The Tapler Ohana: Bye Bye Opa

Dean had a great time the past week and a half with his Opa and Leslie!! Opa's a pretty big dude, so it took a little while for Dean to warm up to him, but I'm sure the marshmallow shooter, bubble boogers, and other inappropriate toys helped!!! :-) But really, we were sad to say goodbye to the last of our visitors today. It sure seems awful quiet around here!

I'm behind on my blogging and have lots of pictures to upload this evening, so I'm sure you'll all get your Dean fix this weekend!!

On another note....Dean and I went to Ross (yes, I know...shocker...I really do hate that store - the lack of organization makes me nervous, but I like to check out their children's books and toys section as they really do have some steals sometimes). Anyway....this is for the grandparents out there who might want some birthday &/or Christmas ideas for Dean this winter. There is a brand, Step 2, that makes REALLY cool stuff. Unfortunately, there's nowhere on Maui that normally carries that brand and the website doesn't ship to Hawaii. You can check out their website here. Well, I was pleasantly surprised to see a few of the Step 2 "Mainstreet Village" toys at Ross today!!! I bought all 5 of the sets they had thinking Dean is still maybe a little young for them, but I could save them for B-Day & X-mas. They're super cute. I did open up one package, the "Village Vet" today and Dean LOVES it. I'm routinely disappointed in his lack of interest in the hundreds of dollars worth of toys he has...but I have to say this was definitely worth it!! The Ross price for the individual sets was between $6.99 and $12.99 (which is about 60-75% less than the regular retail price listed on the website). There are tons of cute sets out there, so keep your eye out for them on the mainland. You can see all of the sets on this link of the website. (they kind of remind me of the weeble village sets they had when I was a kid...except these people don't wobble). Today I found & bought at Ross the Countryside Cottage, Sunnyside Farm Accessory Set, Farmers Market (that comes with a farmer who looks JUST LIKE Grandpa CR!!!!!), Protect & Serve Station, and the Village Vet. Dean played with the Village Vet ALL DAY today. They even have a cute little playmat with roads and lawns painted on it that you can set up the little village on. It's really cool!!! So if anyone happens to see them somewhere, please let me know - I might have a Personal Shopper job for someone to do!!!

OK, on to why you REALLY come to this blog....pictures of Dean. Here ya go...