Texas upkeep

It has come to my attention that some of you are bored by my farmer's market reviews (Bill) and wish that Mark would step in and make some manly posts about spark plugs and tow bars. Since that is never going to happen, I thought I would dedicate an entire post to fixin stuff and not mention farmer's markets at all (except the one we went to in New Braunfels on Saturday. It was cold so there were only a couple of produce vendors, but we still got broccoli, cauliflower, and carrots...in January. I love fresh, local produce!)

Ok, so when we left the Bounder with the dealership in Phoenix, they suggested that we get the brakes fixed. They said it wasn't urgent, but would definitely need to be done. Mark decided that we should wait, save the $2200 and he would do them himself this summer. Well, the Bounder didn't want to wait that long. By the time we got into Texas they were grinding...a lot. So when we got here, he decided to go ahead and fix them. But to do that, he would need some tools. Luckily, Dan had a six ton jack, so Mark used that. Then he picked up some new brake pads and some jack stands. And with that, he turned a $2200 fix into a $100 project.

He jacked up the Bounder, put the jack stands in place, removed the wheels, took off the caliper, took the old pads off, used the C clamp to push in the piston, and then put on the new pads. Tada!   

The kids were super helpful. Even Precious came over to lend a hand (playing with Sawyer).

While Mark was outside taking care of that project, I was inside tackling the everyday upkeep that RV living requires. When you clean a house, it is clean for a day or two. When you clean an RV, it is clean for a minute or two. A few minutes of playing gives you this...

The next day, Mark took care of the other side, and the breaks were completed!

The old pad next to the new pad.

The next big project was figuring out our sleeping situation. When we first moved in, Mark had made a little bed on either side of the queen sized bed for the kids. In theory that was great, but the beds were so small that, most of the time, the kids refused to sleep in them. Here's a reminder of the old setup So we started folding out all the beds (the couch and the kitchen table both turn into beds) and taking turns sleeping in various places. But Mark likes to stay up late and watch tv, so no one was getting any sleep that way either. After seeing the Thiede's bedroom set up for their four kids, we were inspired to try a bunk bed. So Mark got to work making plans, buying supplies, and unscrewing, dismantling, and rearranging the current bedroom situation. 

All of the mattresses, pillows, and blankets were plied into the kitchen and living room, which the lids LOVED. They played king of the castle, jumped, and rolled.

It was cold outside the day that Mark did the actual construction, but he powered through it. Dan had a circular saw, which made things a lot easier. The kids bundled up and helped him. Judah was his assistant.

Then they came inside to warm up and have a snack on the once table, now pillow, mattress, and blanket storage area.

Mark brought everything inside and assembled the new bunk. It was going to be cold for a few days, so we decided to just use it raw and then paint it when it was warmer.

And while he was doing that, the kids made a ski hill out of the big mattress and took turns sliding down it.

Then they tried out the new bunk!

Judah loved it so much that he immediately wanted to get in it and snuggle up.

When it finally warmed up, Mark brought the bunk bed back outside for some last minute adjustments.

And Judah and I painted it. 

Then we brought it back inside, set everything up for a final time, and we had sleeping room for everyone! It has only been a few days with the new arrangements, but it is going well. The kids are sleeping in their beds and Mark and I get to stretch out again (well, stretch out as much as you can in a queen sized bed with two adults, two dogs, and an in again out again nursling. I think a bunk bed for the dogs should be our next project.) Sawyer has even taken to waking up less at night! Needless to say, I love the new bunk beds.  

And while I don't have any photographic evidence of it, Mark also changed the oil yesterday. He picked up seven quarts of oil and a new oil filter and pounded out in about thirty minutes. What a guy.

 So there you go. Fixin stuff. Love it.

Texas friends

When we got back to Hill Shade, we were excited to see our friends, but Judah was too sick to play with anyone. He was so sick that we were there for a full day before he realized where we were.

He just lay in the bedroom and watched Scooby Doo and slept. Sawyer visited occasionally.

But as soon as he was feeling better, Judah was ready to play! Precious came over and the kids rode bikes while Precious chatted with Mark. It was a great pairing because Precious loves to talk and Mark loves to not talk. 

In addition to lots of fun people, there is also a giant trampoline here. It is a huge hit.

Precious loves to come over and play outside with Judah and Sawyer. And Judah is constantly asking to go over to his friends house. A house filled with kids, toys, a mini working crane. If it were up to him, I think he would just move in. 

And not only is there a crane to play with, there is also a neighbor who likes to drive his John Deere down the hill and seemingly randomly knock over trees with it. Heaven.

