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Abbotts Magic Get Together 2011
We all headed out to Colon MI for the annual Abbotts Get Together which features some of the most recognized names in magic. This year was a little different with a blind folded car drive through the city streets, a car show, and a craft show going on during the event. James enjoyed the blindfolded car drive and Mary enjoyed the car show while Dad liked the dealers room where the latest magic is for sale.
Each year since 1934 Magicians have migrated to this tiny town to see the latest magic and to perform for a midwest audience. They actually have two popular sayings to describe this event, one is “Vegas comes to Mayberry” and the other is the “Magic Capitol of the World”. The whole magic thing is due to the Abbott magic company which has been putting this event on for over seventy years. Some of the top names in magic such as Blackstone (both Sr. and Jr.), Lance Burton, Jeff McBride, Mac King, Jeff Hobson, and many more have performed here.
Marshall Blues Festival 2011
This was the second Blues Festival we attended. A very very hot day, Mom went straight to the Festival while Dad and James snuck off to Colon to visit the magic shop there. Later we picked up Mom and walked the streets of Marshall listening to music. On the way home we decided to stop for Chinese at a restaurant in Jackson which we found courtesy of our phones GPS. All in all a very fun day.
The pictures below are of the streets of Marshall during the Blues Festival, however most of the shops on main street are open throughout the year and we would certainly suggest a trip to Marshall anytime of the year.
4th of July 2011
For the last few years we have spent the Fourth of July in Colon MI with friends but this year we stayed home because James wanted to have his own fireworks show. A quick trip to Walmart got us a package of cool fireworks that we lit off at night. Although our little firework show was small, there were lots of other fireworks going on by other neighbors that created a great atmosphere.
James thoroughly enjoyed the fireworks and the entire evening of festivities as afterwards we enjoyed a late nite snack prepared by Mom and watched more celebrations from the front window.
Fathers Day 2011
What an awesome Fathers day Dad had. First, I got to watch the Jeff Bridges version of True Grit, then a few hours later got to watch the John Wayne version of True Grit. But the biggest and best surprise came when James Raymond made dessert for his Dad. Mom helped a little, especially with the stove, but for the most part James did the work himself. Needless to say we all got to have a nice healthy sweet treat on Fathers day.
The Weather was perfect today and the entire family got to have various outdoor activities. James and Dad played soccer and basketball while Mom went on her walk to Penn Park.
Town Peddler Flea Market 2011
This is our third year at the town peddler flea market in Livonia. Mom did about as well as last year, selling material, fiesta ware, and various odds and ends. The weather was just perfect, not too hot and not too cold. The event was well attended and we all had lots of fun.
James and I would visit Mom during the day to give her bathroom breaks and lunch. It was during this time I took some pictures of the event. James stayed in the booth eating his happy meal and I stepped back a couple feet and snapped off a few pictures. James and the booth were only a few feet away from me but to a person walking up to the booth it looked as if James was there by himself.
Two elderly ladies walk into the booth and I kept my distance just to see what will happen (James was still eating his happy meal from McDonalds at the time).
James see’s the ladies approach and tells the ladies “The magic tricks are over there” pointing them to a little stand we have with jokes and magic tricks on it.
The ladies say to James “Oh, we’re not interested in magic tricks, we want to know how much you would take for this Fiesta Ware” .
James replied to them “A nickel”.
Needless to say the Fiesta Ware was a little more than a nickel. Thus ended Jame’s first day in the flea market business.
Nascar Cheerios Car 2011
We were out and about when Mom and James saw Clint Bowyer’s Cheerio car out front of our local Walmart. Both Mom and James are big time race fans and when their guy is close to winning a race, you can hear both of them rooting for that guy in the same way Dad roots for his football team to win.
Dad is not a big fan of Walmart and usually tries not to go. Dad does not like the lines and believes they should hire some extra tellers to shorten the lines to check out. However on this day Dad did accompany his family to Walmart and got the see the car himself so maybe Dad will think better of Walmart in the future.
Regardless this was a big time fun day for Mom and James and a very pleasant surprise, thank you Walmart for putting this show on.
Mothers Day 2011
This year Mothers Day was a little different than usual. First, we did not travel to our usual Chinese restaurant in Flat Rock, but went to our normal Chinese restaurant in Taylor with Aunt Peg. Aunt Peg joined us on our trip to Michigan Memorial Cemetery where we placed flowers on all the graves. On the way home Aunt Peg wanted to get some things from the store so we dropped her off and took James to the park for a few minutes while Aunt Peg shopped. We picked Aunt Peg up and took her home and had a great day. The weather was perfect (however the two weeks before was all rain and the two weeks after would be all rain).
Grandma is still recovering from her broken leg and arm so she did not make the trek with us, however the next day we surprised her with a McDonalds breakfast.
A different Mothers day but just as fun as the ones in the past.
Late Spring Snow Fall 2011
When you live in Michigan which is surrounded by the great lakes you can get snow almost anytime except summer. This is one of the reasons you can’t really do much gardening in April and according to the farmers almanac, you are not out of the woods regarding snow until Memorial Day (and I remember some close calls regarding snow even on Memorial Day).
James took a break from his Easter activities and shoveled the snow which was nice, especially on Easter weekend. This little blast kind of took us by surprise and the snow just does not work with the Easter decorations.
However the people in the neighborhood who still have Christmas decorations are saying a big and collective “told you so” to the rest of us.
Easter 2011
James had the week off before Easter and also the Monday after so he had a pretty long Spring break. The school also let them out at lunch time Friday to start vacation a little early and James went to his favorite restaurant – China Buffet – with Mom and Dad because he got good reviews at school. However his vacation started out a little rough with a spring snow shower that he decided to go out and shovel. Stuck inside all weekend we made do by creating a creepy magic show with Halloween props and had a lot of fun doing it.
Later we dyed eggs and ate them off during the week. James got new toys including a Batman play set and additional Lego’s that he had been asking for. The day before Easter James and his family went to visit Grandma and later went to Aunt Peg’s who treated James and his family to the China Buffet, James favorite restaurant. Mom went shopping at TJ Max and Aunt Peg went shopping at a grocery store so while waiting for them, Dad snapped a picture of James in the car with his Easter ears on. Mary got to see an Indy car while shopping, a promotion by Verizon that day.
Like Christmas, James stayed up late hoping to catch the Easter Bunny but he eventually fell asleep. The next morning it was obvious the Easter Bunny had been there because the living room was full of baskets with toys and candy.
Thanks to all and Happy Easter from James, Mom, and Dad.
Abbotts Closeup Magic Convention 2011
Here’s an interesting story, a couple years ago Mary went to a Evening Magic Show and the Master of Ceremonies was Stephen Bargatze, who grew up in Tennessee. Afterwards Mary told me she had a bus driver named Bargatze who drove her to school each day and she wondered if the two were related.
Years later Stephen Bargatze (perhaps the premiere comedy magician in America) shows up at a Closeup Magic Convention so Mary made arrangements to photograph some of the show and got to meet Stephen who said the bus driver who drove her to school was actually his Great Uncle.
Below are some of the pictures from the Convention, you can see Mary in 9 of the pics (another photographer was on the other side and took some pics) and we also included 6 pics Mary took.
