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Clifton Hills Niagara 2004
Clifton Hills is an area of Niagara Falls where you can find all sorts of arcades, tourist traps, Ripleys Believe it or not, wax museum, and many haunted houses. Perhaps the strangest architecture you have ever seen, even the burger king has a giant frankenstein eating a whopper. Lots of fun times here for sure.
I remember as a kid visiting the wax museum and being fascinated by it, I tried to find it all these 40 years later but I think it closed up ages ago. It seems all the tourist traps are in Clifton Hills now. Still, what a great place to be, filled with a carnival atmosphere, and plenty of fun and games.
James First Birthday 2004
Hard not to laugh at some of the expressions James has in these pics, couldn’t have cared less about his birthday it would seem, at least till the cake was cut.
Thanks to all the relatives who gave James so many gifts not only on this day, but throughout the first year of his life. There is nothing better in the world than a happy 1 year old and on this day James was very very happy.
James actually had two parties, one with Aunt Peg at Caesars (both are born on Sept 18) and the other at home with Mom and Dad and a cake with one candle on it right in the center.
Happy Birthday James
Detroit Lions Benefit Softball 2004
Thought James might enjoy an afternoon in the fresh air so we went to a charity softball game between the Detroit Lions and the Police. We buy tickets to this event every year and usually donate the tickets to charity but this year we decided to go. the Lions have been struggling as of late, well actually they have been struggling for as long as I can remember, but who knows maybe they can play softball.
I think it will be a long time before the Lions recover from the loss of Barry Sanders, the team has been so bad I don’t even know any of the players.
Bush Presidential Rally 2004
James got to see the president this day, his first time being searched by security as well.
Not only was this james first time seeing a president but mine as well, we had to go down to the Republican headquarters in town and promise not to cause any trouble or do anything to embarrass the president. What a strange world we live in.
The funniest part of the whole event was when they introduced Bo Schembechler. The crowd roared then got all quiet and the only sound you could hear was Mary asking “Who the hell is Bo Schembechler”?
St Albert Festival 2004
The annual festival was never this big when I was a kid. When I went to school we had a moon walk and a small haunted house in one of the classrooms. The Polka-Tels were the band every year and we had a choice of kielbasa or hotdogs at the concession stand. This reminds me of Boblo, its huge and alot of fun.
James got to meet many friends for the first time including Diana Ball who is friends with Criss and Kenny and who I went to school with at St Alberts.
Greenfield Village Motor Muster 2004
There was a car show going on at the Village so we thought James might enjoy looking at all the classic cars. Mary is a big time car fan so living in the Detroit area is great for her, there is a car show nearly every weekend somewhere in the state and many of the shows that we go to aren’t even planned, we just happen to be in the right place at the right time.
James seemed to enjoy getting outside for a bit as well, it was a brutal winter and not a good spring either. Hopefully we will have a good summer. Today made up for a lot of questionable weather days in a season known as Spring, hopefully we have a great summer.
James Playtime 2004
Playtime for James in his crib and out and about the house, the boy certainly keeps himself busy with all those toys and gizmos. His expressions are really priceless though and he seems to be enjoying what he’s doing.
His favorite activity at this time is the swing, he can stay on the swing for as long as you can push him, a definite swing fan.
Thanks again for all the toys that relatives have sent, we thought you might enjoy seeing James playing with some of the toys.
Actually, some of them are fun for adults to play with as well.
Pistons Championship Run 2004
The Pistons were battling the Lakers for the NBA Championship and we went downtown to snap some pics, then took James to the Dearborn Heights festival for a little summer fun. The Pistons would go on to stun the Los Angeles Lakers in what we call a 5 game sweep (Coby made a miracle 3 pointer in game two to force overtime which the Lakers won). The Lakers were not only considered the best team in the NBA, they were being considered as the best team of all time with hall of famers at every position. The Pistons were heavy underdogs, even Jim Rome flat out stated “Detroit is not going to win this” before the series started.
The Pistons surprised a lot of people this year.
Dearborn Heights Festival 2004
While we were at a neighbors graduation party they told us what a great time they had at the Dearborn Heights Festival which was going on simultaneously with the graduation party. We were not aware of it and after the graduation party went to the North side of town and saw a pretty decent festival going on. James is still very small and cannot ride on any of the rides, but he enjoys the atmosphere and the sounds and each day is a new adventure for him so in that perspective it was worth while.
My mother used to tell me that Dearborn Heights was shaped like a barbell with the North and South sides connected by one road (Gulley). The North side is about twice the size of the south side so it would be an uneven barbell at best but still a decent analogy.
Sea Shell City 2004
We stopped at Sea Shell City to do some shopping. Its becoming a habit to stop here either on the way up to kick off our vacation or on the way down to extend our vacation. We consider this part of the Mackinaw experience even though it is technically located in Cheboygan. We do the same with St Ignace, its all part of the Mackinaw experience.
James spent a little time eye balling the pirate ship outside of the store. It was almost like the kid was saying “I will be playing here soon and one day even running this ship”.
Inside the shop we had the usual selection of items. Mary bought a t shirt and I bought a bottle holder for the bar. A fun experience for everyone at Sea Shell City this year.
