June Recap: Airplane Party, A Loss, Wine, Plants, Hiking, and More

The month of June flew by as expected. Anytime we are back in Indiana visiting the kids it feels time speeds up. Could it be time is sped up due to the fast paced city life? It seems plausible to me. So many things in one month so I’ll jump right in.

Wine and Plants

I bottled my first wine the middle of June and it turned out quite nice. It was a Pinot Grigio and I was very happy with the results. We shared a bottled amongst the four of us and the rest is enjoying some aging time. I plan to age them for 3, 6, and 9-12 months. We will see if I can resist drinking them before those time frames. I started my second wine right after bottling the first. This one is a Chardonnay. Spoiler alert: It turned out wonderful. More on that one in July’s recap post.

My plants are doing very well! They are enjoying their 14+ hours of grow lights and the water circulator pump is a nice touch. They are almost set them and forget them, almost. We have already enjoyed some of the lettuce, basil, dill, cilantro, and oregano. The flavor is amazing! I am contemplating where I can stash another 12 pod garden.

The Library + A New Mattress

For awhile now we have talked about adding a library to our rig. Where could we house all of our books in one location? We contemplated the over cab area but decided against that due to weight. I found a cool bookshelf online we considered putting on the wall next to my side of the bed. It would need to be attached in some way. Then a moment of clarity hit both of us at almost the same time. I suppose this sort of thing happens when you have been together for 18.5 years and lived in an RV together for 5. We both mentioned “what about at the foot of the bed?”. It’s dead space there. After a couple of measurements it was determined it would work perfectly. And hence “our library” was born!

While we were in project mode it was time to finally upgrade the over cab bed. The original “mattress” had reached its lifespan. After more measurements we determined our bed mattress would fit perfectly there. Which in turn meant we could finally realize our dream of upgrading our bed to a queen from a double. After way too much time researching online we finally found the right RV queen mattress in a box. A few extra inches on each side truly does make the difference. We are amazed at how much more space we have.

Bonus, when you sit in the swivel seat in the front, you have a perfect view of the new library!

Ryker’s 2nd Birthday Party

Our sweet grandson turned two on June 18 and his parents threw him an awesome 2nd birthday party. It was a big success much like his first birthday. Amanda, his mom, is very creative and designed this party around an airplane theme. Ryker loves airplanes! He is obsessed. We are all secretly hoping he grows up to be a private pilot who will fly us wherever we want to go. Grandparents can dream.

Family and friends gathered to celebrate this little guy turning two. He is lucky to have a summer birthday. There were water activities set up in the backyard complete with water balloons. Cornhole tournaments went on most of the afternoon. Triston spent way too much time making a set but they turned out great. We even had a paper airplane contest, of which Shane won.

Grand puppies

I wish what I were about to write was all joy and happiness but as we learn in life, there are the 10,000 joys and sorrows. The day before Ryker’s birthday party the kids were faced with a tough decision, to let their sweet dog Justice go in peace. She was fine upon our arrival. But then she started exhibiting signs of pain. After a vet visit, some pain meds, and eventually steroids her condition had not improved. In fact it had worsened. The vet gave them the painful news on Ryker’s actual birthday. She most likely had an Intervertebral Disc Disease, a degenerative disease that could only be potentially fixed via a $10K surgery. Justice was in pain, she had moments when the drugs were working and she seemed fine. But soon she would be in pain again and the pain moments were out numbering the pain free time.

The kids made the right call. Given her age, the cost of surgery and the long recovery time they had to make the heart wrenching decision to let her go. They decided not to do so on Ryker’s birthday but the next day ahead of the birthday party weekend. I must say it was absolutely heartbreaking to us all. A very low point on Friday morning followed by rallying together Friday night to set up for the party on Saturday. We all loved that girl but she was suffering and it was the right decision but oh so hard.

I know her and Josie are reunited and running around together enjoying all you can eat salmon and chasing squirrels. And now Drax, the Boxer, is the last of the 3 Amigos. He seemed lost, looking for his sister. We of course gave him extra love to help him deal with the loss as well. I love how he sleeps with his tongue out.

McCormick’s Creek Hiking

On a more upbeat and happy note (remember life is 10,000 joys and sorrows) we enjoyed a day of hiking at McCormick’s Creek. Ryker played in the water at the falls and enjoyed his first cave experience. He was hesitant at first but we coaxed him in a little bit. I treasure the times we have to spend with him and his family.

Lake Time

We enjoyed another day on Lake Monroe in Bloomington, IN and also Christiana Lake in lower Michigan. Any time we can work in some boat time we do.

Lastly, to round out our time with the kids, we enjoyed a night of sushi! Our favorite place Sushi Club, serves up all you can eat sushi for a flat rate, made to order sushi brought to your table. It is so fresh and delicious. If you ever find yourself in the Indianapolis area and love sushi you must visit Sushi Club.