Castaway (day 4)

This little swing is attached to our house and Isaac has really been enjoying it. It's nice because as I stand to push him I have a great view of the lake and of the cutest little boy in the world!!

Isaac dressed up in his pirate gear for the pirate night at Castaway.
Some pirates captured Isaac and quickly realized that he was more valuable that their treasure so the emptied out the coins and put Isaac in the box.

JJ and Kelly in the oprea (Rupert and Ruby Broarby). The opera was SOOOOOO good and funny. They all did a GREAT job!!
Dan, Dan, JJ, and Kelly entertaining the crowd in the opera.

Isaac and mommy hanging out in front of a pirate ship that pulled into Castaway (tableau).
Isaac hanging out with some pirate that came in on the ship.

Dan and Dan are leading a dance for all the campers after the opera finished.
Isaac hanging out with some of his new friends; three of the interns here at Castaway!
Dan and Isaac hanging out in thier natural state (no shirts).

Castaway (day 3 cont.)

I forgot to add a few images from day 3. Day three ends with a carnival for all the kids. Here's a couple pics.

Castaway (day 3)

Day three at Castaway was a good one. Again, we had amazing weather. Hope you enjoy some of the pics below. :)

Before breakfast I was sitting outside the dining hall with Isaac and it literally felt like I was in heaven. I can't get over how much beauty there is all around us here. This picture really doesn't do justice to the sceene that was before my eyes!

And, neither does this one. :) One of Isaac's favorite things to do around here is play with rocks. It literally entertains him for hours. He picks them up and throws them and tries to eat them.

Dan is riding into breakfast in the dining hall on his razor scooter. Didn't you know that's how presidential candidates get around these days??

Dan and Dan Nicholas (dressed up as a chipotle burrito) on stage in the dining hall.

Isaac is wearing Dan's wig, and isn't too happy about it, but I still thought it was funny and cute.

Dan and Isaac chilling on our bed during some free time. I have had a cold and Isaac just went out to get me some halls. Wasn't that nice of him??

Another wonderful performance of cops at club.Another beautiful sunset at Castaway. This is one of the docks that is used during the day for all the kids to go tubing and waterskiing. So serene!!
Some beautiful flowers around castaway. They take a lot of pride in their landscaping around here and it is AMAZING!!

Castaway (day2)

So, here is the update for day 2 at Castaway. On a side note, the first week that we were here the weather was horrific!! Literally it rained every day and we were lucky to hit 50 degrees. I was starting to mourn the loss of summer. Well, since then we have been really blessed. It has been about 80 and sunny with a nice cool breeze EVERY DAY!! It kind of feels like we are in heaven. Another interesting thing for me has been how light it stays so late. Us being so far north and at the western edge of the time zone keeps it light until 10pm, sometimes even a bit later. Kind of crazy!
On the morning of day 2 there is a volleyball tournement between all the cabins. Dan and Dan lead that on the beach.

All the kids heading down to the beach for volleyball.

One skit that Dan does during club involves him dressed up as a "lucky leprechaun" and he comes out by himself to irish techo music and is totally hilarious and then shows a funny You Tube video. This is him getting ready back stage.

Me and me lucky leprechaun.

The Leprechaun on stage doing his leprechaun dance.

After club and cabin time on day 2 there is something called Castaway Nigh Live (like Saturday night live). Dan and Dan opened up the night with a really funny skit that they are doing right here. Then all the leaders do different skits on stage. (One side note - Dan Nicholas got totally spewed on by a leader who had just done a skit where he had to eat 3 twinkies and chug three bottles of red gatorade. DISGUSTING!)

Close up of the skit in action. :)

Right after club Dan and I walked outside to find such a pretty sunset. No one was around so we just took pictures of eachother.

Enjoying the sunset!

Castaway (day 1)

So, it has been awhile since I have posted anything. We have been hanging out here at Young Life's Castaway Club in northern MN. I have decided that this week (our third week here) that I am going to try to capture a little of what each day at camp looks like and post pictures. There will be a lot of pics...so feel free to browse.

Right before the campers are about to arrive for the week, we are hanging out waiting to welcome them.
Isaac is trying to give directions to everyone from his stroller. This is the stage that they all stand on to welcome all the kids as they get off of the busses.

Dan enjoying a free moment to give his little buddy a kiss. (I must also mention that Isaac is wearing Dan's favorite outfit of his.)

Dan, Isaac, and I waiting for dinner to start on night 1.

Inside the dining hall Isaac is hanging out with one of his favorite friends that we live with. Caleb is 5 years old and a very fun little guy.

Dan in character as Johnny Bartocki who is running for president in 2012 with his partner "Melv". "Johnny & Melv in 2012". This is right before they are about to enter the dining hall to entertain all the kids.

