Hot spots

The house has been a hot spot recently..100F+ temperatures. Sucks. But Shiloh has also been suffering from her own hot spot. The combination of old skin, aging joints, thick undercoat and hot temps..led to one nasty hot spot.
She is also very limber and can get around a Cone of shame easily and can get around the bite not collar..BUT she can't get around them both at one time. ;-) Of course, she was absolutely miserable while in this get up..but it healed.We have had a ton of dogs go through the house recently too. I don't have the cool overhead area to take photos, but this is the best I can do. Henry, Beau, Cali, Belle, Dana, Baxter and Pete lounge in the AC (missing is Yuki, Shiloh and Dante).Before the 100+ temps started, we played outside a bit. Yuki loves to run!
Baxter was occupied by a little orange butterfly. Look closely..NO butterflies were harmed in the making of these photosDana and Cali watch with boredom..The hummingbirds don't really care how many dogs we have in the yard. I am trying desperately to get 'that shot' but the heat has prevented me from trying a lot.Then the heat hit and we stayed inside a lot. the first group of boarders left and VEsta, Petey and Lulu came in. Petey loves this vantage point while Jason is cooking.Vesta chillsDana really wants the help of Nigel in this endeavor..We still have a few boarders, but the carpet showed the wear of the last few weeks. so a full steam clean day was in order. Dante thinks beds should be on recliners every day!
Hopefully, it will cool off at some point. Lots of birthdays and special days coming up next month!

Cruisin'

I have always been lucky to have friends who enjoyed the same things I did. A few weeks ago, a friend of mine emailed a simple question.."Do you have any leave?" My immediate response was..not really..I just got back from a 2 week vacation! But about 3 seconds later, my curiosity won and I replied with a 2nd email "why?"
AND..that is how we planned a quick cruise vacation for fun. i have never cruised before and i will be honest in that I am not sold on it at this point. But, nevertheless..we had fun. It was definitely a different vacation then I am used too!

We started in Miami. Our first 10 dollar fruity beverage in a 'collectible glass'.We say farewell to Miami, and i say farewell to sure footing. I am prone to motion sickness. The first night, was a bit rough and I became a bit green. BUT a few ginger pills and some 'sea band bruises' later..I was doing OK.Our first stop was Key West. I love Key West!We rent an electric car and visit all the cool sights.And pet the 6 toed cats at Hemingway's house.They were everywhere!Then we visited the Butterfly house which was absolutely magical! Highly recommend!!!!this guy was easily 6 inches across.We left Key West and headed for Cozumel which gave us some time to explore the boat. It wasn't a huge boat..but it was still sparkly. I don't really remember there being this many floors..I do remember this area well, b/c the casino was directly behind it. we spent every free moment there. The dealers were really nice and it was by far the best area of the boat (aka- no children, less crowded)Then we made it to Cozumel. I have been to Riviera maya before so I was prepared for how beautiful the water is..We started by doing a Sea Trek with the big helmet on full of oxygen. It was a neat experience even if the coral was non-existent. I enjoyed the experience.
Susan and IThe unaware hermit crab
The uncooperative rayAfter changing, we hit the area for shopping and good food (read: the boat food was sub par at best..inedible at times) And we found the best Guacamole! (sorry gyeong!!)Then we were at sea for a day. I will be honest..it was crowded, loud and crowded. I was happy to have the balcony to sit in quiet and read.The other problem is that nothing on a boat is free...from bottled water to drinks..you pay. Even when they say come do a martini tasting..you pay 17 bucks. But they were pretty..I had a great time with Susan, had a great time on shore and had a great time in the casino. BUT I do not anticipate going on a Carnival cruise again. But I cant' complain but so much..it was last minute, for the heck of it and a new experience! We have a few more vacations/trips left this year..but the next few weeks we are packed with greyhounds!

Energizer bunnies

We spent a great weekend with lots of great photo opportunities..but I forgot my camera. So to see what we did, check out gyeong's blog.
BUT We are happy to report, that everyone seems to have recovered from their ailments/we have found the perfect concoction of medicine.
Henry is back to himself..eating. playing and just being a good boy!He and Dana enjoy some sunshine.We watched Katie (fawn) , Beau and Belle for a while. Everyone really played well and it was great to see Henry play again!
Belle used Dante as a pillow..smelly pillow.We have Petey and Lulu for a bit now. Petey wants Henry to play with him more..Nerice and Debbie came over with Dolly, Diego and Brady for some fun..which ended up being a bunch of greyhounds sleeping while we gabbed. But Petey made his rounds.
Happy Fourth of July! And I leave on a another quick vacation in 2 days, so prepare for photos of Key West, Cozumel and a big boat. ;-)