Following the Kirks

Ay Ay ay ay......most would think when they hear the words Fiesta Days of a Mexican party. It's not! It is my parents community celebration for Memorial Day.  We always spend Menorial day there to enjoy the parade they put on and the vendors, games, and fun they put on at the end of the mile stretch of the parade. The kids love love loved the parade especially the candy, tennis balls and bands.  Zeke especially loved the jumpers and rides at Fiesta Days..... while Zoie......napped  Hope you all enjoyed your Memorial Day. And to those who have fallen while protecting this beautiful country of ours.....THANK YOU! Home of the free because of the brave! 

One of my best friends since high school got married at the beginning of May. I was in the wedding so I had all the bridesmaid duties to handle all weekend but Brandon and the kids decided to hang out too take full advantage of the location and enjoy a mini vacation to Newport Beach.  The weather was amazing and the kids really loved the pool.  My brother and his girlfriend babysat the kids while we enjoyed ourselves at the wedding. It was beautiful and lots of fun. Congrats Mr. and Mrs. Bird! 

This Mother's Day we really wanted to go to brunch at a winery where they have some kid friendly things too, but like usual we waited until the last minute and couldn't get a reservation.  We decided to try a place in old town where the kids could run without getting dirty looks from the whole restaurant. If you have kids our age you know this happens quite often at restaurants, which is why we rarely eat out.   It was nice weather, great company, and a good day overall!  Happy Mother's Day mama! 

Now that our Summer is a tad bit slower and a lot less stressful this mama has some blog catching up to do. Sorry I put y'all on the back burner! More to come ASAP....... What's a blog post without a cute kid picture......TGIF! 

Yummmmmy....that's it!  Just kidding. With the clean eating trend and organic everything, we keep coming up on some awesome farms of all sorts, from fruit and veggies to looking forward to pumpkins and Christmas trees!  This go around its blueberries for this family! We love ourselves some blueberries. Zeke has loved them since he was little, Zoie can eat a carton or two in one sitting, and Brandon just wants to make fun recipes with them.  We gathered up the fam and one of Zeke's little buddies and headed out!  It wasn't too hot and the sun wasn't even out yet......perfect for picking them berries! 

My baby girl is going to be ONE in a month!!!!!! Ahhhhh. I haven't been in as much awe as I am with the turn of 11 months. The turn calls for crazy days with  a walking baby, lots of party planning, transitions, but always a ton of fun while keeping this mama on her toes!  Yes, like I said, Zoie has officially started walking.  Baby walking is seriously so funny to watch. It's like they waddle and have no concept of bending either their knees or ankles. When she gets super excited she starts to run and it's so cute!   We are starting to transition her to whole milk. I have a feeling it will be rough since we discovered early on that she was protein and soy sensitive, but here goes nothing....  This little girl first of ours is getting into EVERYTHING and learning so much. I just love watching her grow, love on her brother and daddy, and just be so full of fun and laughter!

Peter cotton tail..... Or the Easter Bunny! If you can't tell from this picture Zoie doesn't exactly love the Easter Bunny....yet! It took Zeke until he was 2 to really warm up to him, but we still have to convince him a little!  Easter is always a fun holiday for our family. My mom and dad host at their pool house and my sister, her family, and our family all get together for fun, food, water, egg hunts, egg coloring, easter baskets and so much more.  Such a great time had by all and the picture of my dad with all his grandkids is just epic! 

(Like 2 months ago) I am way behind on blogging. Life, kids and work are taking full control of this mama!  At 10 months little miss Zoie was STILL almost walking. I've said it a million times now, but any second she will be up and going. She love love loves the water and bath time. She started to get the sign language signs down!  Hates the easter bunny.  She was having a hard time getting to sleep but when she did it lasted most of the time ;) Oh and let's not forget about my little number obsessed helper :) I still can't get over how fast time flies. We are going to start getting ready for Zoie's first birthday and it just seems so overwhelming.....ahhhh! 

As most of you all know strawberries are in full bloom. Spring is here and Summer is right around the corner! Ooooo I can't wait for the traditional summer dessert of strawberry shortcakes! Yummmmy! We have a couple strawberry farms around us that you can pick yourself. We decided to make a little day trip of it and go picking with the kids. The weather was nice and the strawberries were ripe and oh so sweet. We've done blueberry picking in the past and it was lots of work and time consuming. Strawberries, on the other hand, were super easy and faster than expected.  We got our bucket filled up and decided on lunch since it was so fast and easy. 

One of my best friends is getting married so in getting married style we had to have the bachelorette party. Her and her fiancé met on a cruise ship while both working, so going on a cruise was very fitting!  We took a short little 3 day (booze) cruise.  It was a lot of fun, my first time on ship/cruise, and I'm glad it's over.....wedding time!  Brandon had the kids all weekend and did an amazing daddy daycare job, even with activities and sports and all! He's super dad in my eyes! 

Ahhh me lucky charms (leprechaun voice) We are not Irish at all, but everyone loves a special day to wear green, eat corned beef and cabbage, and be lucky! We had a little lucky charm breakfast before daycare. We also made some obnoxiously green Rice Krispies for daycare, but they were so green (and good) we kept them home. I got a really cute handmedown tutu from our good friend so I decided to coordinate the kids outfits and have a mini photoshoot with them.  I think next year I will start the leprechaun tradition. 

As you likely know, Zeke just turned three. Unfortunately, the official Little League and the PONY league in town all mandate you must be 4 by either April or December. Well we don't meet any of those cut offs so the high school I went to has been putting on a fabulous fundraiser for 2-4 year olds called Itty Bitty tee ball! Itty Bitty tee ball is so perfect for this age as they learn the concepts of tee ball like hitting the ball, running the bases, and playing the outfield! It has also helped them to become a little more independent with being in the outfield.  Don't get me wrong, they are not all uniform and perfectly placed in their positions....a lot of them hit the ball and stand there, others like Zeke hit the ball and run until they get back to the "dugout" and never hit home. Pure entertainment!  Zeke looks forward to every Sunday to play baseball with his Orioles. His friends Lucy was accepted to his team from a wait list so that makes playing baseball for h...

9 months old!!!!!! (And this picture thing is getting more and more difficult) This girl is just a crazy one. She is standing on stuff and just recently started standing by herself.  Her clapping is uncontrollable, even though sometimes her hands don't actually touch when she is clapping. Her dance game is on point with her crazy jumping move she does every time she hears a beat. Zoie's favorite drawer in the house has been found and it just so happens to be where the tampons are kept. Is it bad to say that may be one of her favorite things to play with? She is just starting to get the waving goodbye and hi thing down which just melts my heart when I drop her off at daycare. Her favorite food right now......dog food!!!!!! She is always in the laundry room with the dog bowl and she loves the dogs water too. But really she is still iffy with the real food but likes quesadillas for sure and hates pasta as of right now. This month she started sleeping even longer, waking up around...