The Wieners

Well, I forgot that I did not take many pictures poolside and the ones I had are in the post below.

Instead you get cute pictures of my baby dogs!  :)

Aren't they cute?

Biggity Buster

Penny Princess.  She's not spoiled!

FRIENDS!!!

Poolside

I know that at home it's been cooler than normal for the months of May and June.
Well it's warm, warm, warm ... Ok downright hot sometimes here in Tucson.
But Lucky me - I got to relax poolside on memorial day and am repeating that today. Ahhh....the beautiful weather.

Cool new sunglasses, an ice cold glass of water, and red legs.

:) Pictures to follow soon :)

Picture Recap

Country landscapes whizzing by.

Dark clouds overhead, make us question the weather that awaits us.

The city by the bay blanketed with a patch of blue overhead.  Not engulfed in fog as it often is.  What awaits us?

Delicious dim sum, that's what!  Savory small bites.  Mmm...mmm....

City streets, bustling people, cars humming past.

An unmarked door that leads to a time long forgotten.  Bourbon & Branch.  A speakeasy, reminiscent of the prohibition era - passwords, a dark bar, quiet hushed tones, great cocktails, cloth napkins.  Shh.... don't tell.

The bay is calling.

Waiting for the ferry.

View from inside the warm cozy ferry.  Outside - cold and windy.  Reading the paper and people watching our way to Angel Island.

We rushed off the ferry to buy our tour tickets for the immigration station.  Little did we know that there would be less than 10 people on our tour.  Dad on the hike to the station.  ~1 mile hike - little did they tell us that 0.5 mile was nearly straight up!

View from our hike.  

What is left of the immigration station.  Picture taken from the footprint of the old administration building that burned down.  The building in the picture is the old detention building.  Angel Island misnamed the "Ellis Island of the West."  Similar in the fact that they were both islands and had immigration stations.  Vastly different in that most immigrants spent hours to maybe 1-2 days on the island while at Angel Island, some stays weeks to months.  Longest stay was 22 months.  

Conditions on the island were often overcrowded.  People from all over the world came through Angel Island, but the main group was Chinese.  Due to the Chinese exclusion act, it was mainly the Chinese who had prolonged stays on the island.  The law was designed to keep out Chinese laborers.

In this building the walls speak.  Poems and graffiti in multiple languages express emotions of defeat, disappointment, and hope.

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Happy Birthday Mom!

Per her request - we waited in line for over an hour at the best breakfast place in town, Mama's.  

Delicious french toast sampler - brioche, banana walnut, and cinnamon swirl breads.

Crab and spinach eggs benedict.  Delectable!

And what is a birthday without champagne?!

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Back in Tucson.  We had our family medicine retreat and I got to spend the day at the resort below :)

Lounging by the pool all day.  Tough life.

My beau happy to have me home.  

Vacation Continues

My vacation continues. I have managed to attend 2 graduation parities and no graduations.
Start and finish a craft project. (pics to come later).
Mom & I have kicked some butt in bowling - beating Jeff (firefighter student living with my parents x4months) & my dad. 2/3 games. Go girls!!

Next up is San Francisco. I need to get my fill of dim sum and the sad city by the bay. Poor Posey.

I'll be MIA for the next couple of days. I will try to take lots of pics to post later.

What did you do on your last vacation?

The Drink of Summer!

The Mojito

Ahh...my favorite drink of summer (well nearly all year round), but even better in the summer.  Sweet cool, citrusey mint - what could be better?

-  1 tablespoon simple syrup*. 
-  Mint leaves - 6 or so per drink.
-  Tonight we added strawberries

Next - muddle, muddle muddle (esentially mush mush mush - to get the minty flavor out of the leaves)



Then add 2.5oz of Rum.  Yes I said 2.5 oz.  And yes that is PER drink.  Trust me it doesn't taste strong at all.



-  The juice of 1 lime


-  Fill glass with ice and club soda.   And..... Ta Da.  Summer in a glass.


*simple syrup:  1-to-1 ratio of sugar to water heated on the stovetop so the sugar will dissolve.  You can make this beforehand and save in the fridge until ready to use.

Taylors Graduation

Sunday - My cousin Taylor graduated from Chico State University. Lucky me - I was home for her big day. Even luckier me - I volunteered to make lunch while everyone else (aside from my sous chefs - Gma & Rachel) went to graduation. graduation for 1,000+ students when I only know one!
I think I made a smart decision.

The happy graduate and her proud mother!

Our family of girls!

It's hard for me to believe I'm one year out from graduating medical school and soon a new class of interns will be joining my residency - looking to me for advice and guidance!

A link to my med school graduation post.


What did you do on your graduation?

Doxie Luau

Several months ago Sief found out from some LOL (little old lady) who befriended Buster that every October there are dachshund races in Tucson.  I got online and found... Meetup which has a Dachshund Lovers group.  I've been following the group now for several months, but due to my schedule have been unable to go to any of the events.  Sief was able to go to a dinner fundraiser with Buster while I was on my rural rotation - they had a Doxie fashion show and had their picture taken together.

Well, today I was finally able to make it to an event (after changing my plane ticket as I also flew home today for vacation). 

Doxie Luau

Penny and Buster got to make many friends - I didn't count but probably at least 30 dachshunds.  Short hairs, long hairs, wired hairs, dapples, and 1 piebald (that's Penny)! 

 

doxies, doxies, everywhere

 U of A fan!

 We nicknamed this one "shorts" or captain America - you choose.  

Notice the puka shell necklace.

The highlight of the luau was doxie games.

1.  Relay race

Rules:  2 separate teams, you have to tie a small piece of cloth around your doxie's tail, run to your other teammate across the lawn and trade off the piece of cloth with that doxie - run back and forth switching until it's over. 



Penny & Buster were on different teams and.... Penny's team won!!!!

Below is a clip of Penny's victory lap with her prize - a squeaky hot dog toy.



2.  Doppleganger - or something like that -basically find your twin
No wiener looked like Penny.  But Buster found a twin!  She is a small 8 year old female named Holly.

 

They looked even more alike from the top.

 
 Sadly they didn't win either.  Poor Buster.


3.  Bobbing for Biscuits!
Rules:  treats were put in the bottom of a bucket with water, some treats float, some sink - first doxie to finish all their treats wins!
 
Well, well, well....this sounds like its right up one of my wiener's alley.
Buster - he is crazy for food!   

There were 3 heats.  Buster won his heat and....he won the CHAMPIONSHIP!!!  Go my little piggy.