Meet The Kirks

We just got back from celebrating Mother’s Day at Chris’ parents home.  It was a great conclusion to a good week and a weekend full of activity.  As you can see from the video we experienced some firsts, enjoyed the first weekend of River Festival, and had a lot of fun together as always.

On Friday evening, we headed down to the River Fest Parade.  Ester loved watching the helicopter’s in the sky and the floats going by.  Then, we walked over and watched a couple innings of Wichita’s new baseball team, The Wingnuts.  Ester loved the music as you can see, and we got to see a Grand Slam Home Run.  We finished the evening with some ice cream and fireworks.

  Our RiverFestival fun continued on Saturday as Chris, Wes, and Jason all ran in the  RiverRun 10K race.  It was a nice morning and all the guys did really well.   Afterwards, we visited the opening weekend of the downtown Farmer’s Market and worked in the yard.  The afternoon was spent napping and watching the broadcast of Pangea Day, an event to connect people globally through film.

Justice had a big day today.  He tried his first solid food and did very well.  The little man is getting very mobile.  Today, he attempted to roll down the hallway towards his Mama, and he loves rolling towards the guitars.  It’s hard to believe that he is almost six months old.

Tomorrow, Chris is taking a day off so we can celebrate Mother’s Day II.  We figured since Natasha went from being a mother to none 13 months ago to having two now, she deserves an extra day.  More on that, and the other antics of our family soon.

We’re finally catching our breath around here from a busy week in Wichita. Monday was a gorgeous day which dared us to go to the park. Justice got to see the sun for the first time in his young life and Ester enjoyed roaming through the leaves and swinging on the playground.

Tuesday brought the Kansas Democratic Caucus. It was an amazing experience. The line would it’s way through the school and out the door. The auditorium overflowed and the gym had to be filled with Obama supporters—-over 1100 Obama supporters! It was nuts! I’m so proud that 73% of Kansans showed up to vote for Obama. Maybe there is hope for the Sunflower State after all.

We’re thankful that tomorrow is Friday as we anticipate a wonderful weekend.

The snow was pelting our faces as we waited in a line of thousands at Butler County Community College. The occasion was the first visit to Kansas by a serious Democratic Presidential candidate since…well since before we were born. Barack Obama was in town, and we couldn’t miss it.

We were lucky to get some great seats nearby where Obama would enter which let us shake his hand as he came in and left. As you can see in the video, when he saw Ester he said, “Hey beautiful!” We figure if Barack becomes president and Ester ever doubts how gorgeous she is, we’ll have to play this video as executive proof of her good looks.

The room was electric. Seldom have we ever experienced a more enthusiastic atmosphere. Obama’s speech was inspiring, challenging us all to rally together to make America a better place. No matter what happens, we were really blessed to have the experience. You’ll also noticed from the video that Chris had some practice in multi-tasking, trying to hold Ester and a camera in one hand, while shaking Obama’s hand with the other.

By the time the rally was over, the snow had melted and the sun was out. We left exhausted from holding and trying to keep a toddler still for 2 hours. But, we were also filled with hope that change truly is possible.

Tomorrow is Friday here in Kansas (I suppose everywhere else as well, except where it’s already Friday like most of the world. In that case tomorrow would be Saturday, but since you’re reading a Central Time based blog, let’s not get too crazy). Despite what day it is, it has been a good week here. Chris saw Shane Claiborne speak today which is always butt-kicking and inspiring. As you can see in the video, Justice is discovering his tongue and has started speaking his mind more often (He’s over 11 pounds now!). He got his first shots this week and decided that it is an experience he does not want to repeat often.

As for the ladies, Ester adores Kinley often to Kinley’s chagrin. She’s become quite good at playing the piano and should be going on tour soon. Natasha is getting back into yoga and reading all about becoming a Locavore.

The weekend should bring warmer temperatures which could mean some fresh air and breaking in the new GPS with some geocaching.