Went to Houston last week to meet Shotzie and help Annie pack up and move her stuff to St. Louis, before she departs for 3 months on

St. Thomas in the Virgin Islands....

Shotzie is a cutie... a two month old Bassett Hound who Mark and I will be grandparenting while Annie is working in the Virgin Islands

Annie and I took some time from packing to shop....

Shotzie was a BIG help with the packing~

We visited Tammy, the lady who Annie bought Shotzie from

And I got to see her pet squirrel who lives in a purse in a cage in Tammy's living room {And people think I'm crazy!}







I did like her sign!

This is Judy, Shotzie's Dog Walker








We did enjoy our shopping ventures!

This is the car packed and ready to rolll......

We didn't have much room for Shotzie... but she sat on our laps most of the way home anyway

We stopped for the night in Arkansas and Shotzie and Annie had some bonding time

After dropping off Annie's belongings in St. Louis, including the dress she was going to wear to the wedding she was attending that weekend (whoops!) we headed to Mike and Meg's in time for dinner... which was DELICIOUS! (just ask Patrick)

Mike and Becca getting to know Shotzie

Becca, who loves dogs, was a little shy with this puppy!

She does have sharp little teeth!

Annie convincing Patrick to drink his milk so he will grow up to be big and strong, just like his Aunt Annie.....

Then we went out in the back yard where there was room for romping, running and shouting!

{Patrick is allowed to shout outside... and he is good at it!}

Becca in a tree..... reminds me of the good old days in Mundelein....

Meg and Becca

Pat and Becca in the tree, but Pat was a bit uncomfortable, so i had to snap the picture quickly.... his exact words were: "My penis hurts."

Playing with puppies and kids... what could be more fun?

She looks good on Mike's lap....

And Becca looks good on Aunt Annie's lap!

We arrived at home Monday afternoon and it was time for Shotzie to turn our world around!

Hiding under my chair

Grandma Jan and Pat back in Washington

Chris came for dinner

A Tired Puppy.....

Stella needed (and still does) lots of reassurance = she and Sally are not too sure they like Shotzie moving in on their perfect world.

It's OK Stella... I still love you....but there is no way I am watching 3 dogs!

Hi, I'm Shotzie, will you be my friend?

Like I said Stella and Sally needed lots of attention.....

WE snuck in the first boat ride of the season

Mark drives too fast on the water! (But not in a car... never in a car!)

After we got back the girls decided that they wanted to go in the water too....

Which made Sally very happy!

Views from the Streets and Bay of San Francisco

We are home safely from San Francisco........ it was a fun time, and the trip home was an adventure! We sat on the tarmac in Denver during a thunder storm, ran through the airport, and then UNITED Airlines (which is no longer my favorite carrier) wouldn't let us on the plane, although it was sitting there, stayed all night in Denver and then left for Chicago on a 6 a.m flight - which connected with our 2:30 p.m 30 minute flight to Madison.....

Of course Mark didn't mind because he had his book!


View of the mountains....I had to take the picture so Mark could see it later.

A lovely piece of Art in the San Francisco airport

Coit Tower

We had to stand in quite a long line for the Cable Cars on our last day... and I found some of the people interesting, and made up stories about them. I think this man and his wife are from Australia.....

And this man is from the Upper Penninsula of Michigan....

This man was singing for his supper.... or at least some spare change.......

Part of the line waiting to get on a cable car....

Of course the line didn't bother Mark, he had his book!

(He did not read during meals!)

We saw President Obama but he looked a little waxy....

Reade Lane.... how appropriate!

Does anyone know what this is? It was just hanging on the side of a building. I of course now want one!

Don't miss A Taste of Rome --- July 17th and 18th in Rome WI!

Look even a sign for Bruce!

Here's one for Patrick!

We did not go in this building!

Mark said I had to be in a picture so you would know I was there....

We saw this in a shop window in Sauseleto .... it is made of plastic!

The Golden Gate Bridge

Lots of people were out sailing even though it was quite chilly

So I stayed inside the ferry as we passed Alcatraz

View of the SF Skyline from the Ferry

Mark does like to read!

This sign was one we could relate to!

Although we both did hang on the outside of the cable cars.. for some reason we never were able to free a hand to take a picture!

Our Lady of Guadalupe -- in China Town

Power Walking down a hill.... lots of crazy people were running up hills too, but I was afraid to take their pictures, because I was sure they were nuts!

We went in here thinking it was a Chinese Restaurant.. it was a temple - not sure if you get 3 wishes in a temple...

A Library.... I love libraries!

These people wanted to be on my blog too....

I really liked his hat!

The cable car we were on, which was on the top of a hill, was stuck, so this truck was called to give us a push to get started! (Our hotel was at the top of this hill.

A SF Ballet Troupe performing in a square

We found Christopher!

Performing Artists were everywhere!

While in SF we went to see Spamalot... which was delightful....
we weren't allowed to take pictures... so just remember:

"Always look on the bright side of life!"