Twin Falls

Recently, we found a new swimming spot called Twin Falls. Well, at least new to us. We love it for many reasons: it's less than 10 min. from our house, located in the greenbelt (hills, nice scenery), easy hike to get there, shady, cool water, easy swim for the boys. This place makes us like Austin even more.
During his lunch break, John has been running on the trails in that area of the greenbelt and then taking a dip in the water to cool off. So, he wanted to share the beauty of it all with me and the boys. The first time we went, it was only a couple days after John had been running and swimming there, but all the water was dried up! That's the only downside to this place...the water is running only if there has been plenty of rain, which is not all that often here in the summer. However, with all the rain we've had lately from hurricanes and such, there has been plenty of water. It's been very refreshing to find a new spot like this!
These pictures don't do the place justice, hopefully I'll have more for you after we go back.

Some videos for your enjoyment...

Dad Life from Church on the Move on Vimeo.

Mother's Day

I don't think I ever posted these pictures from Mother's Day, so here they are. It was just a relaxing day hanging out with just the four of us. We went to one of my favorite restaurants, Casa de Luz, and had brunch. While we were there, we snapped some nice pictures of us, I think. Eli took the ones of me and John. Pretty good, huh?

Father's Day

I know, this post is late, but I didn't want to leave it out. For Father's Day, we went to Krause Springs per John's request. It is near Spicewood Springs, about 45 min. west of Austin. It is a beautiful place! They have a man-made pool, which is spring-fed, but we hung out at the natural pools. You hike a short way down where there are rocks with running water and small pools that were perfect for the boys to play in. There are also two other areas with deeper water, a rope swing, and a waterfall. There are plenty of camping sites there as well, so maybe we'll try that out sometime, too.
We ate a picnic lunch after we got there, hiked down to the pools, swam, ate snow cones, and then drove home. The drive home was fun, too, because after about 5 min. in the car, the boys were out. We wanted them to have a nice long nap, so we took the scenic route home. The boys ended up getting an almost 2 hour nap in the car because John and I were playing it by ear on how to get back home. The nice part was that we had a nice, uninterrupted conversation and got to see Wimberly and other small country towns along the way.
To top off the fun day, we had family movie night (watched Horton Hears a Who) and ordered pizza. All in all it was a fun, adventurous day!
Thanks for being such an amazing dad, Hubs! We love you!
These pictures are kind of random. I wish I had taken more. I guess I'll do that when we go back!

Date Night

Last weekend we volunteered to babysit for our babysitting co-op. We ended up only having two friends come, both girls. Eleanor, who is Jed's age, and Naomi, who is Eli's age. I thought it was cute because it seemed like Eli and Jed got a date night, too. It was more calm and quiet around here than it is when it's just Eli and Jed!

The Richardson Resort

A couple of weeks ago, the boys and I went up to visit family for 5 days, and it felt like a sort of mini-vacation. We had lots of fun with everyone and did plenty of swimming! We stayed with my dad and step-mom, Cindy, this time. They moved to their new house about a year ago now, and we've only stayed with them for one night last Christmas. Well, we'll be staying there more often! There's plenty of room there yet it doesn't feel too big, the boys love the media room and the airplane room, and I love that it feels like a resort! The view in the back is so relaxing. They live on a golf course, so the back looks out onto the pond and all the trees in the back. The boys also loved watching the golfers and geese that were living by the pond. Eli and Jed had a big adventure with their cousins, Grayson and Garret, when they hopped the fence and went out onto the golf course one evening. They walked all the way around the pond and thought that was a hoot!

































We also got to see my dear friend, Whitney, who lives in Plano. It's always good to see Whit and chat. Even though now, it's challenging to get a good conversation in while all our little boys running around! It's still nice to visit nonetheless.









Also, we got to surprise Mammy with our visit! She had been in the Holy Land for 11 days, so I couldn't call her and tell her we were coming. We ended up driving straight to her house from Austin so that we'd be there when she got back from the airport. She walked in the door and was very surprised and excited to see us standing there in her living room!

Playing Dress-Up

Family Hair Cut Day

Last Saturday, it was time for me to cut every one's hair once again. I cut Jed's first, careful not to cut it too short for fear of cutting his curls off. Well, it's too short for my taste, but he does still have some wave and curl. I'm pretty sure the curls will come back when it gets longer. He's still cute, nonetheless!

Here's Jed's before and after pictures:





Next, it was Eli's turn. I've been cutting his hair with the clippers the last few times. However, for some reason we now have only two sizes of guards, the 2 and the 4. I thought I used the 2 last time with Eli...until I ran the clippers down the middle of his head. Uh oh, way too short! I had to go ahead and buzz the rest of his hair. When I was done, he hopped up to go look in the mirror, then slowly walked out with a grumpy look on his face. He said he did not like it and was holding back tears. I felt terrible! As I tried to console him, John chimed in and said that he would cut his hair just like Eli's. Eli's face lit up. So, I proceeded to cut John's hair with the 2 guard. (As I tried to cut John's hair, the clippers were literally getting stuck and wouldn't cut, so I had to cut his hair with scissors first and then use the clippers. How's that for thick!) Eli loved it! Problem solved! Dad saved the day! Now they're two Perkins just alike!

Here's the after pic of John and Eli (you can also see a better picture of Eli's haircut in the previous post's picture):



On a side note, Eli has also started drawing himself with little spikes of hair on the top of his head in his self portraits. Before he got his new haircut, his drawings didn't have any hair. Pretty cute!

Eli's Breakfast

This morning Eli made breakfast for everyone all by himself! By the time John and I came out to the kitchen, it was all ready. He didn't even spill any milk! What a big boy. I think it's time for him to start making himself (and maybe Jed, too) some cereal in the mornings, and hopefully John and I could get a little extra rest.

Dirt Rocks!

Gramma Ninny and Grandpa gave Eli a t-shirt for his birthday that says, "Dirt Rocks!". It's the perfect shirt for Eli, who loves dirt...digging, raking, making mud, building compost piles, loading into trucks, dumping, etc. Recently we had some mulch and crushed granite delivered to our house for some projects for the yard (you'll have to ask John if you want specifics). The boys and I have enjoyed the free entertainment that came with the delivery...the dump truck at our house and big piles of mulch and granite in the driveway. John better use it quick because it's hard for the boys to resist using it for their own projects in the yard!

Harvest Time

We recently harvested the onions we planted in the front yard. We also have more to get in the back garden, so we'll have plenty of onions for awhile. Very soon we will have plenty of blackberries around here, as well! Oh, and I'm looking forward to the peaches, too! Yummy!

I love our Swagger Wagon, Odyssey style

This is too funny!