Martin Milestones!

 

Happy 40th birthday to the incredible, strong, loving, and fun head of our family! We sure love you.

To share the big birthday with his favorite guy, Alexander had his kindergarten graduation yesterday also.

The kindergarten sang the sweetest songs including a Taylor Swift remake. I may have shed a few tears. Alexander and I are saying goodbye to a truly amazing school and an incredible group of kinders.

We have loved Mrs Mourra and the positive atmosphere she has created in the classroom. 

Alexander could have chosen to decorate his cap any way he wanted. A true bulldog, he chose to light it up with a giant G

We went out to a Brazilian steakhouse for Daniel's birthday.  I didn't get any pictures, but the boys were well behaved, the food was delicious, and our besties Bryan and Anne joined us. I couldn't have asked for more. 

They even brought delicious cookies!!

We ended the night with presents and dragon cake. It wasn't our most artistic cake ever, but it did breathe fire!!

Aunt Robin Brings the Fun!

 

We are so lucky that Aunt Robin stopped by during her vacation adventures.

Alexander taught Aunt Robin how to play Othello

Niko was showing off his incredible art skills. We may open an etsy shop for him!

Pool time!

These boys adore their Aunt Robin

Niko was under the weather for part of it but we rallied!

Fun at Dave & Busters!

Neighborhood Movie Night

We know it will be harder to see Robin after we've so we are very grateful for this visit!

Disneyland Adventures

 We will only be in the west for a little longer, so the Martin Crew decided to skip out of normal life and venture to Disneyland for a few days!

To make a tradition, Gammie flew in to join us!

Niko was ready with his Mickey

No fear of backseat drivers on this trip!

I took a ton of pictures and we made countless memories.  Here are a few of the highlights 

We started our trip in the hotel pool.  The kiddie pool was a huge hit for Niko and Alexander is always so good about playing with his little brother. 

Into the parks we go!!

Gammie matched her clothes to her fabulous ears and looked like a true Disney pro each day!

The weather was perfect and the lines were short our first day. We got to ride some things all together,  and also split up, letting Gammie and Niko play while the 'big kids' did some bigger rides.

Cars Raceway at night was everything we heard it was. We even walked into Radiator Springs right as they turned on the neon lights!

Shooting spiderbots might have been my favorite part

The swinging cup on the big Mickey ferris wheel

Somehow we caught Rise of the Resistance at just a 40 minute wait.  Every other time we looked it was over an hour, and it packed in behind us as soon as we got in line. This was easily the most impressive ride I've ever been on. It was an experience that took us right into Star Wars.

We didn't intentionally plan our trip for May the Fourth (be with you), and the parks definitely had crowds to show how many people did. We took it in stride and got shirts made for the occasion!

Just like big brother at this age, Niko loved the Little Mermaid ride and chose a matching bubble wand as his gift from Gammie.

We so enjoyed all the sights including incredible costumes.  It was a truly magical day.

R2D2 spotting!!

For Alexander's Gammie gift, he asked for Legos. He and I, exhausted from a day in the park, walked to the end of Downtown Disney to the Lego store. To our surprise, they were doing a public build! We got to build bricks to help create a giant Lego Yoda! The Yoda will be traveling to different Lego stores so if we ever catch it, we will be able to say we helped build it. And as a special secret, they built a mini Yoda that will be hidden inside! This was an experience we could never plan and one we will never forget!

My PE job definitely prepared me for this trip.  My step count was only as high as a normal work day!

As a last minute add-on, we decided to go to Universal Studios on our drive home

I'm so glad we did, because it was a blast and we didn't wait in any lines!

Niko is still talking about meeting Bumblebee and Blue

Harry Potter was the highlight for me. I was almost wishing for lines so I could slow down and take it all in.

Butterbeer!

This trip is in the books!

While waiting in line wasn't always easy, and we all had our moments,  it was definitely a special adventure.  Nikolai made the whole trip even better with his two year old honest sentiment. We went around the table saying our favorite parts of the trip, and Niko says, "Playing with Gammie."

What a guy. That is something I know my mom will cherish forever and ever.