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Jadens Birthday (a little early) 2008
James, Peg, and I went over to Natalies house to see Jaden and wish him a Happy Birthday (his actual birthday was about a week away but we would not be able to make it that day). Jaden and James played with hot wheels and watched videos and Natalie had a spread of food for us.
We played on the computer for a bit, looking at Natalies Myspace page. A fun time was had by all, we will have to get together with Natalie, Jaden , and little Katelyn more often since they only live about a half hour away.
Happy Birthday Jaden!
Remembering Virginia 1929 – 2008
Aunt Ginny as most of the family knew her, was the daughter of Ben and Millie, sister of Charles, Raymond, Dorothy, and Donald. Some of my fondest memories of Aunt Ginny was her taking to Tiger stadium for my first night game as a boy and every Christmas eve she would have pizza for us at Grandma and Grampa Kleibers.
When I went into the military, Aunt Ginny came and lived with my Mom and Dad for a few years, then with my sister Criss before getting her own place in Taylor. Her final days were in the same nursing home as Aunt Louise and she passed away while we were up north at Mackinaw.
We do not have many pictures of Virginia so if you can contribute something that would be great.
Magic Capitol 4th of July Festival 2008
After the parade we went to the festival which had plenty of games for the kids including a 4th of July putt putt where kids could put into rockets, top hats, and playing cards (Colon is the magic capitol which explains the magic theme included with the patriotic theme of the 4th). James got to go on the moonwalk a couple times, then went to the dunk tank and actually hit the button with a toss, causing the clown in the dunk tank to go into the water.
Mom enjoyed shopping at the craft show and checking out the home made items for her garden including bird houses and bird feeders. That being said I think she ended up buying a pair of sun glasses due to being out in the sun all day. After visiting the beach for a quick swim for James we went to our friends house Walter and Mary who had a barbecue going and stayed there till the evening as fireworks lit up the summer sky.
Fireworks are better in the country than the suburbs due to light pollution. They really showed up great at the Magic Capitol this Independence day.
Magic Capitol 4th of July Parade 2008
This is Colon MI, the Magic Capital of the World, and each year they have a huge parade and festival to celebrate the 4th. James has a blast each time he comes here. As the floats pass by they toss out candy to the kids so its like trick or treat in the summer. They also have people in the parade with wheel barrels full of cold water handing it out to all the spectators so that there is no worry about anyone overheating in the July sun.
Plenty of vehicles in this parade that lasted a little over an hour with a presentation at the end. Floats, tractors, homecoming queens, police and fire were all part of the show.
A great time was had by all who attended ever though it was a little on the hot side, but not too hot.
Red Wings Stanley Cup Champions 2008
The Red Wings won the Stanley Cup Championship in 2008 and the entire city celebrated. Although we did not make the parade this year, we did spent an afternoon downtown and captured the spirit of the city. I especially enjoyed seeing the big tiger out front of Comerica Park dressed up in a Red Wing outfit. James liked the Tiger too and thats why there are so many pictures of it.
Congrats to the Detroit Red Wings who have won more Stanley Cups than any other team in the United States. Hopefully they will continue to be a great source of pride for the city of Detroit.
Now, about that football team…One playoff win since 1957, really!
Oakwood Park 2008
Most weekends in the summer we make a visit to Aunt Pegs and visit the park next to her complex. James has been playing here since he was in a stroller and almost every weekend in the summer. There is a huge soccer field there also which comes in handy if we want to kick a football or shoot one of James rockets off. They have a swimming pool in the summer but we never go to it, I think you have to live in the city for that. However we seldom see anyone using the pool anyway so why bother.
James Aunt Peg sometimes shops while we are at the park, James will play for about a half hour then we go pick up Aunt Peg at the store and help her with the groceries. Its a system that seems to work for everyone.
Traverse City 2008
The trip down from Mackinaw sometimes gives us a chance to stop places we normally don’t plan on, like this day we spent at Traverse City. The train ride goes right along side the beach and was alot of fun not only for James but for us as well. It has little crossings where pedestrians have to wait as the train putts along. The shopping district is right across the street and has not changed all that much since my last visit which was during my softball days in the 90’s. James made a friend and they had a blast building sand castles while Mary and I relaxed on the beach.
Saulte Ste Marie 2008
One hour north of the Mackinaw bridge is Saulte St Marie, U.S. and Canada sides. The U.S. side is based on tourism, the Canadian side is based on industry. There are casinos on both sides if you like that kind of thing, we stopped at the casino on the American side one time before James was born and did ok. We did not go to the Canadian side since we did not have James’ birth certificate with us for customs.
The ever important Soo Locks are located in Saulte Ste Marie and also an awful lot of history including a huge Republic Steel tanker that has been converted to a museum. It has many artifacts including the Edmond Fitzgerald life boats that were washed ashore after the wreck.
Sea Shell City 2008
This is a fun gift shop…with all sorts of things…fudge, a lot of beach decor, shirts, sea shells and they have a 500lb clam (they call it a man eating clam). What makes it so appealing to us is the wooden pirate play ship outside of the main building. James just loves going and playing on this ship. There are port holes in the ship and little slides and even though James can barely walk he is able to navigate this ship. Must be something in the will of a child to learn how to play.
Eventually we bring James off the ship and into the store in his stroller, why in there I noticed a family drive into the parking lot and walked straight to the pirate ship so the pirate ship must be like a park to the local people here. In other words I don’t think you need to shop at the place to visit the Pirate ship.
They only allow pictures in certain places inside the store which is the reason most of our pictures are outside.
Mackinaw Island State Park 2008
James made it around the entire island this year at Mackinaw State Park. No automobiles are allowed on the island, but they do have an interstate that shows up on maps.
Our routine is pretty well set, we visit the State Park early in the morning, go to Skull Cave, then to the 3 cemeteries which are older and creepier than anywhere else. We then visit either Arch Rock or the Turtle park, sometimes we visit both, depending on the weather and how tired we are. The two are in opposite directions from the graveyards. When we are really motivated we will head toward the airport or the small little village hidden in the woods of Mackinaw Island (probably not really hidden but it just kind of pops up on you).
