school pictures and vacation fun

Here are a few pictures of Mariah at school. With a sidewalk chalk drawing.

Playing with cubes.

Mariah's favorite thing at school is Team Time. This is when the whole school gets together on Friday afternoons for various activities in small groups (bingo, uno, war, etc) or in one big group. On this particular day they played Shoe Salad with everyone together -- over 85 students in one room playing this game. Everyone took off a shoe and put it in the middle and then they would take turns trying to match the shoes. Apparently it was very noisy:)

We enjoyed a nice trip back to Minnesota last weekend since Mariah has this whole week off from school. It was so wonderful to back among familiar faces and places. The girls and I are still recovering from the trip and fighting sniffly noses, but Mike is back to work. I observed my 29th birthday yesterday.....I don't feel too old, though:) Rachel chose the day to be full of mischief -- rinsing rags in the toilet (imitating me rinsing diapers, probably:), climbing on the toilet, and once again, being absolutely crabby about diaper changes. She is definitely the most strong-willed and adventerous and mischevious of the three kids.

Yesterday Mariah and Allison enjoyed some time playing together -- something that they don't get to do every day. They were wonderfully creative and played "Boundary Waters" for hours. For anyone who doesn't know, in Northern Minnesota there is a large area with many lakes that is designated the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness -- it is on the border with Canada and you canoe on the lakes and portage (carry canoes and backpacks with gear) on the land to get from lake to lake. Mike took Mariah up there this past summer for 4 days/3 nights so she knows just what goes on. Anyway, the girls pretended all day that the couch cushions were their boats. They would rock on the waves, paddle with their feet (push themselves on the wood floor) and when they came to a carpet they would pick up their boats and put them on their heads and walk to the wood floor on the other side. And occassionally Allison would fall out of her boat and Mariah would rescue her:) They also set up camp under the dining room table with lots of pillows and blankets to lay on. They had great fun and it was neat to watch them play together.