Helping in the Classroom

Maylee helped me in my classroom prepare for students.  I ordered baskets to help the kindergartners organize the cubbies.  I asked Maylee to put a basket in each cubby.  The furniture piece has 12 cubbies on each side.  Maylee put one in all the cubbies on one side, and then said "Mama look. More."  I was impressed that she was trying to communicate that there was a problem...she had left over baskets.  I showed her there are more on the other side and she happily completed her job.

Kamiah & Lochsa Cabin Time in August

After Dworshak, we spent some time in Kamiah and at the cabin.  We stayed at Grandma Linda's house so Maylee could become more familiar with her.  This idea worked because she has remembered Grandma Linda since.

Helping Water Linda's Garden

Maylee thought she needed to help Linda with the watering (and that is a lot of watering due to Linda's landscaping and gardens around her house). Maylee was good at watering the dirt. 

I just LOVE this pictures...

 

Grandma Linda Time

I love how Linda will get on the floor and play with Maylee.  They had a great time with each other.

Cabin Time with Cousins

Maylee was in seventh heaven spending time with Emma, Sarah, Kati and Jack.  The river was also warm enough for swimming. 

Pre-Birthday Party

We also did a pre-birthday party for Maylee since Kev's side could all gather that weekend to celebrate.  We did a ladybug theme for her because she loves anything with ladybugs on it, especially her ladybug dress, ladybug Pillow Pet, and ladybug shirt and shorts set (hand-me-downs from cousins).

 

Showing off her "Surprise Face" and serious "Paso Doble face" (from Dancing with the Stars)

Gift Time...

 

Dworshak Lake 2011

Relatives on my dad's side planned their annual camping trip to Dworshak this past August.  The relatives who camped and boated for a week were Aunt Jean, Uncle Kelly, their two kids, Uncle Clay, and his daughter. Ammie, Maylee, and I camped with them for a few days and spent lots of time on the lake.  (Thanks Dean and Shirley for letting us borrow your camper since Kev had ours.)

 Maylee is such a water bug and surprised us with her swimming skills with no swimming instruction. I was also surprised at how comfortable she was floating on her back.  She swam around the boat with Ammie beside her, and she also loved jumping off the back of the boat.  We had to teach her to ask the person in the water if they were ready before she could jump.



Maylee also loved taking tube rides behind the boat.  She would jump and splash in the middle, sing, and make motor boat noises.  Her favorite person to tube with was cousin Ashley, not Mama.

 

Ashley's Girl

Maylee really latched on to Ashley.  She had to do what ever Ashley was doing, eat what Ashley was eating, sit where Ashley was sitting, etc.



She played hard in the water and on land.  She really liked the playground at the campground and riding in the bike trailer when I took her on bike rides.

Of course, I had to play too...

For those of you not familiar with Dworshak, the 54 mile lake is man made as a result of Dworshak dam (only two other US dams are higher).  They release water to help with the salmon runs. By the end of summer, the water level has dropped quite a bit but the water temperature is awesome!



On our last day, more relatives (Jack and Ellen) stopped by and Maylee swam and swam.  We came back to camp for lunch and she sat on Uncle Clay's lap.  The second picture was taken probably 30 seconds to a minute after the first.  Maylee was so tired, she fell asleep while eating a chip (part was in her mouth and the other part landed at the top of her shirt) 



Happy Birthday Tessa & Charlie

We attended Tessa and Charlie's 1st Birthday Party.  They are cousins on Ammie's side.  Maylee helped "watch" them in July and loves them!  She had a blast playing with all the little cousins...

 

August Playing

Playing Dress Up

Maylee has a basket under her crib with dress-up clothes.  She has last year's cow costume and this year's chicken costume.  She also has many "dancing skirts."  One day, she was playing in her room and dressed herself up as a dancing cow.  Then, she put the cow costume on her doll and dressed herself as a dancing chicken.  She has continued to think if she is dressing up then her doll or teddy bear also needs to dress up.  She has yet to give up on Mom or Dad fitting into her costumes to play with her.

Playing with Sidewalk Chalk

Messy but fun...