James Summer Camp

Well camping certainly has changed since I was a kid. There were no tents or mess halls at this camp which was held Mon thru Thurs for 5 weeks in the summer (July & Aug Months). Each week had a different theme and the kids got to not only go on road trips but also had interesting people come to them such as karate demo’s and ice skaters. Turns out James likes to skate so we plan on sending him to skating school in the winter. The complex has four rinks so if the weather outside was not appropriate they simply went inside to play their games. James made lots of friends and created some really nice craftwork. Our highest compliments to the staff for their fine work this summer.

James said he will miss his friends, hopefully some can attend his Halloween party (James posted a little flier he made promoting his party and inviting everyone, I do not know if anyone will remember since Halloween is currently 3 months away). James plans on attending next year and we cannot think of a better place for James to grow with his social skills than this summer camp.

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Edited: July 24th, 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

Dinosaur World 2012

Being from Michigan we have many tourist locations up North, but many close for the winter season so on our drive down to Nashville we thought that Dinosaur World (a place James loves to stop at) would be closed but possibly the souvenir store would be open. When we got there we found out that the whole thing was open including the outside tour. We knew that Friday was going to be a super day in January with the highs in the sixties so we told James that if he was good we would also stop on the way back and go on the outside tour. Needless to say James was pretty good on the trip (he usually is) and it gave us a little break on the way home to take advantage of a gorgeous January day in Kentucky. When we arrived we were the only ones in the entire park so James had the entire Dinosaur world to himself for the day.
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Edited: January 7th, 2012

Johnathans Birthday Party

James was invited to Johnathans Birthday Party which was held at the Zap, sort of an inside carnival with huge inflatables, bumper car rides, laser tag, and plenty of games. James had a blast with his friends who he has not seen since school let out before Christmas. James favorite game was the “Smelly Feet” game where you shoot a stream of water at smelly feet and if you do it right, the shower comes on at the end. You also receive tickets when you play the games that you can redeem for prizes at the end. 50 tickets get you a sucker. If you get hundreds of thousands of tickets you can get a Wii game so I am betting they hand out more suckers than Wii’s. (more…)

Edited: January 3rd, 2012

Hoover Elementary Halloween Parade 2011

For the second year in a row James and his classmates participated in the Hoover Elementary Halloween Parade. The entire school marched around the front of the school in their halloween costumes, led by their principle Mrs Springer, who wore the purple jester costume. The costumes seemed to be much more elaborate than last years, with Darth Vader and Batman seeming to be the favorites among boys, and witches and angels the favorites among girls.

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Edited: October 28th, 2011

Mothers Day 2011

This year Mothers Day was a little different than usual. First, we did not travel to our usual Chinese restaurant in Flat Rock, but went to our normal Chinese restaurant in Taylor with Aunt Peg. Aunt Peg joined us on our trip to Michigan Memorial Cemetery where we placed flowers on all the graves. On the way home Aunt Peg wanted to get some things from the store so we dropped her off and took James to the park for a few minutes while Aunt Peg shopped. We picked Aunt Peg up and took her home and had a great day. The weather was perfect (however the two weeks before was all rain and the two weeks after would be all rain).

Grandma is still recovering from her broken leg and arm so she did not make the trek with us, however the next day we surprised her with a McDonalds breakfast.

A different Mothers day but just as fun as the ones in the past.
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Edited: May 29th, 2011

Artist in the Making

James got a pack of construction paper with some bottle money he had saved, and the first project he did was re-create the picture on the front of the package. James showed a lot of patience and work as he got the exact colors and drew the figures. Neither Mary nor myself are very good artist’s but I know both his Grandma and Grandpa Kleiber were excellent in drawing so maybe talent skips a generation.

Mom and Dad thought enough of his effort that we framed the picture for him.

Edited: November 12th, 2010

Happy Birthday James and Peg

It was truly a toy story 3 birthday celebration for James, his day began by playing his video game early while Mom and Dad secretly decorated the kitchen. Dad and James went to pick up Aunt Peg and Mom went to pick up Grandma and we met at Applebees for lunch. James and Aunt Peg went to Toys R Us where James spent all the money he got from relatives on Toy Story games including another Toy Story Wii game (thanks to all who made this possible). While James was at Toys R Us, Mom put the finishing touches on the kitchen decorations and when James came in he was greeted with a table full of toys, cards, candy and more cash. After sharing some cake with the neighbors, James played with just about everything and toward the end of the night he was so tired he could hardly keep his eyes open but kept playing till he fell asleep (His cousin Mark would be proud). We think James enjoyed this birthday more than any others because it was so diversified. Aunt Peg who also celebrated her birthday received several gifts as well including having Happy Birthday sung to her by her sister Criss.

Thanks again to all who made this possible.
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Edited: September 18th, 2010

Toy Story 3 Arrives

James has been on a Toy Story 3 kick since the movie came out this summer. He plays the Wii version of the game quite a bit and his favorite character is Woody (and also Rex because he is such a dinosaur fan). He likes Buzz but calls him Buzz Lightweight instead of Buzz Lightyear, a reference to Toy Story 2 for those who have seen the movie (the Kelsey Grammar character (stinky pete or something like that) refers to the Tim Allen character (Buzz) as Lightweight).

Today he got a package in the mail from Aunt Peg and it was a Toy Story play set with a pull out “Andy’s Room”. A very cool toy and James has been playing with it since it arrived. James wanted to say thanks to Aunt Peg so here are some of the first pics from the play set so Aunt Peg could see how happy this made him.

To see more pictures click the “Read more” link (more…)

Edited: August 3rd, 2010

Playtime 2005

James loves playing on his swing set, it has a couple slides, places to crawl and places to climb. Now that the cement is in and the back yard is level with new grass, the place is alot funner (and safer) to play. I felt so sorry for the toddler running in the back, only to fall down because the ground was so unlevel. Now he can play to his little hearts content and believe me, he has.

We almost bought a wooden set but I think the plastic one will serve us better and last longer. I see alot of these at garage sales so it must mean they outlast the kids childhood. I never see the wooden or metal ones at a garage sale which means they are probably scrapped.
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Edited: June 7th, 2005