For years we have been dreading this day since it is one of the biggest expenses you can incur when redoing a home! I remember when my father had it done, we used to have hardly a drive way at all, but my dad took care of that and had everything paved. Ever since that day it seems it has been my job to shovel the snow of it but thats another story. The cement was buckling from years of hot and cold weather so its something that really needed to be done. Hopefully this cement will last as long as the one my dad put in.

After the cement hardened, James wasted no time setting up his play area on the new foundation.

Continue reading “New Cement 2005” →

Years of different style gardens and trees had made the back yard a rolling terrain till we finally had it leveled. Another enormous job since just the year before we had a sprinkler system installed. The best thing was we were able to make a nice play area for James in the back, complete with wood chips just like they have at the park (we heard the rubber chips get too hot in the summer and can actually burn a child on a hot day).

James seems to enjoy the new yard and it should be easier to maintain being level. Also there is grass to the fence so it should cut back on the amount of weed wacking that needs to be done. Got a big thumbs up from the neighbor on this one.

Continue reading “Leveling The Back Yard and Sprinkling System 2005” →

Our annual visit to Mackinaw and one of the largest suspension bridges in the world. Mary was a little under the weather today so James and I went to the Fort. It’s still pretty much the same way I remember it when I first went there with my mom and dad about 40 years ago or so. The thing I remember most about the Fort was the skeleton in one of the watch towers so that was the first place James and I went, sure enough, he was still there.

James is much more mobile than he was at the last visit here so that helps, we don’t need to keep him in a stroller all the time. He enjoys running around in the open areas that they have at the fort and at the parks. He is not yet thrilled by the historical significance of some of the indoor displays at the Fort.

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We like making stops on the way up and down to Mackinaw and this is one of our favorite if not the favorite. Bronners is the largest Christmas store in the world and its located right here in Michigan just a few miles off I75 on the way up north. Lots of video as we made this our gateway to Mackinaw for this year.

Each Sunday James and his Dad take Aunt Peg shopping and then go to a park. This weekend we chose Champagne Park where James participated in a variety of activities under the tutelage of Aunt Peg.

Champagne park is a huge park that is located on Pelham between Ecorse and Middle Belt road (on the Allen Park side of the street) and in addition to the park facilities and shelters, has an ice rink and tennis courts. James Dad remembers playing CYO baseball at Champagne park in the seventies. He also remembers helping his Aunt Criss field ground balls at the park when she was practicing for her softball team.

James had a blast here, being bounced on the teeter totter thingy and going into the monkey bar sphere which should be fun for climbing once he gets a little older.

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Nuff said…

James didn’t really understand his first Easter being about 7 months old, but he sure made up for lost time this year. James got wonderful Easter gifts from his Aunts and had a blast opening up his Easter basket.

We also finished work on the Halloween display, just in time for Easter (you have to be related to me to understand that I think).

The weather was nice so we let him run around a bit out back, he is walking and running real good, but the back yard is so unlevel he keeps falling down. We’ll get some quotes on leveling it out professionally since I doubt I could do a project that big.

Continue reading “Easter 2005” →

James really got into the Elmo thing this year so we got him a couple of those Elmo dolls that dance and play. A white Christmas made the decorations out front look that much better. We really put a big effort into the outside decorations as we have the archway and Rudolph decorations. It should be noted at this time in his life Rudolph is James favorite movie and will watch it once a day (but no more than once a day).

We had a chance this holiday season to visit both Canterbury Village (where he got to ride on the carousel with dad) and Bronners so we did not let the weather hold us back from showing James a good time this Christmas. Thanks again to all the relatives for the gifts that they sent James this year.

Continue reading “Christmas 2004” →

There is no better way to get into the Christmas Spirit (assuming you even need to) than to visit Bronners in Frankenmuth MI. As soon as you enter the parking lot it is Christmas, even if you come here in July. The atmosphere is one of Christmas fun and the place is known world wide as the largest Christmas store on earth.

Bronners is one of those places you go to for hard to find items. If you have a little nook and cranny and are looking for just the right thing to put there, Bronners will have it and probably will have multiple versions of it. We have gotten Christmas items with the Detroit sport teams on them just to show the versatility of the place. In fact they are known for their personalized bulbs while you wait (takes only a minute or so if there is no line and if there is a line it goes fast because it only takes a minute or so).

James enjoyed himself this visit and got out of his stroller and walked around on his own. Our only concern with him walking around is that he might get stampeded by larger people but on this day there is an open area he (and us) feel comfortable.

Continue reading “Bronners Frankenmuth 2004” →

If you are looking for a true fairyland for small kids I don’t think you can beat Canterbury Village and the Christmas stores that they have here (in addition to the carousel of course). The animatronics come to life and perform a short story for the shoppers, James just loved it.