowling with his friends. It also is a sign to us that summer is going by quickly, with the Fourth of July last week and VIP camp beginning this week. Hopefully we all can seize the summer moments this year as the memories of the last two winters are still fresh in everyone’s mind.
4th of July 2015
This was simply a perfect day, we spent the morning at a local flea market and although we did not buy much, enjoyed the atmosphere very much. Next a couple inning baseball game along with some swimming made for a fun afternoon. Toss in a barbecue for lunch and a pizza dinner, we finally headed into the evening where the fireworks were non stop for hours, constantly one after another, probably the best fireworks display I ever saw, certainly the longest. James continued his mini tradition of watching some of the fireworks while in his pool, then contributed to the noise with some fire crackers of his own. Sparklers seemed to be the big hit for him, since fireworks have become legal we sort of forgot about sparklers, but James enjoyed them.
The next day we read in the paper that damage had been caused to a home in Dearborn and Lincoln Park by the neighborhood firework display. I guess there is a price for the free show after all.
Past Tense Country Store 2015
We actually found out about this place in a Halloween Forum because they sell Halloween year round. Its located in Lapeer MI and is a little over an hour drive from where we live. Its called “Past Tense” and consists of an Antique and Craft store, a Cider Mill Restaurant, and a General Store that is huge. The General Store has several sections including Christmas, Halloween, Floral, Greenhouse, and just about everything else that you can think of. Mom enjoyed the crafts and antiques, James enjoyed the Christmas and Halloween, and Dad enjoyed everything. A great outing on a rainy Saturday and a real fun place to visit just off US 24 in Lapeer.
Memorial Day 2015
What has slowly become a tradition for us on Memorial Day is the visit to the cemetery. On the surface that might not sound that exciting but on Pennsylvania and Middlebelt there is a big Flea Market that we stop off at that is right on the way. After the Flea Market we go to the cemetery and if we were unable to put flowers up on Mothers day we do it on Memorial Day. However since we did get flowers on the graves for Mothers day we just made sure the flags were present. Last year they missed Uncle Raymond who died in WW2 and we called and this year he got a big flag (James brought a little flag just in case). Uncle Raymonds grave has not yet been raised and we had to clean it off again, hopefully they will take care of it sinking soon. James’ Grandfather Kleiber did not have a flag on his grave because he does not have his rank on the grave, in hindsight we probably should have put the flag brought for Raymond on his site, we’ll make a note of that next year to bring more flags, they are inexpensive.
The Flea Market had something for everyone, James found a 1924 National Geographic that he did not have (He keeps an inventory at http://www.thekleibers.com/inventory.html so he can check what he has when away from home), Mom found several paintings that she liked, and Dad found a “monster” made out of metal that holds Halloween candy.
The rest of the weekend was spent barbecuing and swimming. Lots of fun.
James Swimming Pool 2015
We are all set for summer now, its official – the pool is up! Last year we had to wait until James finished school to see if he would get his swimming pool or not. This year he already had it so we put it back up and James (with a little sunscreen) was relaxing in his pool in no time.
Prior to getting the pool up we tried leveling the ground beneath it with 18 bags of soil and we have the water level from the highest point to the lowest point at about 1 inch which is better than last year. James worked very hard leveling the dirt and did a real fine job.
It seems each year we are adding dirt to the backyard, must be gravity at work.
Mothers Day 2015
The day started off by getting Aunt Peg’s phone working which got us off to a little late start but we managed to catch up and have a lot of fun. First stop on this sunny Sunday was Memorial cemetery where we put flowers on the family graves in honor of Mothers day. James did the water pouring and Mom did the flowers while Dad took pictures. Of special note were the flowers we put into Loretta Kleibers vase (James grandmother on his fathers side) because these flowers were actually planted by Loretta years ago. There is one spot in the backyard where these flowers she planted still come up every spring and so we thought we would give her flowers she planted from her own garden. Uncle Raymond’s grave once again had to have some upkeep, we hope to call the cemetery Monday to remind them to give Uncle Raymond a flag since they missed it last year.
After the visit to the cemetery we went to Mary’s favorite place, an antique shop in Flat Rock where Jame’s met a 200 year old cabinet he liked. Finally lunch time rolled around and we went to Red Lobster in Monroe then finished the afternoon shopping at Christmas Tree Shop and Walmart.
Easter 2015
A bit of a chilly day as James did his Easter Egg dyeing in preparation for Easter. James uses a combination of crayon and dye to achieve his rainbow look on eggs, while Mom and Dad enjoy the more traditional method of dropping the eggs into the dye and being done with it.
This year we experimented on a couple eggs because of Facebook posts. One of these experiments was to crack the egg all around and then dye it. Supposedly it will leave a spirograph type effect on the inside of the egg. James also tried stickers on some of the eggs to give them a funny face.
This year we have a Final Four team playing to compete with the Easter Holiday festivities as Duke will play Michigan State this evening.
Remembering Aunt Mary Ann Kleiber 1934 – 2015
We lost Aunt Mary Ann to cancer this year. Aunt Mary Ann is Uncle Don’s wife, Mike, Bruce, and Sandy’s Mother, and James Great Aunt. Aunt Mary Ann was born June 30 1934 and passed away March 26, 2015. Unfortunately James nor his mother could not attend due to a previous scheduled dentist appointment, but Dad made it and it was a beautiful ceremony at Saint Tims church and another nice job by the good people at Martenson funeral home. I should also mention it was by far the best day of Spring, warm sun, cool breeze, just a gorgeous day and really all that was missing was my Aunt.
Most of my memories of Aunt Mary Ann were as a child, she and Uncle Don were my God parents and really about the nicest people you would ever meet. I also remember going over to their house for dinner with Aunt Ginny one time and the great meal she cooked for us, and several trips with James’ Grandfather (who just loved their Schnauzer, it would growl at him the whole visit and he loved the dogs loyalty). Fortunately James and his Mom got to meet Aunt Mary Ann, we stopped in and visited one Sunday several years back and talked for a couple hours with Uncle Don and Aunt Mary Ann.
It was great seeing Uncle Don and cousins Bruce and Sandy again, just wish it was under better circumstances. All our best wishes goes out to them and their families.
Continue reading “Remembering Aunt Mary Ann Kleiber 1934 – 2015”
Snow Day 2015
The midwest got clobbered on Super Sunday (also known as Feb 1st) with about 17″ of snow in one of the largest one day snow falls in our history. James and Dad both shoveled snow multiple times while waiting for the game to come on. We were notified that Jame’s school was closed around 5pm so we had no problem letting James stay up for the entire game, although he was disappointed in the outcome.
We started shoveling snow a little after 7am Monday and were surprised to see the streets already plowed. By noon most of the streets were clear and it was business as usual. Hopefully James will not have too many more snow days this year, but it was ground hog day and the ground hog saw its shadow so it certainly does look like six more weeks of winter.
