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Abbotts 76th Magic Get Together 2013
We attended Magic week in Colon MI this year for the sixth time in a row. James had fun as usual and came home with many “items” from the Magic Capital in Colon MI. We saw a couple magic shows while in town, visited the magic museum, visited the magic dealers in the auditorium, and spent time at the arts and crafts show in town.
The magic show was over two hours making it the longest event James has sat through, and he enjoyed every minute of it and got a magic set as well at the show.
This was the 76th Abbott Get Together, do not be confused by cheap competitors trying to have their own magic week. Make sure that it says Abbotts and that it is in Colon MI. Next years dates are Aug 6-9 and it will be the 77th Abbott Get Together (they began in 1934 but missed a couple years due to wars and such, you can view their history at http://www.magicgettogether.com ).
U.S. 12 Garage Sale 2013
Once again we went on tour down US12 (known as Michigan Avenue around here) for the annual garage sale. Last year the weather was bad and we only made it to the Irish Hills, this year the weather was perfect and we made it all the way to Cold Water!
James picked up some toys for virtually nothing, and Mary did well finding some awesome quilts and other items that she hopes to resell on Ebay.
The Halloween crop this year was very limited, not much for Dad to get. I think we cleaned out the Halloween stuff over the past couple years at garage sales. James is trying to get a road map of every state in the U.S. and actually is more than half way there.
Heritage Park Petting Zoo 2013
James visited this park a long time ago, once to see President Bush and the other time visiting the petting zoo, you can see the pictures still on this blog.
This summer his VIP camp visited Heritage park and James had so much fun he brought his family back the next Sunday.
James favorite animal is Stormy, a Gray rabbit. He loves all the barnyard animals but Stormy is his favorite. The turkey who kept strolling around the barn was pretty cool as well.
Many barnyard animals this day and all were very tame and friendly, a lot of fun for the entire family and only $4 per person.
Dads favorite was the Duck
Marshall Blues Festival 2013
This was the ten year celebration of the Marshall Blues Festival and I think we have attended the last four. This year we did it a little differently as James and Dad stayed for the event with Mom. The music was great and the weather was absolutely perfect.
Strolling around town we stopped in almost every store on mainstreet. Everyone was very friendly and helpful. A very pleasant experience as always in the town of Marshall.
Marshall is located at the intersection of 94 and 69, about an hour and 40 minute drive from Detroit.
One the way home we stopped in Jackson for dinner at a Chinese buffet on 127 (James really enjoys the Chinese buffets).
VIP Camp 2013
For the second year now James has attended VIP camp and has had a blast. This year VIP camp was in Melvindale, last year it was in Taylor. Many of the same kids attended which made it that much more fun seeing each other after an entire year.
James VIP camp came to an end with a party for the kids and parents. Each family contributed something and the staff and the kids did the rest. What a spread. James and the rest of the kids played games afterwards and a grand time was had by all.
VIP camp provides exciting experiences for kids. For example, last year one of James’ favorite activity was doing karate one day as one of their field trips, this year he had many favorites including Bowling, Heritage Park, YMCA, Fire Trucks, Water Parks, and many other field trips. Each week was themed which was cool. A great experience for the kids in every way.
4th of July 2013
This was the first year we let James light off his own fireworks. He picked out some at the fireworks shop (there are so many now that fireworks are legal in Michigan) and Dad picked out some classics such as the tank and those black worms.
Well, the new tanks stink, they do not roll and only shoot sparks, and the worms were almost impossible to light.
James used special firework lighter sticks that reminded me alot of insect repellants – they were only a nickel each – but that way he did not have to deal with a live flame.
Again, we did not use sparklers, Dad remembers those sparkles burning when he was a kid.
All in all a great 4th of July celebration
4th of July Festival and Parade 2013
James and his family attended the 2013 Colon 4th of July Parade. The visit began at the park, then moved to the parade grounds where we watched the largest parade of emergency vehicles that we hav ever seen, then a trip to the magic shop, then the midway where James shot 8 holes of Putt Putt golf and played several games, lunch at the diner, then back to the midway where James won a cake in a cake walk, and then finally back home in time to do fireworks – after everyone had ice cream of course.
The red, white and blue flowers were a gift for Mom from James!
Adams Birthday Party 2013
James went shopping early Monday to pick out a card for Adam, our neighbors son down the street. James attended a birthday party for Adam and everyone had a blast!
The event was held in Canton Michigan at the Pump It Up on Michigan Avenue. First all the kids got to play in a room filled with inflatables, then the party moved next door to a second room that was filled with different inflatables. Even Mom went down one of the slides (Dad was sweating out another ninth inning with the Tigers and declined to go down the slide). After about 40 minutes in the second room, the party slid over to a third room where the kids (and adults) enjoyed pizza, pasta, cake, ice cream, cookies, fruits, and all sorts of goodies. A great spread! James had a smile on his face the whole time and said he wants to have his birthday party at Pump It Up as well.
School Party as James Completes 4th Grade 2013
You can always tell when the school year is coming to an end when they have the Hoover school party (I believe the party was May 22nd). This is one of James’ favorite events in the world and he always has a great time and tells us all about the fascinating things he and his class did at this event. Thanks to his teachers for sending us these pictures.
James graduated the 4th grade with honors and will enter the 5th grade next fall. We are very proud of the hard work James puts in at school and he has certainly come a long way. We are not sure what teacher he will have (hopefully Mrs Jent since he already knows her and maybe more importantly, she knows him and all his “schemes”).
Let summer vacation begin 🙂
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Mothers Day 2013
These pics were taken a couple days before and a couple days after Mothers day. The day before Mothers day Mary worked a flea market with James. Then on Mothers day we took Grandma and Mom out to dinner at the China Buffet (which now has a Sushi bar, for those who like that type of thing). Then we took the Mom’s out to Flat Rock to shop at an antique store there, then stopped at Aunt Peg’s to drop off some items and pick some items up. Later on that week we went to the Wyandotte city wide garage sale and James got to play at the park. Finally James created a word search puzzle with his name and some of his friends, pretty clever.
