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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.
Abbotts Magic Flea Market 2013
What a great time we have at the Abbott Magic Flea Market which takes place each year around Mothers Day. If you are looking for magic and need to watch your funds, this is the place for you. You can go in with about $10 and walk out with a big bag of various magic. Prices are so low they could not be considered wholesale, but well below wholesale. Most of the magic is used but it is usually in good condition and the owner simply wants to make more room for new magic by selling off the old stuff.
We have found some great deals for Halloween as well. If you were to buy a guillotine or chopper for Halloween it would cost you a fortune, but here you can find those products cheap, and if you are buying them for Halloween you don’t even care about the magic part which means you can usually get them even cheaper.
Just a great 4 or 5 hours of fun here, highly recommended for all magic (and Halloween) enthusiasts.
James and Cindy the Cat 2013
Last year our beloved cat Lucy passed away in October and recently James hinted that we wanted another cat to play with. He specifically wanted a yellow cat. After a couple of weeks, Cindy is fitting in just fine with the family (although Idgie takes her with a grain of salt, we still see them snoozing together from time to time). James enjoys playing with the kitten (yes, she is a kitten but is big for her age) so we thought we would take some pictures of the two of them playing. James even made a “kitty school” out of a cardboard box and Cindy enjoys going in there. Some of these pictures are blurred but it more the kitten moving so fast than anything else. Welcome to the family Cindy.
Bronners in Spring 2013
A cool spring day presented the perfect opportunity for a trip to Frankenmuth and a visit to Bronners. James went shopping at Bronners and bought a couple Easter lights that were on sale (after Easter sale).
James and his family then had a chicken dinner at a pretty crowded Bavarian Inn (We did not expect it to be crowded because it was still pretty cold out, but I think lots of family’s were like us and just said “enough” to winter). For those of you who have never tried Zenders or Bavarian Inn chicken dinners you have to put it on your bucket list. This is a popular tourist attraction on Sundays just for the chicken dinners, several of my friends in Canada make the trek once or twice a year – its that good that people actually go through the hassle of customs to get some of the Frankenmuth Bavarian Chicken dinners
We then shopped at their outdoor mall where Mary got to visit the cupcake shop that won a reality show contest (cupcake wars). On the way home we got to listen to the Tigers win over the Yankees so it was a good day all around.
East Side Marios 2013
Easter weekend is a great time for good eating, and what better place to go than East Side Marios who have the absolute best soup, burgers, and Italian cuisine around.
When you have had your fill of Easter eggs and ham, this is the destination for you.
The setting of the restaurant is New York, specifically what you would find at the corner of Canal Street and Mulberry Street in Lower Manhattan. Ficticious windows of ficticious New Yorkers surround you along with the Brooklyn Bridge and the Statue of Liberty.
Great place to visit, great atmosphere, great food, and reasonably priced. Although the setting is in New York, and the cuisine is American/Italian, the company is actually owned by a Canadian company so you have a little bit of America, a little bit of Italy, and a little bit of Canada working to give you a very entertaining meal.