These are all the little ones that live in our house. There are also two older kids that are not in this picture. We were all hanging out right outside the dining hall after dinner.

These are the three babies that live in our house. Ella is 15 months, then Isaac, and then Beatrice is also 15 months.

At club Dan and Dan come in as Officer Todd O'Conner and Officer James Presbaluski. Pretty funny stuff.

A more close up shot of Dan.

Birthday Fun!

"I love it when my grandma comes over because she likes to give me lots of yummy treats. In this picture I am trying out some red liccorice. Deeeeeeeeelish!"
"Hey Addison, I'm so happy that you came to my first birthday party. You are pretty cute! oh...Did I forget to tell you, you are the only friend of mine that could come. I hope that doesn't make you feel awkward. Trust me, we're going to have fun!"

We had a monkey themed birthday party for isaac.

"Hey everyone, come have some cake. I just tried it and it is goooood!"

Monkey cup cakes (I must say that I am pretty proud of these little guys).

The birthday party buffet table...full of lots of monkey delights! YUMMY!

Happy Birthday Isaac

My first moments hoding Isaac.
Isaac in his "birthday suit" on his 1st birthday.

Isaac Orr-

It is hard to believe that only one year ago I did not know this little man. It is hard to believe that I lived totally content and satisfied for over 27 years without knowing Isaac Orr. Though he is not the source of my joy, or my purpose for living, he has provided such an incredible richness and delight to my life that I NEVER thought was possible. I wasn’t someone who always dreamed of being a mom or having babies. Honestly, it was something that really scared me and I wasn’t quite sure how I would feel when I first saw my little baby, but from the moment the Dr’s placed his tiny little perfect body in my arms my heart just broke open with a love that I didn’t know was possible. Those first few days and weeks were spent mostly in awe of this amazing person. I would literally stare at him for hours and couldn’t believe the sense of connection I could have with such a tiny one.

From the first few weeks that I knew Isaac, I had a very strong sense that there was something special about this boy. Maybe every new mom feels that way, I don’t know. But there was a sense of joy and peace around him. From our first hours with him in the hospital he was so calm and peaceful. As I have watched him grow these past 12 months, I have been continually struck by his unbelievable joy; his smiles and giggles and funny faces and how loves to dance to any kind of music. Wherever we go, people seem to be drawn to him and him to them. He see strangers in public places and won’t stop smiling at them. There is something very special about this boy. I consider it one of the greatest blessings and privileges of my life to be his mom.

Some of my favorite things about Isaac:
How excited he get to eat strawberries, even though he eats them every day.
The ways that he tries to make me laugh by making funny faces and crinkling up his nose.
How when there is a song on in the car that he likes he will clap his hands and slap his thighs.
Watching his pudgy little body move around. I especially love his pudgy little fingers (how his knuckles make dimples) and his pudgy little toes.
That every time he hears a siren or a loud train he will start to pout and sometimes even cry.
How sometimes when I haven’t seen him for awhile (usually a few hours) and I come home and pick him up that he will give me tons and tons of kisses (big open mouth slobbery baby kisses).
Whenever I peek around a corner and catch his attention he will always start laughing.
That of all the books I read to him there are only two that he likes or will pay attention to (Goodnight Moon and Noisy Farm Animals).
He is his own little person with lots of expressions and opinions and desires that is blossoming more and more every day.

This could go on and on for a long time, but I will stop there. I would like to say Happy Birthday Isaac. You are more of a joy to me and your dad than you will ever know. You deserve to be celebrated today for being alive and for being exactly who God made you to be. We love you more than words can possibly come close to expressing. You are truly a gift to us. The best kind of gift. It is a gift to us to be your parents!!!

Millenium Park

On saturday morning I woke up and I just knew it was going to be a good day. You know how sometimes you can just feel it, that all those little things that could all go wrong and ruin your day are just going to go right today. Well they did. It was a WONDERFUL DAY!! Perfect weather. My mom was in town and we all went down town to millenium park (isaac's first visit). Then we ate at the Park Grill (which I HIGHLY recommend if you are ever in chicago. They have had the best burger in the city for the past few years. And let me tell you , it is good!!) Below are some pics of our adentures.

Dan and Isaac standing in the Millenium fountain.

The whole fam in the fountain.

In millenium park there is this HUGE silver bean thing. Anyway, it cool because you can take pictures of your reflection in it and it usually looks pretty cool.

The whole gang. Isaac is getting a little sick of all these pictures.

Me and my mommy.

Me and my hubby! (and you can see that my belly is starting to get bigger :) )

BELOW: Isaac enjoying licking ketchup off of a yummy french fry.