Chandler Powell is expressing his love for Bindi Irwin on her 26th birthday!
The wakeboarder and wildlife conservationist, 27, shared a post on Instagram on July 24 to wish his wife a happy 26th birthday. Along with an image of him with his arm around Irwin, Powell wrote a sweet note about his favorite qualities in his wife.
“Happy birthday to the most incredible person I know,” the caption read. “We have always said 26 will be your year and I truly believe that. Whether it’s watching you help a stranger in need at the grocery store or leaving notes around the house to make me smile, your compassionate heart will always be my favorite thing about you.”
He concluded: “ I love you. ❤️”
Irwin responded with a comment on the post, writing, “Sweetheart ❤️❤️ Thank you so much @chandlerpowell. You and Grace are my whole world,” she added, referring to the couple’s 3-year-old daughter. “I love you.”
Several other family members also posted tributes to Irwin, including her brother Robert, who jokingly wrote, “Happy birthday, Bindi… love, Brian,” with a clip from their family’s TV show The Crocodile Hunter, showing her meeting him as a baby at the hospital and proudly declaring, “I’ll call him Brian.”
When their late father Steve tells her his name is actually Robert in the video, she doubles down, saying, “But I’ll call him Brian for short.”
“Thank you, Brian. This is the best 😂💛,” Irwin commented.
Her mom Terri also made a post for the special day, sharing a series of photos throughout Irwin’s life paired with a lengthy caption.
“Happy birthday beautiful Bindi,” she wrote. “I have loved you from the moment you first came into our lives. You have brightened my every day with your ability to see the best in everyone and everything. Even in the most challenging times, you forge ahead with courage and optimism. You continue to be the best daughter, and now you are an amazing mama with a daughter of your own.”
“Thank you for looking down from heaven and choosing our family 26 years ago,” she added. “We were blessed with an angel. 💕”
“I love you with all my heart. Thank you, Mum,” Irwin reacted in the comments. “I am so lucky to be your daughter. ❤️”
Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE’s free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.
Irwin and Powell first met in 2013 when her now-hubby, who is an American from Florida, was visiting a zoo in Australia while there for a professional wakeboarding competition.
“She ended up giving me a tour, and we ended up staying in touch ever since,” Powell said in 2015.
In 2020, the pair married in an Australian zoo with only three people in attendance due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2021, they announced that they had welcomed a daughter, Grace Warrior Irwin Powell, named in honor of Irwin’s father Steve, who died after being stung by a stingray in 2006.
John Wolfsohn/Getty
They recently celebrated four years of marriage in March, with Irwin professing her feelings for Powell on social media.
“Falling in love with you was immediate. Loving you more every day is utterly effortless,” she wrote. “All these years later and every time you smile at me, my heart skips a beat. 🤍 On March 25th we celebrate Grace’s third birthday (born in 2021) and our fourth wedding anniversary (married in 2020). Here’s to a lifetime of love.”
