Four and Fabulous

 As our littlest Martin begins his fourth year as a member of the crew, I've got to take a moment to remember who he is in this moment.  Time is flying and both boys are growing super fast, and I'm enjoying seeing who they become as they get bigger.

We had a beautiful birthday for Nikolai.  It included a Chuck E Cheese celebration while Daniel and I were in the mountains.  Gammie and our boys met up with Zayn and Coach Ross.  Everyone had a great time!

Daniel and I drove back late Saturday night so we were there when Nikolai woke up on his birthday morning.  We went to church and started his birthday by having both boys dedicated to God during the service.

That afternoon, the boys and I made a Gumba cake, as Niko decided he wanted a Mario themed birthday.

The following weekend, with Gammie still in town and Jan having joined, too, we threw Niko's official birthday party right after Alexander's soccer game.

Niko was so sweet, greeting every single friend as they arrived.  He had such a great time playing with his friends.  We are still opening presents from the party and he is truly playing with every item he has received.

Milestones

Our four-year-old is gigantic.  He is over 95th percentile in height and keeps growing.

He is a love.  He has many friends and talks about how much he loves them as well as his teachers all the time.

His big brother is his very best friend, and he is still a mama's boy.  He loves to snuggle and hug and wants to kiss, so we have to remind him that kisses are for family.

He needs his nap and wakes up very early.  He is trying to stay in bed until it is time to wake up, but often he is u out of bed before 5:30.

He is a pickier eater than Alexander.  He eats a lot of vegetables, with cucumbers being his favorite, but also loving lettuce, carrots, broccoli, and our super food smoothies.

He is so smart.  He has a situational awareness that notices any change and helps him find lost items and clean up a room.  His handwriting is coming along beautifully.  In math, he is amazing with one-to-one correspondence and is learning his doubles.  He loves to ask us what the sums of different numbers are and to count to thirty.

His favorite color is rainbow. When asked what his favorite food is, he says, "Bacon, but it makes me cough."  When he grows up, he wants to be a dinosaur.

He is a happy little boy who struggles with sitting through dinner and crumbles when he is tired.  His heart is so, so big and we are so blessed to have him as our little boy!

Alexander hit a climbing milestone this past week, making it over the jutting edge of this wall!

 

Time to Double Down

 After being apart for our ten year wedding anniversary, Daniel and I took advantage of a weekend of hiking while Gammie could stay with the boys.  Today we celebrate TWENTY years together, and I am ready to double down for twenty more!

Pilot Mountain was our first stop enroute to our VRBO.  It was an eight mile hike of mostly paths.  We had a great time when we made it to the top, seeing vultures, climbers, and enjoying the view.  Most people drove to the top, so we had the path to ourselves for much of the hike.

Daniel's wingspan matched the eagle nearly exactly.  Mine, on the other hand, matched the almost equally majestic turkey vulture.  Daniel got a kick out of reminding me of this throughout our weekend.

After checking into our little river cabin, we went to a local brewery and then a beautiful bed and breakfast for dinner.

Day two started with hiking Hanging Rock

This hike was much shorter, and a bit more company, but not crowded and absolutely beautiful.

I gave Daniel some nerves as I ventured to the hanging portion of the hike.  It was breathtaking!

We headed out of the small town we were staying in to venture to JOLO vineyard.  We had a great time tasting their local wines.  We fit in so well, two employees agreed they both had us confused as regulars and were shocked to learn we weren't locals.

The town was the inspiration for the Andy Griffith Show, so we left the fancy vineyard to enjoy dinner at Aunt Bea's.  It did not disappoint!

On our way home, we drove past a high school football game, so we took in some Friday Night Lights.  It was a beat down, with the home team shutting out the visitors by more than forty points.

The Dan River kayaking was closed Saturday due to a wind advisory, so we found a different set of waterfalls and did a short and beautiful hike instead.

As our grand finale, we took in the Wake Forest vs Georgia Tech game

I grew up a yellow jacket fan and thoroughly enjoyed watching them break the undefeated record of Wake Forest

I want to take a minute and express how grateful I am to live my life beside someone I enjoy so much.  We have fun together, we laugh, we dance, we play.  On top of that, we are a true partnership.  In parenting, in housekeeping, in budgeting, and all the ins and outs, we both have a hand in our family.  In some ways, our roles are extremely traditional, and yet in others, we are so unique in how much responsibility we share. I have been so blessed over the last twenty years and am genuinely looking forward to the next twenty!