Colon Magic Festival

James got to help set up some of the booths at the Abbotts Get Together, an event which takes place each August. James has come to this festival since he was 3 and has always enjoyed it, however this is the first time he got to actually help out in the preparations. James helped out the weekend before then got to attend and enjoy the festivities the weekend after (his camp prevented him from attending during the week).

A bonus surprise was that Jame’s pet doves were used on the Friday night show (tickets were $25 each for a Vegas quality magic show but James got in for free because of the work he did the weekend before).

James enjoyed pizza in a place that had a girl floating in the window and posters from many of the past Abbott Get Togethers.

Towards the end of the event, a huge rainbow filled the sky over the magic village of Colon which just thrilled James.

The 2013 Abbott Get Together dates are Aug 7,8,9,10, this will be their 76th year doing this. We heard that some other magic shop was copying this event and putting it on a week earlier in Colon so make sure if you do attend that it is the Abbott Magic Get Together that you attend and not “the copycat” as James likes to call it.

We would truly like to thank the staff of Abbott Magic for their hospitality and kindness during this event. We all had a great time.
(more…)

Edited: August 5th, 2012

Keeping Cool In The Summer of 2012

For about the last two weeks we have had a heatwave across the midwest and USA, so James had to find a variety of ways to stay cool this summer. The following pictures were taken (in no particular order) at the Colon Park, Colon Moving Dock, Eric’s Graduation Party (our neighbor down the street), Trenton Festival (after a visit to Aunt Peg in wyandotte hospital), and of course James own back yard and basement.

During the heatwave of 2012 we were very fortunate not to lose power or air conditioning capabilities (although I am a bit terrified of the huge electric bill we will get running the AC so hard). (more…)

Edited: July 15th, 2012

Reading Night at Hoover Elementary

James had a fun time at the Hoover Elementary Reading night. First he met up with a couple of his class mates then got to be entertained with “Suspicious Minds” by Elvis. After that James went to his first reading destination which was Ms. Frizzle’s Castle which was read by Mrs Jent, his regular teacher. After reading a story the kids got to make tiaras, wands, and shields. James made a shield and you can see it as the last picture in the gallery. The S in the upper left hand represents what James wants to be in life…a School teacher. The K in the upper right represent his family K=Kleiber. The lower left H represents Espirit Decorp, mainly Hoover elementary, and the J represents James. The Kleiber Crest looked great on his practice sheet, however when he went to put it on his Shield he put the crest on the Titanic! A thousand years from now when they discover the Kleiber crest they will see the Titanic on it.

James second destination was Dinosaurs and Reptiles, and had several living creatures including salamanders, lizards, and turtles. The instructor talked about extinction and the idea that dinosaurs are not really extinct but live on in birds. He showed several dinosaur skulls then the kids got to pet the lizards and the animated triceratops.

Afterwards all the kids got ice cream sundaes. What a way to spend an evening!
(more…)

Edited: March 22nd, 2012

Nashville Flea Market

The last weekend of every month during the summer is the famous Nashville Flea Market. This year we got there early (Uncle Bill took us to breakfast at the Cracker Barrel and bought each of us a gift) and had a great place to park. James got several toys and the flea market and even some “jerky” snacks (although the $3 soda pop did sting a bit). Mary checked out the antiques with Uncle Bill while James and Dad visited the toy sections of the flea market (and there were many). Thanks to our early arrival we were able to leave the Flea Market just before the afternoon heat (and a few rain drops) came.

Mom got Dad a wallet which was very much needed. Of special note was the gift that James picked out at Cracker Barrel which was a toy dog. The evening before we visited Uncle Bills home and he has 3 dogs which James got to play with, could James be sending us a hint?
(more…)

Edited: August 31st, 2010

Marshall Blues Festival then Puppet Show

It was a very hot July day and the traffic and construction tie ups were terrible, but we made it to the Blues Festival in Marshall Michigan for the first time. James and I stayed for a bit then went on to the park and a magic shop, while mom enjoyed the music while shopping for antiques on the Marshall main street. We left around 6pm as the place was just starting to get real crowded. Mary bought a cd of the music of one of the bands and we listened to it on the way home. That evening James watched a dinosaur movie then did his own version of it in his puppet theatre. Lots of entertainment this day! (more…)

Edited: July 18th, 2010

Trenton Festival 2010

What a great time we had at the Trenton festival. James has been here several times in the past few years and he always has a good time. I think his favorite thing is getting the free balloons from the various shop keeps to participate. This year there were a whole bunch of inflatable moonwalks and slides that he could play in as well as the usual games that he is familiar with. He also got to put out a simulated fire with a real fire hose. After the event was over we went out for Chinese to complete a wonderful summer day. On the way home, we stopped by Aunt Louises old house and snapped a picture. sure looks different with those gates in the drive. (more…)

Edited: July 11th, 2010

St Albert Festival 2007

This year at the St Albert Festival James got to do a little exploring, he went to the playground and made a couple friends, then went off to the sand box which is located between the Jr and Sr buildings at St Albert. Such a shame James will not be going to this school, since it will be closed down. I have no idea what will happen with the buildings and all, or what will happen to St. Alberts but from what I understand this will be the last festival because most of the people involved with it have kids in school, and next year they will be going somewhere else.

James was much more mature this year and we were able to keep him out a little later so that he could ride some of the rides at night. He fell asleep on the wagon ride home.
(more…)

Edited: June 30th, 2007

Nashville Flea Market 2006

‘This is Marys favorite flea market in the whole world, we scheduled our trip to Nashville so that we would arrive in time for the Nashville Flea Market. My understanding is one of the driving forces behind the flea market was an ancestor of Mary’s. The Flea Market is huge and you have to walk up a big hill to get to it so if you decide you want to go, be sure to bring your hiking shoes.

Even though it was September it was still very hot. Some of the buildings are air conditioned while others are not but at least you could take a break from the heat if you wanted to. The only charge for the flea market was for parking so it was well worth the trip.
(more…)

Edited: September 23rd, 2006

St Albert Festival 2006

The local Church festival came around again, and James was first in line for several rides this year. He is still too small for many of the rides but is quite content with the ones that he is allowed to ride. His favorite is the train ride, a nice relaxing stroll in front of St Albert the Great church.

We found out that St. Albert school will be closing, not enough kids to keep it open. What a shame, both myself and my sister Criss attended school here and it sure is a shame that it won’t be around when James goes to school in a few years. I do not know what will happen with the festival, but without the parents of students to help I don’t think the outlook is good.
(more…)

Edited: June 28th, 2006

Pontiac Jambalaya 2005

Mary wanted to see one of the Blues performers really bad, so we made the trek up to Pontiac and enjoyed a wonderful day of festive recreation. Koko Taylor was performing and Mary is a big blues fan so this was an extra treat for us. In addition, it marked the first time that James was able to pick out his own duck at the duck pond and won his first prize.

Tony Stewart won the Nascar race that day, I remember we were listening to it on the car radio and waited till it was over before we left the parking complex. Tony is Mary’s favorite Nashcar driver so it was a double great day for her.
(more…)

Edited: July 24th, 2005