The Gardner Family: Toy's R' Us Adventure...

Just before Christmas this past year we had a bunch of snow and I must admit that I did not have much to give Calvin for Christmas. I really wanted to get him a basketball hoop. The one I saw at toy's r' us was $49.99. I had seen several on craigslist but of course, a week before Christmas, there were none used to be found. I got a coupon in the mail from toy's r' us for $10 off any purchase of $100 or more. Now if you have children and have EVER been to Toy's r' Us the week before Christmas you will know what I am talking about. Something like "I'd rather be rather having a root canal" (I can say that because I have never had one).

I headed off to Southcenter Toy's R' Us with every intention on buying a basketball hoop and some other "goodies" (to get me to the $100 level) and head home.

After about one hour in the isles with every other last minute shopper trying to find the perfect gift I was very discouraged. They didn't have the basketball hoop I was looking for and the other one was just not what I was looking for. I just couldn't come up with a great "Santa" gift for Calvin. Now, it really wouldn't even be a problem except for Amanda. She was really into the whole Santa thing this year. If Santa would have forgot Calvin, who knows what it would have done to her fragile spirit...

I decided to head over to the Goodwill in hopes to find some used big car or anything big without the big price tag. I must admit I am a scavenger at heart. I love a good thrift. There is nothing better than finding something you could never afford at a fraction of the price. To my luck--- I found the PERFECT gift. They had a very sturdy bead activity table. It was in excellent, like new condition and it was only $9.99. I had saved Christmas. Even better yet, it was on sale for 30% off.

On Christmas Eve, I got out the table and my anti-bacterial wipes and began the clean up. It was a HUGE hit Christmas morning. I'll post a picture so you can check out my find.

So the best part of it all was, I decided to see what these tables retailed for online. Here is what I came up with.

educo - Educo Finger Fun Bead Maze Table
FREE SHIPPING!! Little fingers can have hours of fun with the Finger Fun Bead Maze Table. Children can share the fun of zooming wooden beads through a challenging maze... (See Full Description)
OUR PRICE: $174.00Original Price: $219.90 You Save: $45.90 (21%)SKU #EDU1017Usually ships in 3 to 5 days