Our little Gymnast

Dean FINALLY got to go back to gymnastics today after 3 weeks off (we missed 2 weeks due to our trip and last week was Spring Break). Dean was excited because Dad was able to join us for part of class today! Since he's perfected his running skills in the past few weeks, today's class was extra exhausting for Mom!! Right now (and this changes just about every week), Dean's favorite things are "rocking and rolling" on the ball, running UP the big wedge things, and carrying around this little banana Coach Rusty uses as a bribe. Thought you guys might like some pics.

Practicing his Rings Routine...

Ta-Da!!Rocking and Rolling on the ball with Coach Rusty

And somehow we forgot to include these pics from Music Together Class the other day....

Dean's had a MAJOR crush on Teacher Kim for about a year now... Rocking out on the harmonica...

Dean's such a rock star - the ladies already just want to touch him. (little Elizabeth just stood there with her hand on Dean's head while he played the harmonica)...

Happy Prince Kuhio Day!!

What is Prince Kuhio Day you might ask? Well, it's a state holiday in Hawaii, which means Joel and I both had the day off. Technically, I always have Wednesday off, but today I actually got paid to be off, which is always nice! So we spent the morning hanging out at the Maui Tropical Plantation. Actually, we were there for Dean's Music Together Class, but it was special today because Dad usually has to work so he'd never been to class with us before. It was lots of fun! Of course Joel hated it - what with all the scarf dancing, animal sounds, vocal exercises and rhythm movements, but Dean loved showing off his musical skills for his Dad! And as always, Dean WAS after all the cutest kid there!

After class, I decided to get a little artistic with the camera... a handful of the approx 150 pics I took this morning actually turned out OK I thought. Here they are for your enjoyment....

Dean REALLY pissed because Dad won't share his coffee

And just in case you were really curious, according to Wikipedia....Prince Kuhio Day is an official holiday in the state of Hawaii. It is celebrated annually on March 26, to mark the birth of Prince Jonah Kuhio Kalaniana'ole - heir to the throne of the Kingdom of Hawaii, prince of the House of Kalakaua, and later territorial delegate to the United States Congress. It is one of only two holiday in the U.S. dedicated to royalty, the other being Hawaii's King Kamehameha Day on June 11 (which will be another day off for both of us!!!!).

Bean bag fun

Let me tell ya, I have the most awesome mother-in-law!!! Dean is quickly outgrowing his little papasan chair that he loves to sit in, so Jo made him this adorable bean bag chair. I'm hoping he'll soon become just as attached to it as he is his chair.

There was also a nice little surprise for me in the box - she made these beautiful reversible place mats (the corner is folded over in the picture to show you the other side) out of the extra fabric left over from the pillows she made when she re-upholstered our couch. My Mom saw placemats almost exactly like these in a little boutique in Paia the other day - they were $15 each!!

And now some pics just for fun...

Giddy-up Daddy!

And this is what the majority of the pictures I take of Dean look like these days...he's not still for long!

Subscription Update

Ok, I FINALLY figured out a subscription service that seems to work. If you previously subscribed through the google groups link, you'll need to re-subscribe following these instructions. Sorry!! You can now subscribe to this blog by scrolling down to the bottom of this page and entering your e-mail address, then click "Subscribe". You're not done yet, though! You'll then receive a confirmation e-mail from feedblitz. Open the e-mail and click on the link to confirm you want to subscribe. You will be redirected to feedblitz.com where you will need to select your subscription options. Choose "E-Mail" notifications, then type in the security code and submit. THEN you're finally done!! Here's a little something for your efforts....a cute picture of Dean at his second day of Swimming Lessons...

Happy Easter from the Taplers!!

Welcome to our Blog!!

Aloha and Welcome to the Tapler Ohana Blog. We (by "we", we actually mean "Jen" in most cases) will use this site to keep our family and friends both near and far updated on both the exciting and mundane aspects of our lives on this rock in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. You can either subscribe to this blog to receive regular e-mail alerts when we update, or you can just check back at your convenience to see what's been going on with us. Please comment to let us know what you think of our space, what's been happening in your lives, or if you have any thoughts on what's been going on in ours. Thanks for stopping by!!