Trying to get back into the swing of things we went out to Michigan Memorial to put flowers on the graves. Grandma and Grandpa Kleibers grave was almost completely covered by grass so we had to do some quick landscaping just to pull out the vase. On the other side of the park the latest arrival, Aunt Peg, her grave looked fine but her vase did not have a bottom and would not hold water. We took a McDonalds cup and shoved it inside as a temporary fix. I am calling Michigan Memorial on both issues tomorrow.

The construction at the front seems complete and there was a lit flame burning in what can be best described as a pot or large vase (I am sure there is a more formal name for it). The weather was 90 degrees and beautiful. Continue reading “Memorial Day at Michigan Memorial Park 2022” →

We believe this is our first rainbow of 2017 and it was a pretty little guy. James ran out and took pics as soon as it stopped raining and sure enough there it was.

It was certainly an eventful day that included planting tomatoes and strawberries in James’ garden, having a cook out, watching a movie, and James got to meet some of Dbn Hgts finest as well. With all that we still made sure to remember our finest citizens (soldiers) who did not make it back to enjoy these times with us and we thank them for the freedom we have now. Rest in peace Uncle Raymond.

Continue reading “Memorial Day 2017 – Spring Rainbow” →

Greenfield Village had a re-enactment of the American Civil War and James got a chance to see a bit of how life was like as a soldier in those days. The entire village was an encampment for both the North and South and bivouac tents were everywhere. We took the train around the park and could see the artillery demonstration (cannons firing) from the train. We then stopped off at the historical tent where they check and see if you have any relatives that fought in the Civil war. While Dad’s family moved here after the Civil War, Mom’s family has been in Tennessee for centuries and they found a picture of Mary’s great grandfather from the civil war. They printed out a bunch of documents that we will post here as soon as we get a chance to scan them. After the historical tent we took a ride on the Model T and then went back through the museum to avoid a rain shower. We took a pic of Thomas Edison autograph in cement and of the Beatle exhibit. On the way home we asked James if he knew who the Beatles were and he said “yes, they are the ones who wrote their names in cement”, obviously confusing the last two exhibits.

A great time was had by all and a little Civil War remembrance to help our celebration of Memorial day.

Continue reading “Greenfield Village Memorial Day Weekend 2016” →

This week the roads were kind to us. After last weeks construction everywhere we hit very little traffic all day this beautiful Memorial day Saturday. Our first stop was Canterbury Village in Orion Michigan, just a stones throw (about 3 miles) from the Palace. We stopped in at the cider mill, the gift shops, the Christmas shops, and the Department 56 store (which had some pretty good sales going on). The Merry go round store was open as well and its always interesting visiting a store with a huge merry go round in the center of it. We did make a few purchases at the Dept 56 store as they had two bins of items half off. A great start for the Memorial Day weekend.

Continue reading “Canterbury Village Memorial Day Weekend 2016” →

Our next stop was three miles down the road to Michigan’s larges outlet shop, Great Lakes Crossing. Great Lakes Crossing Outlets is the market’s dominant retail outlet and entertainment destination, attracting customers throughout the Midwest and Canada. With 185 manufacturer’s outlets and traditional retail stores, Great Lakes Crossing Outlets is Michigan’s only enclosed value-regional mall. With all that going for it I don’t think I have ever bought anything here, however James bought a hat and Mom bought some things at Victoria Secrets so it was a worthwhile trip.

The place is truly gigantic (we walked from the aquarium entrance to the Saks fifth avenue entrance and back again) and despite it’s huge size, it was still packed with people.

The new thing this year is the Aquarium which we will have to visit soon. The picture out front with the giraffe (James is beneath the giraffe to give you a perspective of the size) is actually made completely of Lego’s.

Continue reading “Great Lakes Crossing on Memorial Day Weekend 2016” →

What has slowly become a tradition for us on Memorial Day is the visit to the cemetery. On the surface that might not sound that exciting but on Pennsylvania and Middlebelt there is a big Flea Market that we stop off at that is right on the way. After the Flea Market we go to the cemetery and if we were unable to put flowers up on Mothers day we do it on Memorial Day. However since we did get flowers on the graves for Mothers day we just made sure the flags were present. Last year they missed Uncle Raymond who died in WW2 and we called and this year he got a big flag (James brought a little flag just in case). Uncle Raymonds grave has not yet been raised and we had to clean it off again, hopefully they will take care of it sinking soon. James’ Grandfather Kleiber did not have a flag on his grave because he does not have his rank on the grave, in hindsight we probably should have put the flag brought for Raymond on his site, we’ll make a note of that next year to bring more flags, they are inexpensive.

The Flea Market had something for everyone, James found a 1924 National Geographic that he did not have (He keeps an inventory at http://www.thekleibers.com/inventory.html so he can check what he has when away from home), Mom found several paintings that she liked, and Dad found a “monster” made out of metal that holds Halloween candy.

The rest of the weekend was spent barbecuing and swimming. Lots of fun.

Continue reading “Memorial Day 2015” →

For once we had a three day weekend where the weather lived up to the billing. Beautiful all three days and James took advantage of it. Yesterday we went to the Magic Capital and had a blast, today was more traditional as we did our traditional flowers and flags on the graves.

While at the Michigan Memorial James visited the Veteran’s Memorials and 911 Memorials. As hinted to above, we also visited our family plots to see if Aunt Louise had gotten her temporary marker yet (she did, its in the pics). On the way back we hit the many Flea Markets and Garden sales around town, Mom got some flowers, Jame’s got some toys, and Dad got a rubber skull.

Later we grilled out and had a wonderful (and traditional) Memorial Day Barbecue.

Continue reading “Memorial Day 2014” →

This Memorial Day Weekend began a little differently with a visit to Colon’s “Magic Park” where James got to play at the playground, then it was on to the magic shop to watch some magic. We then ate lunch at Curly’s which had only opened about 2 months earlier (the entire building was ravaged by a fire about two years ago and was completely rebuilt. Curly’s is well known to magicians as they have an annual magic competition on Thursday during the Magic Get Together. The event takes place late in the evening (after the evening magic show) and since its at a bar, its usually a real fun time.,

Lots of people don’t realize that the Magic Capitol of the World is located right here in Michigan, where they have been celebrating magic at their convention since the early thirties.

Continue reading “Memorial Day Trip to the Magic Capitol” →