We have been having a lot of fun getting together with our friends. On Sunday mornings, we all have brunch together at the Moers. On a daily basis, we all just make our way over there to hang out on the couch and chat. We go on adventures, go out to dinner, and have cocktails together. At the end of January, Alicia celebrated a birthday. As a Wisconsin girl, she was thrilled to be able to do that outside! We had snacks and Margaritas, and listen to Led Zeppelin on vinyl.

When we are inside, the kids all play while the grown ups chat. The big kids have been so sweet and patient with Judah, and the little kids have been a blast. Just yesterday, Precious set Judah, Sawyer, and Canaan up at the keyboard so they could all jam together. It has been adorable. 

It was also the playoffs while we were here. We all piled into the Moers' living room to root on the Packers. Since we and the Thiedes are from Wisconsin, it was a big deal. Michael loves all football, so he was all about it, too. Brice, who also lives in the park, joined in the celebration as well. Now we're all really excited for our Superbowl party tomorrow. Who would have guessed that we would be partying in Texas, with other Wisconsin natives, for a Packer Superbowl. Awesome, right?  

The very best thing about being here, though, is that I love, love, love my friends. I am living a few feet from Alicia. She, her husband Dan, and their four kids are also full time RVers from Wisconsin! Just that, alone, is awesome enough, but it turns out they are also sweet and fun and amazing. In addition, we are a few more feet away from Christine, Michael, and their six kids, who also happen to own the park. These ladies and I have so much in common. I love hanging out with them, drinking cocktails, with them, chatting on Christine's couch with them, learning how to work twitter with them, and, especially, skinny dipping in the Guadalupe with them. I love them. They are the main reason why one week here has turned into three and why I am going to be waving through tears when we finally do leave.

Texas adventures

It has been a really long time since I have written--we are just having too much fun! And, probably, too little sleep. When we decided to come back here, we thought that we would stay for about a week, but that turned into 10 days, then 2 weeks, and so on. We are in love with the people here. It is so amazing to be surrounded by families who are doing the same kinds of things we are. And I am thrilled to have girlfriends who I can actually hang out with--in person. But more on them, and how much I love them, later. The other great thing about being here is that we are really close to a lot of cool places. So we get to hang out with people we love, and hang out in places we love. See why we haven't left yet?

Our first stop was an old jail in historic Gonzales, Texas. The craziest thing about this place is that it was still used to house prisoners until the 1970s! It was creepy and cold and even had a gallows right in the center so that all the other prisoners had to watch. But it was full of history and really interesting.

We are only about an hour and a half away from Austin, so of course we had to go there. We went on a Saturday morning so that I could hit up the local market. It was cold that morning, but I still scored some broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, and beets. In January. And some yummy local milk.  

There was a little park right along side the market, so the kids ran around there while we waited for my precious Gourdoughs to open. Once we had stalled long enough, we headed over, only to find out that they had run out of dough! They said to try back in a couple of hours.

So we got some veggie dogs for lunch and then went back...still closed.

So we ran some errands at Target (where they were out of the jeggings I live in but now have a hole in the knee so wanted to replace) and then went back...and they were opened! 

We ordered "The Puddin" "Black Out" and "Mama's Cake" with Oreos.

We all experienced some serious donut bliss. 

We are also a little over an hour away from San Antonio, so, on a beautiful, sunny day, we went to explore it. We started out down town. We parked and walked to the Alamo. 

Then we took a stroll down the Riverwalk. I had no idea it would be so beautiful! 

We decided we totally love San Antonio. 

When we got back from San Antonio, we decided to walk to a nearby boat landing. It was so still and peaceful 

Except for the flocks of vultures that keep flying around and perching in the tree right behind Mark's head. It is still really trippy for me to see them at all, much less swarming around like that. I felt like they were just waiting for Judah to fall into the river.

A few days later, the whole gang took a field trip to the Shiner Brewery. We got a guided tour of the factory and a bunch of free samples of the beer. It was pretty great.

 

On another beautiful day, we headed back to San Antonio to check out some of the parks. The first stop was a Japanese Tea Garden. When we drove up, it looked like it was under construction and closed down, but then we walked past the construction fence into this...

It was spectacular! The sun, the rocks, the plants, the koi, the waterfall...it was amazing. 

As we left, I saw some daffodils blooming. In January.

After the tea garden, we headed to a playground downtown in a park that once hosted the World's Fair. There was a lot of stuff to climb on and the kids had a blast.

Even Mark got in on the fun. 

Then we chilled out along the Riverwalk before we headed home. 

We are having such a nice time. Although we haven't moved the RV in a really long time, we have seen so many amazing things. And we have been in short sleeves for most of them .