November 8-16, 2018

Mesa, Az

Have I talked about my sister, Sandy?

Well, she is my twin and she is amazing!

She got the kids one of the sweetest and best gifts EVER! She wanted to get them bikes or something they could play on at her house but still be able to take with us when we leave in a few months.  

Well, since we don’t have a bike rack, those weren’t going to work. The kids, on the other hand, love riding skateboards and skooters, so she got the kids those!

What a great thing! We have room to store them in the back compartment and they can ride them most anywhere! SCORE!! And they love riding those almost as much as playing at the splash pad! I almost can’t get the kids off them long enough to even feed them and for those of you who know how much my kids love to eat you know that’s a big deal. Haha haha!

So, then we had the task of them finding helmets. We found them though and they wear them all over. I’m so glad they love being outside so much and have found something to help keep them active.

Since the kids love riding their skateboards you know I had to try it.

One morning I was needing help at the barn so I called Alima to come help me. She came on her penny board.

As she and I were walking back to the trailer I got a wild hair and said, ”Hey, Alima let me try it.”

She said,”Ok”

I blame it on the great weather, same reason we blame the horses for acting silly in the paddocks and running amuck when we try to bring them in, anyway I jumped on.

Now mind you I haven’t been on anything even resembling a skateboard since I was like 6. My brother had one and so we would just sit on it and push ourselves around. No standing for this girl, because I fell off once, nope not doing that again. Well, now I’m old. Probably not the best idea but, hey who cares right?

I hopped on and pushed away. I did great! I don’t like the size of the penny board and was having a hard time on the asphalt so when we got home I grabbed Halim’s regular skateboard and tried it.

I am in love. It was so much fun! I don’t know why I was so afraid and I wish I had done it sooner. Oh, my how fun it was! Now, I’m not gonna go out and do the X Games but I’m sure I’ll ride around on the skate park a bit.

I have been given a job. No, not a paying one, per se, but Hal and I have realized he needs more help. So, I have been asked to take a bigger role in the social media and scheduling side of the 18 Summers brand. I love it.

It’s a great shot though even though its not me.

It’s a learning process and I have discovered that I really love problem solving but also I like having uniformity in responses to emails and social media posts. I feel a little more involved and anytime I can help my husband and take a few chores off his list I will.

We are a part of several Facebook Rv groups. If you are wanting to Rv full time I really suggest you do this because there is so much info. from REAL people living the life. One of the great things about this, I think I’ve talked about it before, is that you get to meet so many great people.

We happened to do that this week. We got the privilege to meet Jessa, her husband Dan and their son Braxton. We ended up meeting at the Mesa Riverview park and it was sooo fun. We spent about 9 hours, no lie, 9 hours with each other. When you are with people you click with you could send all day with each other and it feels like the time just flys. I guess the saying is true, time fly’s when your having fun and man, we had fun. The kids didn’t stop playing ALL DAY! We got to the park at about 10 and we didn’t get home till around 6 pm! The kids played literally the whole time! It was great! I can’t wait to hang out with them again. They are currently remodeling thier travel trailer. They are going to be on the road sometime next year. If you want to see thier social media be sure to check the links below. Man, I cant wait to hang out with them again.

Let’s talk baking in an Rv or really any tiny space for that matter. Today we are going to talk about making cinnamon rolls for the first time in the Rv.
So, just a few common sense hints I learned this week when we made these cinnamon rolls

1. Make sure you have sufficient room and said room is a clean/clear space. So, yeah, not doing those things would have made making the rolls much easier and efficient. Hahaha lesson learned. 

2. Use ALL the space you have available. I was using the table, the counters, even possibly, the couch. Ok. I admit it. Used the couch to hold some stuff.

A few other things I have learned. I have a large Pampered Chef cutting board that I use for way more than just a cutting board. Well, today it was a mat for when I had to spread out the roll dough. I just covered it with some freezer paper then sprinkled a bit of flour on it and used a soda can as a rolling pin (cause who has space for one of those in a RV? Not this girl), like I said many things have more than one job when your in a tiny space.

This seems like a bit of a headache but its really was worth it. I had been promising the kids for days I would make these rolls and I just kept putting it off or just not properly making the time for it. But it was so worth it. I mean look at how happy he is helping? 

The smell of those rolls cooking was amazing. I love the smell of fresh baked goods. When we were in the house I made bread and cookies quite a lot and there is, almost, no better smell than something baking in the oven. It’s another thing I love.
I think I will make these again even though it was tricky to do. They turned out soooooo good. Man, they were so good

These had just come out of the oven and I hadn’t put frosting on them yet. Yum, Yum!!

Alima is now a working woman! How did she grow up so fast? I have no idea where the time went but I’m s proud of her. She started working at True Garden near where we are staying in mesa. She has been doing so well. I’m really proud of her.

Right now she does some of the Farmers Markets on the weekend and does a ton of stuff during the week at the greenhouse. She really likes it and does so well at it. She is learning the hard but great lesson of, when you make your own money you have to spend your own money and sometimes you might not want to. Hahaha

Stevens birthday came along and man I can’t believe he is going to be 6. I keep asking how didn’t they grow up so fast but then I just am so happy to see them grow into good people. I like these humans. They are good. 

So, we asked Steven where he wanted to go for his birthday dinner and he said Salsa Cabana. 

If you are in Mesa this is a must stop. We had the dry cleaners next door to Salsa and holy cow its good! if yo like Mexican, and I don’t mean any old Mexican food then this is where you should go! Its all homemade and authentic not Tex-Mex or any other stuff, its just great Mexican food. 

Steven loves going here and Gabby and Hugo are so sweet.

So we get there for his dinner and Gabby came out with this cake for him! Then Paula came out with cupcakes and we all sang Happy Birthday to him! I was soooo fun. It was also so sweet cause Gabby and Hugo love the kids like their own. He had such a great birthday.

Who we met

You can find Jessa and Dan on Instagram here

 

Where we went